"My last night of childhood began with a visit home (Butler, 1995, p. 1).” In her short story Bloodchild, Octavia Butler presents the story of a boy named Gan raised in a dystopian society where two different species depend on each other to survive. From a psychological point of view, childhood is a process that marks a big part of your life. In Freud's subconscious theory, different events can be compared with the growth of Gan: the human mind structured as an iceberg, the memories of Gan and the last day of his childhood. From a young age, Gan remembers how his mother taught him to be respectful to a Tlic government official named T'Gatoi, and to know the difference between Tlic and Terrans. This short story is the latent memory of Gan, where he describes how he grew until he reached the final moment of his childhood. Just like Freud’s subconscious theory, we can analyze Gan's mind and compare to an iceberg. Freud states that the human mind is structured like an iceberg. Also, he says that it is divided into three parts: the conscious, the preconscious and the subconscious. At the same time, it emphasizes the importance of the subconscious, that part below of an iceberg that keeps afloat the same one. These mental processes in the subconscious are those that are taken into account when talking about an individual human behavior. Psychoanalytic theory goes much further than sexually, but in Bloodchild, we can identify several factors that helped the development of Gan as
“Dad said something about Jesus H. Christ on a goddamn crutch not taking that much time to gestate. Mom got upset at Dad’s blasphemy, reached her foot over to the
In his play Where the Blood Mixes, Kevin Loring casts light on the rippling effects of the trauma caused by residential schools on generations of Indigenous peoples in the twenty first century. Loring's play, which is set in the twenty first century, illuminates the present-day legacy of residential schools and residential school survivors. Loring strives not to minimize the experiences of residential school survivors, but to reconstruct how residential school survivors are viewed and represented. Loring achieves this task through his depiction of characters that are sad but loving and funny people with hobbies, people who are not consumed with and defined by their residential school experiences but continue to feel its painful
Why did Chasteen title the book Born in Blood and Fire? With all of its rich diversity and complex history, why does it make sense to still speak of one “Latin American history”?
The child seems to address the reader and says, “You tell me it’s too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the perfect simplicity of being one and the beautiful complexity introduced by two” (76). The child goes on to list more magnificent experiences he had as a younger child. With these lines Collins masterfully predicts what the reader must be feeling. The reader is doubtful at first that this boy is old enough to be thinking about this, but as the stanza carries on they begin to realize he has a point. Collins reminds the reader of possible memories they have and proves that what this child is feeling is valid. The boy goes on to proclaim, “It is time to say goodbye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number. Collins suggests that an active and free roaming imagination must be let go as one grows older. Again he targets the readers past experiences and reminds them that growing up can be a really sad thing. The reader is also reminded of the fun childhood they lost. It is clear to see that adults who have forgotten their past are the targeted audience as the poem reminds them of old times and causes them to remember lost memories of growing
Poetry is like a song without music, it has the ability to awaken your emotions and the ability to tell stories that can paint beautiful, relatable, imagery in the viewer’s mind. Upon reading the poem, “My Son the Man” by Sharon Olds, she presents a unique view on her bittersweet experience of watching her son gravitate towards manhood, “Suddenly his shoulders get a lot wider” (line1), while realizing he is astute enough to escape his mother’s strong hold, “to learn the way out” (line 16). As a mother myself, I began to recognize how I can relate to the speaker’s challenges of understanding a child’s need to test limits and break free from dependency. I realized through the speaker’s obvious allusions to Houdini expressing the need to break free, the contrast used to convey the indirect references to Houdini, and the similes used to express emotion toward reflecting back on a time of innocence, accepting the need of a maturing child’s independence proves the strength of a mother’s love.
Alex Kotlowitz’s There Are No Children Here is a documentary exploring life in inner-city Chicago during the late 1980’s. The book follows the lives of two African American youth, Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, who live in Chicago’s Horner Homes over the course of two years. It tells of a lifestyle that is a reality for many Americans and forces the reader to acknowledge a broken system that so many turn a blind eye toward. Kotlowitz does not sugarcoat the struggles and hardships that the citizens of the inner-city face every single day. The Rivers’ boys, like all the children of inner-cities, experience situations and know of unimaginable horrors that rob them of their innocence and childhoods. Lafeyette and Pharoah have to face and overcome many forces that can change their lives for the worst, such as: gangs and drugs, the social system, the Chicago Housing Authority, and the battle within them to give into the worst of society. Sociological concepts, including: racism, strain theory, and social stratification can explain some of the exploitation of Lafeyette and Pharoah.
