Author: Sarah Bacon

Often throughout this Writing Seminar: Risks, Rewards & Rent-Paying course, we have referenced the short story “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler to write about its relevance to topics discussed in class. We have demonstrated this when we wrote collaborative essays about “Bloodchild” and how it illuminates the risks and rewards of classes switching to an ungrading system. In addition, we wrote individual essays on how “Bloodchild” relates to our experiences here at Geneseo through many risks and rewards. Continually, “Bloodchild” not only shows relevance to small topics discussed in class in segments, it can be seen as symbolic for the entire course. When Butler writes, “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner”, she is demonstrating the idea that people need to be able to take risks in order to achieve all their rewards.

In “Bloodchild”, we can examine how Butler provides an example of taking risks to achieve greater success. “Bloodchild”, in short, is about two different types of species, the Tlic and the Terrans, who live together in the Tlic’s homeworld. Gan, a Terran, and T’Gatoi, a Tlic, are very different from one another; T’Gatoi is much older, wiser, and powerful than Gan. In the end, however, it is revealed to the reader that Gan and T’Gatoi are falling in love with each other when T”Gatoi says “‘I won’t leave you as Lomas was left–alone, N’Tlic. I’ll take care of you” (Butler 29). Since they share little in common, it would be difficult to deal with one another as partners, but this is a risk they decide to take. Unfortunately, the reader does not get to see where their relationship leads, because the short story ends at this point. Although we do not know if Gan and T’Gatoi’s relationship is successful, we can make the assumption that if they stay together, they will be happy, because people who are truly in love find happiness from their relationship. It would be a risk for Gan and T’Gatoi to date since they are so unlike each other, but by taking a chance, they could have a lifetime of happiness together.

As I have progressed through this course, I have experienced similar feelings about taking risks to become successful. I can remember feeling a little intimidated by my classmates in the beginning of the semester when we were told to work together on assignments or in discussions. I felt like I was “putting myself out there” whenever I was contributing to our group. It was a risk each time I participated because I worried that others may not be interested in what I had to say. If I avoided talking in class because of this fear, I never would have been able to grow into a more confident person, and specifically, a more confident writer. I took the risk in working with others throughout this course, and in return, I gained the rewards of improving my writing and teamwork skills.

As we are finishing the fall semester, I have been reflecting on my academic growth since beginning college. My ability to reflect on my learning and outlook changes throughout this course have helped me accomplish GLOBE’s insistence. GLOBE, A Geneseo Education for a Connected World, entails that a Geneseo student will learn “perspectives and skills to engage the complexities and possibilities of a globally connected world” (GLOBE Information Page, 2023) through several courses and experiences. Since I have not been a student at Geneseo for long, I do not know what I may learn here in the future, but reflecting on this past semester, I have learned a lot to help me understand the global world. For example, in this writing class, we were introduced to the Geneseo Career Design Center and some of the programs they offer to students, such as Handshake, the Alumni Career Network, and Focus 2. These resources will be helpful to me and other students when we are looking for guidance towards choosing a career path, and trying to apply for jobs. Another example refers back to the concept of working with others in discussions and writing assignments. The epigraph’s idea of taking risks to be successful can again be applied here because this may not always be a comfortable activity for people. However, this prepares us for the future in our global connected world, because it is very likely in our future careers we will have to work as a team with others. People who have practiced working with others, like me through this writing class, will have an easier time working cooperatively with others in the future. Since we learned these skills and techniques in class, we are integrating what we are learning in the classroom into the “real world” and our life after college. Courses that can be used to benefit life inside and outside of Geneseo are not only practical, but necessary to keep producing active, engaged citizens into our global community. After all, isn’t the goal of education in the United States to develop students into good faithed, creative, productive citizens in our society?

