For my next paper, I will be writing about Bloodchild. My thesis will be:
In this science-fictitious world, the presence of the Glicks as a dominant species and the societal pressures faced by Gan illustrate Octavia Butler's critique on accepted present day gender roles.
I have no set number of body paragraphs, but my argument will go as follows. First, I'll make comparisons to the stable but unbalanced relationship between the terrans and their alien oppressors and today's relationship between man and woman. This will have two parts: one, that the Glicks do not have to deal with any setbacks from being with the terrans, while the terrans face extreme pain and even death, and two, that the Glicks are far stronger and have control of the entire household, Next, I'll show how even though Gan is not coerced into taking T'Gatoi's young, he essentially has to because of pressure from society, much like the way women feel pressure to bear young as well. The last part I'm not totally sure on, but I think the "love story" between Gan and T'Gatoi could be a factor in my argument. This is all very liable to change, and in fact, I'm ready to scrap this entirely, so in case this fails. I'd write about identity in Angels in America and how Kushner demonstrates the poetically disastrous results of denying identity.
I think that the reversal gender roles is definitely one of the most important aspects of this story. I think that the "love story" between Gan and T'Gatoi could be factored into the argument by examining the fact that T'Gatoi is a female and much older that Gan, who is a male. Typically, in today's, society, it is more common for men to be older than women in a relationship. I think it would also be interesting to examine not only the reversal of gender roles between species, but the reversal of gender roles WITHIN species as well. The female Tlics appear to have a more dominant presence than male Tlics. You can also examine what it means that males are more often chosen to carry the grubs than women are. For example, do you think this shows that women are seen as more valuable than men by the Tlics because the women are spared in order to ensure a next generation of Terrans?
ReplyDeleteHey Steve,
ReplyDeleteI like what you're getting at with your thesis but I think instead of just saying she critiques it, you should explain exactly what she gets at by critiquing, thus strengthening the "so what" of your argument. I think it would be interesting to examine why it's only the male Terrans that are subjected to the pain. I think it would definitely be interesting to factor in the "love story" just like what Melody says. But I think you can really bring that into the pressure and inspect whether it is love or coercion.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteYou definitely have the beginnings of a strong thesis statement here, but I think you're classmates are right that you might want to focus a bit and be more precise about what *exactly* "Bloodchild" is critiquing. They've given you so excellent suggestions about how you might focus, but it may also help to do a little more brainstorming on your own, spending some time with specific passages in the text and thinking about the "claims" those passages are making.
I look forward to seeing more!
Best,
Jennifer