Is the world of 'Bloodchild' Immoral?

     In Octavia Butler's Bloodchild, we are put into a world that at first glance would seem to be an incredibly unfortunate circumstance. Humans are no longer the creators of their own destiny, but rather a lower class that only exists in preserves and as hosts for the Tlic. The Tlic control the government and all positions of power, and put into place laws that control and weaken the remaining Terrans (humans) on the planet. However, this is the only way for peace between the two species to exist. Throughout this blog, I will explain both halves of the argument before giving my own thoughts on the morality of the situation.

    To begin, let us set the scene. We know that humans came to the planet of the Tlic at some point in the past, and fought against them. However, as the Tlic are by far the dominant species, it is clear that humanity lost this battle. Despite this, the Terrans do not seem to be living in terrible conditions. The Terrans are given eggs, which are able to give them otherworldly vitality and longevity. The family we see, and the rest in the preserve, seem to have some sort of stability and normalcy within said preserve. Occupations for anyone in the family is never mentioned, but seeing as they raise animals, it is fair to assume they live as farmers or ranchers. Now that we have the scene set, we can begin to look into the dynamics between the Tlic and the Terrans.

    Terrans exist as a subser
vient, yet somewhat autonomous lower class that servers the Tlic first and foremost. Every Terran family has no choice but to have at least one member turned into an N'Tlic, a human carrying Tlic eggs. This birthing process is incredibly violent and requires the human to be ripped open and have the larvae dug out from the abdomen of the human carrier. This fact is kept hidden from the Terrans as tightly as possible to ensure their compliance. Keeping the humans placated is a common theme in the story, and for good reason. When Gan witnesses the birthing happening for himself, he considers his own suicide as a preferable alternative to being forced to bear T'Gatoi's young. Ethically, it is hard to argue that this can possibly be good for Terrans. Even when Gan comes to terms with this, he eats an egg, which flattens his emotions and leaves him more susceptible to T'Gatoi's manipulation.

    The story of Bloodchild is remarkably similar to slavery. You have humans, who are raised and groomed from birth to bear the young of a Tlic which they know nothing about. At some point one member of the family is sacrificed to a Tlic to bear their young, and the rest are only kept alive with the expectation that they will reproduce for the Tlic to have more hosts. In the same way a cruel slave master would coorece female slaves into sexual acts with offers of freedom or other rewards for their cooperation, T'Gatoi offers Lien the ability to choose which of her children will bear her young in exchange for her getting one of her children guaranteed. The Terrans are not just subjugated sexually either. They are not allowed motor vehicles or firearms inside the preserve, ostensibly for their own protection. The eggs, once again, play a role here as well. The eggs, being impossible for humans to produce, forces the Terrans closer to the Tlic who can supply them with their fix. They are kept on a short leash by all of these measures and have their rights forgotten about.

    On the other hand, how else could the society function? The humans, upon coming to the planet, killed other human egg carriers and Tlic. The price they paid for this was their slavery, being kept in cages with little to no autonomy and having no option for their future aside from becoming an N'Tlic. However, at some point a small political faction arose that cared for the humans and established a preserve where the humans could live somewhat freely. To me, the idea of a preserve is the only way a society like this could have functioned. The preserve allows for humans, who are the weaker species, to enjoy freedom and autonomy they could not have otherwise had while staying in a symbiotic relationship with the T'lic.

    Ultimately, the world of Bloodchild is necessarily unbalanced and cruel. The only way both species could continue living side by side is if the Tlic parasites have a subservient host which can carry their young. The only other option is the complete extinction of the Tlic, which is arguably been more cruel than the lives that Terrans are forced to live. All things considered, the lives of the Terrans are not absolutely terrible. They live their lives mostly as normal, and one day they are chosen as an N'Tlic and bear Tlic young and resume their lives as per usual. So, I would argue that the world of Bloodchild is moral when compared to the option for the complete extinction of the Tlic.

David