People should want to pay attention to this epigraph because it could help to change their lives. If people accept risks, and the challenges that may come with taking a risk, they could obtain many rewards. There is a famous quote that says: “Risk is the price you pay for opportunity” (Unknown). Those who never take a chance will not know what they are missing out on or what they are capable of. This applies to all students in this writing class as well as everyone not in this class. We can see this being helpful in class because students who take the risk of asking for help, participating in discussions, and changing up their writing techniques, are more likely to progress as writers because they are accepting change. On the other hand, students who don’t attend class and have not been able to accept the idea of using feedback to their advantage, may never unlock a higher level of writing that their peers may achieve.

In conclusion, I have enjoyed my time in this writing course because I have learned how to become a better writer through collaboration activities, feedback from others, readings from “They Say/I Say” by Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff, and overall practice. It is interesting to me to look back at the course description on Brightspace and see the “Bloodchild” epigraph quote. At the start of this course, this would have meant nothing to me; I didn’t know the characters relevant, and I definitely did not know what “Bloodchild” was even about. Now that I understand the context of the quote, I can better understand its meaning and apply it to myself and this course. It matters to me that I continue to work towards being a better writer so my thoughts are never interpreted incorrectly or lost in translation because my writing wasn’t expressed clearly enough. While some may guess wrong at what I am trying to say or may not always follow along, I want to know that I wrote to the best of my ability every time. In addition, it is important to me to be perceived as a good writer (or at least not a bad writer) since it is assumed that people with strong writing skills put time and effort into their writings. For example, if I was reading an article without a strong argument or thesis, with many grammatical errors, and with overall unclarity of the focus of the article, I would assume the author is not a strong writer. Personally, I think effort and the effectiveness of a writing piece to persuade a reader to agree with a certain idea makes a good writer. I always take the time to think about what I am actually trying to write, and I try to make sure my thoughts are organized clearly, so I would want a reader to recognize this attention to detail. My goal of becoming a better writer has been accomplished through this course when I have taken risks, and I will continue to push myself to achieve more rewards of writing efficiently in the future.

Imagine a world in which aliens are coexisting with humans on the same planet. Each species has their own unique lifestyle that they are working to align with the other. This is the premise of Octavia Butler’s short story, “Bloodchild”, in the novel Bloodchild & Other Stories. “Bloodchild” describes the story of Terrans, which are humans and Tlics, an un-humanlike creature, from the perspective of Gan, the Terran narrator. Since the invasion of the Terrans, the Tlics have been inserting their eggs into the bodies of Terrans in order to boost their declining reproduction rates. In the case of Gan’s family, T’Gatoi, a grub-eating Tlic, has been observing his family to choose who she would insert her eggs into. T’Gatoi “liked the idea of choosing an infant and watching and taking part in all the phases of development” (Butler 8) and it becomes time for her and Gan’s family to make the decision. What begins as a mysterious, sometimes disturbing (from the description of egg insertion surgeries), science fiction story, ends with a romantic finale when Gan agrees to take T’Gatoi’s eggs in order to save his sister from the burden and to show his love for T’Gatoi. Butler’s “Bloodchild” illuminates the tensions, risks and rewards that I am experiencing here at Geneseo trying to create “a livable space” in a world that isn’t my “own” by illustrating examples of feeling like an outsider.

In “Bloodchild”, we can see the feeling of being an outsider through the Terran characters, which relates to the aspect of entering a world that isn’t my “own”. At first in the short story, it is unclear who the outsiders are, but we know someone does not belong. It may be common for the reader to assume in the beginning that the Tlic, including T’Gatoi, are the aliens, since she is described as a creature unlike a human. In Butler’s words, T’Gatoi has “bones–ribs, a long spine, a skull, four sets of limb bones per segment” (Butler 9). Since the Terrans and Tlics have such different lifestyles, Butler makes it clear that their ideals are foreign to the other and that this foreignness brings feelings of intimidation. This creature sounds foreign to us readers, and we know that it is not the description of a human or any being on Earth. This may also be why Gan’s family appears to be scared of her. However, we discover later on that it is in fact the Terrans that are the aliens when T’Gatoi mentions Gan’s “‘ancestors, fleeing from their homeworld’” (Butler 25). The realization that the Terrans were the aliens helps to acknowledge that humans often feel like outsiders and may be out of place. Their Terran ancestors took a risk in leaving their homeworld to this new planet. Additionally, humans and Terrans alike, like Gan, commonly feel intimidated by things and people they are unfamiliar with.

