- What is your reaction to the text you just read?
Well, Bloodchild was an interesting read with a surprisingly quite literal name. I felt I was constantly lagging behind, that I knew less than the characters and the writer. This left me in a state of unease for I am more comfortable when I know everything going on. It left me confused for about half of the short story, until T’Gatoi was excited about the grubs. At that point the reference to the preserve made sense, the fact that the Tilc need them to produce young. They are a powerful parasite to the Terrans whether the Terran is willing or not. I would describe Bloodchild as a tale of Stockholm Syndrome, an alliance with the captor as a survival strategy. This is how I particularly see the relationship between T’Gatoi and Gan. Gan has grown up realizing this was her responsibility, and even though she isn’t particularly looking forward to the inevitable events, there is no other option.
2. What connections did you make with the story that you read? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.
I don’t know, what sort of connections can be made with a human-like race that seem to be held at a slightly higher level than cattle, like a household pet perhaps. One connection I make is the notion of hurting someone you care for for a greater cause. In the case of Bloodchild that is the Tilc using the Terran as hosts for their species despite the dangers. As a connection in my personal life I compare it to my father being deployed. It’s painful for the family, but a necessity for the country. He can’t refuse it without having to retire.
Another connection is dependency the humans seem to form with the Tilc. This isn’t as much as a personal connection as a connection made to today’s society. The Tilc’s sterile eggs are a drug to humans with similar effects of many narcotics. In addition, the sting of the Tilc relaxes the Terran allowing them to sleep. Many people today use drugs as an escape. It allows them to temporarily forget all that is wrong and terrible in their lives. In a similar way I see the Terran wanting to have some sort of escape from their captivity.
3. What changes would you make to adapt this story to another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?
I think this story would be interesting as a graphic novel. It allow for a visualization, but still with the opportunity to use storyboarding techniques to maintain the climax of the story without giving away too much. It would be much cheaper and allow for much more creativity than film (although we can do a lot with film now) while still leaving some of the nuances up to interpretation of the reader. One of the necessary changes to do so would be removing a majority of the text of course other than dialogue and maybe some thought bubbles for Gan. Clear expressions of the characters would be very important to replace written reactions. For portions it would require some rewriting and flashbacks rather than explanations like in the text. For example when Gan refers to her mother’s childhood with T’Gatoi and T’Gatoi’s rise to a position of power.
