“Bloodchild” Response

1.     “Bloodchild” is a somewhat disturbing story. I felt that the story’s message was to shift people’s perspective away from being on top of the food chain. There’s a parasitic relationship between the two species, but it’s shown as being normalized through a social structure with undertones of a political structure. Since the story is from the perspective of a Terran that’s about to have eggs put in him we identify with him and see the world from this caged, submissive, perspective. The life of the Terrans seems demeaning and subservient to us, it feels like they’re just a resource. This makes the story successful in flipping the reader’s perspective.

2.     I was able to connect the story to sentiments felt by people today. In the story it feels like there’s an authoritative Tlic State governing the Terrans and controlling their lives completely. For example, the Terrans are not allowed to have weapons, “for our protection, we were told.” There’s a sort of offhanded sarcasm to this remark on the part of Gan. It goes further, after Gan threatens to kill himself, then changes his mind, T’Gatoi tries to take the rifle from him saying, “it’s the law.” Gan appeals to her saying there must be trust in their relationship, but later she says she’ll take it anyway. This shows that this is really no trust and that Gan is just something for T’Gatoi to use.

3.     If this story was adapted into film, there would need to be some significant changes. Currently the story is Gan “coming of age,” and starting to understand how the relationship between the Tlics and the Terrans really works. However, I do not feel this is a compelling narrative for the screen. The story relies on suspense to get the reader into it, slowly introducing how foreign the story is to the modern reader. This cannot be done on film, as soon as we see T’Gatoi we’ll know that she’s some alien centipede thing. Also, nothing much changes over the story. It would be much more exciting if Gan starts a revolution and overthrows the Tlic. Maybe it doesn’t have to be that extreme, but I feel like there needs to be a bigger change over the course of the story.

The Hobbit and the Hero's Journey

The Hobbit is certainly an example of the hero's journey. The lead character is stuck in a rut, forced out of his norm, goes on a journey, confronts challenges, succeeds, then returns home changed. This is the formula of a hero's journey.
However, there is a clear deficit in The Hobbit in terms of creating a compelling story. Bilbo really doesn't have anything he cares about other than his way of life. He doesn't have a family or something that means more to him than life itself that explains his reasoning for taking the journey. He does have an attachment to his lifestyle, but it doesn't seem like something he is wholly invested in because he later makes the decision to leave his home and way of life to go on his journey.
This is not necessarily a bad thing in a hero's journey. The other option would be to have the lead be coerced or forced in some other way to take the journey, but Bilbo chooses to go on the journey. This is my primary criticism of the story, there's no visceral reason why Bilbo chooses to go on the journey and no real logical reason either.
In the same vain, he learns about a journey he can choose to go on by total chance. Gandalf seems to just be walking past and Bilbo just happens to be out smoking his pipe and say "good morning" to this man that he does not recognize. This meeting is not really set up, save for some vague references Bilbo makes to his childhood.
Beyond the deficient (in my opinion) setup, the rest of the novel follows the conventions of a hero's journey, which is a very compelling and tested model of a plot. The interest is created through the new world created by Tolkien that the reader can't help but be invested in. The detail of the world and the eccentricity of it is very compelling and sure to hold any reader.

Witches in Aunt Maria

The witches in Aunt Maria follow some conventions of witches, but I would not go so far as to call them stereotypes or archetypes of witches. These witches are not overtly witches, and do not identify themselves as witches. Had I not known that the topic of this week’s readings was witches I may not even have labeled them as such. I would have thought they were normal humans who dabble in sorcery.

Their powers and influence is much more subdued. The effects of their powers are ethereal and gently permeate the town. There are no physical manifestations of where their powers come from. Aunt Maria doesn’t have a cauldron in her basement where she brews up potions and concocts spells to keep her influence over the town. It seems the witches’ powers in this novel are more of an extension of social manipulation. It’s masked in their normal speech and action.

The book also shows a hierarchical structure in the town. Aunt Maria’s friends are all her disciples that do her bidding, pleasantly masked in etiquette. The control over the town could also be seen as a warped extension of etiquette. The other notable point is that the men and women still have their roles. The men drive the cars and shoot the guns and push Aunt Maria around in her wheelchair, doing what they are supposed to do, while the women pull the strings. The conventional gender roles are still in place, but the power is all placed with the women.

What this novel seems to say about women and women with power is that women derive their influence through social manipulation. The book heightens this by turning it into a sinister means to achieve the aim of total control in the town. The book opens with this, showing Aunt Maria manipulating and guilting the family through the phone and then in person. The book also points out that all women have this “power.” When the family first arrives Mig picks up on what Aunt Maria is doing and does the same to Chris to have him bring luggage inside.  

It creates a stark contrast between the way men and women achieve things. The men are brash, they say what they mean and mean what they say. This is what leads to Chris being turned into a wolf. He can’t hold his tongue and barks at Aunt Maria, saying he intends to compromise her authority. Mig, on the other hand, knows she must be subtle. She writes her feelings down but does not say them. She masks her intentions and lies, which is the only way to defeat Aunt Maria.

Gothic elements of Frankenstein

One of the key elements of Frankenstein is it’s dated feeling characteristic of the gothic genre. Despite that this was written in the 19^th century the setting, characters, and topics are all antiquated. Frankenstein’s use of old alchemist texts, the age of the mountains, even the frame narrative has a dated feeling of voyaging out across the sea. High society was enjoying the beginnings of chic, cosmopolitan, urban life when the novel was written, but the text is mired in antiquity.

Gothic works also portray decay. In Southern Gothic work it highlights the decay and breakdown of society in the American South. Much the same way, Frankenstein shows Frankenstein’s decay as a man. Frankenstein is destroyed by his passions and loses everything he holds dear because of his work.

Frankenstein loses friends and loved ones to his monster, but the slow pace at which the monster strips away everything shows the process of his decay. The process is also denigrating to Frankenstein because he becomes convinced that he is at fault for the deaths, and the novel seems to agree with that. He is painted as a man who has done all this to himself.

The repulsive subject matter is also very gothic. Gothic work often deals with the grotesque and the disturbing image of a man-made man is a clear example of this. The murders and other violence is also grotesque.

The novel is a perfect example of gothic literature, utilizing the elements of style that make this kind of work unique.