Whites didn’t just open the door up and say, ‘Yall come in, integration done come.’ ‘It didn’t happen that way in Oxford. Somebody was bruised and kicked and knocked around-you better believe it’”. The social revolution of the 1960s changed America in ways that will be debated for a long time to come. Legacies both positive and negative were a part of that revolution, along with a few stirring controversies held over. Stories of heroic acts of protest, sweeping reforms, and unresolved crimes remain with people even today. In Oxford, it seemed that the nonviolent Civil Rights Movement had accomplished almost nothing, for white Oxford had closed the gate against reform. In the book, “Blood Done Sign My Name “, Tyson telling a story where an impassioned sense of justice is denied. Throughout the book Tyson accomplished three things he gave his personal story of what it was like to grow up in the south, to look at the investigation of a brutal crime where new evidence is brought forth, then he talks about the history of the Civil Right era especially in Oxford where the murder of Henry Marrow ignited the flame among the black community.
One of the main features of childhood studies is the idea that childhood is socially constructed. This means that not all childhoods are the same and that it may differ depending on the time in which it is taking place, as well as the social environment or the place that it is taking place. This can be seen at the Museum of Childhood, and how different times have shown changes in the way children act, play, dress, or ultimately are treated in society. Additionally it draws on key differences in the human societies affecting different childhoods in any given period or place, and can examine how the childhood in that given period is constructed. Furthermore a social constructionist looks at the consequences of any given factor and the impact it has on children.
Our childhood plays a significant role in defining the kind of person that we become and the type of life that we live.
Octavia Butler’s Dawn explores a world of the unknown after humans nearly destroy their kind along with Earth, causing an extraterrestrial species to intervene. The protagonist, Lilith, finds herself in a predicament as she is captured and locked in solidarity for a long. The extraterrestrial species that intervenes, Oankali, strip her of her clothes, mysteriously cut her and then tell her it is her role to mother a group of humans and prepare them for a return to Earth. In the novel Lilith is conflicted, she knows she has no control of her body and that humans have been “enslaved” by the Oankali but begins to trust and connect with them, especially Nikanj. Through the relationship of Lilith and Nikanj side by side with Humans and the Oankali, Octavia Butler explores the monstrous aspects of people and acts within the cultures.
Should Octavia E. Butler’s “Bloodchild” be classified as a slave story? The author claims that “Bloodchild” is not a tale of slavery, but rather a love story and a coming-of-age tale. Does “Bloochild” conform to the conventions of the slave stories, love stories, or coming-of-age tales with which you are familiar? What other classifications—in terms of literary genre, form, or mode—apply to “Bloodchild”?
First of all, the idea about that the fiction novel, Blood Child by Octavia Butler, is only about slavery is completely wrong. This story is focusing the complicated love and hate between the aliens and the Terran. Comparing with the normal slavery stories, there was a love and relationship between of the aliens and Terran families. They grow up together, and sharing experiences and cares. T’Gatoi grew together with Gan’s mother.
In the United States it is not uncommon to hear the question, “What are you?” This seemingly simple question stems from the American belief that individuals can be divided into different biologically defined racial groups. However, anthropologists have long argued that U.S. racial groups are a product of American cultural constructions, meaning that racial groups are not genetically determined but only represent the way cultures (in this case Americans) classify people. For example, in the U.S individuals are classified into different races based on their heritage. However in Brazil, people are classified into a series of “tipos" based on their physical appearance. In the article “Mixed Blood”, Jeffrey Fish supports the claim that race is nothing more, but a social construct by demonstrating the cultural basis of race by comparing how races are defined in the United States and Brazil.
Octavia Butler, an African-American author who uses her writing abilities to instill awareness through a unique form of science fiction. Each of her novels and stories address issues and topics that address issues that typically are discussed with a lot of tension from the feminist of the world. Some of these issues include gender inequalities and gender norms. The short story that I decided to read and write about is “Bloodchild” which is based on a romantic and controlling relationship with humans and outer space creatures. This author switches the roles of the characters to opposite of societal norms.
The poem “My Son the Man” is a short poem written by Sharon Olds. Using allusion and simile Sharon tells about a mom watching her son mature, growing and escaping her grasp. The mother expresses sadness as she reflects on her maturing son watching him grow into a man; comparing it the magician Houdini performing his mesmerizing challenging escapes.