Sentence Analysis of "Bloodchild"

Throughout “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler, there are many important moments of plot and character development. One line of character development follows Gan’s thoughts as he decides whether he should take on the burden of being impregnated by T’Gatoi. A meaningful line that displayed Gan’s decision reads “‘Don’t do it to her, Gatoi.’ I was not Qui. It seemed I could become him though, with no effort at all” (Butler 2527; 58). These sentences are significant because it highlights the contrast between Gan and Qui’s characters, while also drawing the line of similarity between them too.

The sentences are a concrete indication of Gan’s personality and character development. After witnessing Lomas’ disturbing birthing ritual, Gan (rightfully) did not want to be impregnated with Tlic eggs either and tried to distance himself from T’Gatoi. However, T’Gatoi still needed to deposit her eggs to someone though, so Gan initially offered up his sister Xuan Hoa, who would have happily done it. Shortly after, Gan realizes that by pushing away the burden of carrying the eggs, which is what Qui had done, his sister would unfairly have to carry the burden instead. So instead of being like Qui, Gan insists T’Gatoi give him her eggs as was originally planned. Xuan Hua had not seen the intensity of the process and was not fully aware of what she would’ve been getting into, and Gan recognized that it would be wrong of him to push off the burden to her. The specific phrasing of “it seemed I could become [Gan] though, with no effort at all”, highlights how easy it would have been for Gan to take the easy way out like Qui did, and his decision to not follow that path shows strength in his character (Butler 2527; 58). 

In his thoughts, Gan also explicitly states that he is not Qui, who has always cowered away from the Tlic and their eggs. Qui had watched Tlic eat a man when he was younger, seeing “the grubs eat their way out, then burrow in again, still eating”, which opened his eyes to the problems that came alongside carrying Tlic eggs (Butler 2524; 57). After hearing the story from Qui, this was another cause of Gan’s hesitance to be impregnated by T’Gatoi, who up until earlier that day had thought the entire birthing process was a smooth and painless procedure. By taking the higher road and carrying the burden and risk of the Tlic eggs himself, readers are able to experience a deeper understanding of Gan’s character and motivations. In the immediate aftermath of the Lomas situation, Gan even has a near-suicide moment, where he “brought the barrell up diagonally under [his] own chin” (Butler 2526; 58). But with a bit of convincing from T’Gatoi and the understanding of the repercussions of his actions, Gan eventually calms down and acquiesces to T’Gatoi’s request.

Despite Gan’s hesitance to undergo the birthing process himself, in the end, he still decides to take the responsibility upon himself, in a display of maturity. He understands the repercussions and details of the process and decides that it would be unfair to push the burden onto anyone else. From the beginning of the story, Gan seems to be just an average likable character, but as the story’s plot unfolds, so do more indications of his character. Butler does a great job with not only developing Gan’s character but also using strong and suggestive sentences that let the readers infer their true meaning.