Since it is established that the Terrans are the “aliens” in “Bloodchild”, we can further identify the feelings of the Terrans who may feel like outsiders. Since it has been established that Terrans are very similar to humans, we can infer Terrans have a similar value and tradition system to humans. Therefore, when T’Gatoi begins eating a grub found inside a Terran she had cut open, Gan finds this practice disturbing. Gan doesn’t understand why T’Gatoi is engaging in this procedure. Trying to process this, he asks himself “Did she like the taste?” (Butler 17). In addition, although Gan lives on a foreign planet, he is not adapted to the Tlic way of life. Gan specifically says that “The whole procedure was wrong, alien. I wouldn’t have thought anything about her could seem alien to me” (Butler 17). This makes him question how well he understands his relationship with T’Gatoi, whom he thought he knew well before this interaction since he has known her all of his life. Also, Gan’s realization that T’Gatoi’s lifestyle is very different from his makes him feel like an outsider. Gan may feel like he stands out in a negative way by not engaging in the same procedure as T’Gatoi. This demonstrates that Gan felt intimidated by something he was unfamiliar with, but he did not let these feelings get in the way of confessing his love to T’Gatoi, and the rewards of having a relationship with an unexpected being.

In regards to my own life, during my time here at Geneseo, I have felt like an outsider. My journey of beginning college can be compared to “Bloodchild” by looking at my college experience through a similar lens. For instance, I could refer to college upperclassmen and professors as the “Tlic”. While they are not actual grub-eating, egg implanting people like in the story, they are people who are already content with the way of life in this “new world”. In other words, college upperclassmen and professors have previous familiarity with college life and the town of Geneseo. This makes them more likely to feel like they belong, opposed to someone like me, who has never been exposed to Geneseo and college life culture. Additionally, since they are people who are comfortable with Geneseo culture, they may seem intimidating to those unfamiliar with the culture.

Similarly, although I have my own lifestyle ideals, in this comparison I would consider myself a “Terran”. I am new to this world at Geneseo, and college life is “alien”. This does not mean that there is anything wrong with this “new world”, but it is only because I have never been in college before or lived in Geneseo that I do not know what it feels like for this to be my normal life. There is an initial risk by entering a “new world”; I may not enjoy college life, I might push myself too far out of my comfort zone, or I could worry that I made the mistake of choosing the wrong college. However, as I am adapting to my new environment, it is slowly becoming less obvious that I was just an outsider. I am now experiencing the rewards of stepping out of my comfort zone by exploring Geneseo, trying new things unique to college, and inviting the opportunity to make new friends.

As a reader of this essay, one may wonder- why does any of this matter? It’s beneficial for readers of fiction to make connections to their own lives in order to make their reading more meaningful. If a person can connect texts to themselves, they can better understand who they are as a person and they will likely enjoy their reading experience more fully. For example, if a person can find something to relate to in a text they read, like reading about building friendships while they themselves are trying to make friends, they may better appreciate what it is that they are reading since it helps them better understand their own lives. Through reading my connections between “Bloodchild”and my personal experiences at Geneseo, the reader of this essay will learn more about both this short story and about my college life. While this may not excite everyone, for some, it may be interesting to view a different person’s perspective on becoming comfortable in a world that isn’t your “own”, especially if the reader is going through a similar situation (as mentioned above). Everything considered, Butler’s “Bloodchild” is a strong representation of the tensions, risks, and rewards I have experienced at Geneseo while trying to create a “livable space” in a world that isn’t my “own” through the theme of feeling like an outsider.