Assignment 3 Lianne Tremblay

Evaluation of an argument related to science fiction

1. It is a symbiotic relationship wherein the Terrans act as hosts for the Tlics' children,

and the Tlics provide ways to lengthen Terran life, and the ability to heal them very

rapidly. It does seem that for a while it was not fully mutual, and Terran life was not

as honoured as it is now during the timeline of the story. According to Gan, there was

a time that "the Tlic saw [them] as not much more than convenient, big, warm-

blooded animals, they would pen several [Terrans] together, male and female, and

feed [them] only eggs." (Butler, pg.23) It seems now that there are policies in place

to protect and allow only certain Terrans as hosts, and to prevent them from being,

essentially, slaves.

2. The main event of the story is a Tlic birthing process which Gan, the Terran chosen as

a mate by T'Gatoi, is witness to. A N'Tlic– which seems to be a title given to the

Terrans that are chosen as hosts/mates/partners for a Tlic–, named Bram Lomas is

taken into Gan's mother's home and T'Gatoi removes the children from inside him

and transfers them to a large animal to finish the process of the birth. It is very

bloody and, if one is not a fan of parasites, rather horrific.

3. This event causes Gan to rethink his partnering with T'Gatoi, since he would have to

go through a similar process of being implanted with the eggs, and then later cut

open for them to be removed before they could kill him. He briefly thinks about his

father, and how he had gone through the same thing: " He had done it three times in

his long life. Three clutches of eggs, three times being opened up and sewed up. How

had he done it? How did anyone do it?" (Butler, pg.43) He witnesses a pretty brutal

birthing process, according to T'Gatoi, since the Tlic that implants the eggs should be

the one to help remove them. Lomas' Tlic is sick and not present for the birthing;

T'Gatoi has to do it instead. Gan also considers shooting himself instead of going
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Assignment 3 Lianne Tremblay
Evaluation of an argument related to science fiction

through the same process. T'Gatoi, realizing he would rather die than bear her

young, asks if she should go to his sister instead. He changes his mind, since he

doesn't want to use his sister as a shield and have her go through the process

instead, like his brother did to him. And, it seems, that he felt jealous that T'Gatoi

would put her eggs in anyone else, despite his fear and revulsion.

4.

a. In the first argument, the moral theory used is Utilitarianism, since it justifies

using Terrans as a means to continue their species despite the physical and

mental toll it takes on the N'Tlics and their families. While the other outcome

for the Terrans of being enslaved and/or killed on their home planet is far

worse, the arrangement with the Tlics is far from morally justified. Firstly, the

relationship between the two species started off pretty poorly, since the

Terrans were penned in and force-fed Tlic eggs to make them drugged and

unable to fight off hosting the eggs. It seems some catalyst occured, however,

to prevent that from continuing: "A few generations of it and we would have

been little more than convenient, big animals." (Butler, pg.24) So, if the

relationship had been completely consensual from the outset, and if Terrans

now were completely informed about the entire process, as Gan argues, then

it would be a relationship on equal grounds and more ethically sound. While

it is understandable that the Tlics were no doubt getting desperate, since so

few of their eggs were surviving in the host animals they had been using,

Kantian ethics would argue that life is intrinsically valuable, and despite the

end goal being the preservation of their people in the face of possible

extinction, the means by which they went about reaching that goal was not
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Evaluation of an argument related to science fiction

wholly truthful nor were Terrans treated with the proper value and respect

they deserved.

b. -

c. I think the arrangement is somewhat justifiable, but to be truly morally

acceptable I believe that the Terrans should have complete knowledge about

what they are agreeing to when they partner with the Tlics. Just as we are

shown footage of birth and are informed of everything that could go wrong,

so too should the Terrans so they can make informed and consenting choices

in the matter. Gan says as much in Bloodchild when T'Gatoi says no Terran

should ever have to witness what he did: "'Not protected,' I said. 'Shown.

Shown when we’re young kids, and shown more than once. Gatoi, no Terran

ever sees a birth that goes right. All we see is N’Tlic— pain and terror and

maybe death.'" (Butler, p.52) If the Terrans were able to see it all, and still

chose to go through with it to help the Tlics further their species and receive

the benefits of their relationship, then that to me is a completely morally

acceptable relationship. After all, if Gan's father went through it three times,

then it makes sense that other Terrans would accept the risks of the birthing

process despite knowing what would happen to them– much like we do while

fully informed of our own. And not only informed, because it seems as

though T'Gatoi is among only a small faction of her people that see Terrans as

a free and independent people:

T’Gatoi was hounded on the outside. Her people

wanted more of us made available. Only she and
her political faction stood between and the
hordes who did not understand there was a
Preserve— why any Terran not be courted, paid,
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Assignment 3 Lianne Tremblay
Evaluation of an argument related to science fiction

drafted, in some way made available to them. Or

they did understand, but in their desperation,
they did not care. She parceled us out to the
desperate and sold us to the rich and powerful
for their political support. Thus, we were
necessities, status symbols, and an independent
people. She oversaw the joining of families,
putting an end to the final remnants of the
earlier system of breaking up Terran families to
suit impatient Tlic. (Butler, p.17)

The overall shift in the beliefs of her people should change for the relationship

between Tlics and Terrans to be seen as morally justifiable, because if the Tlics

do not unanimously– or at least the majority of their species– see Terrans as

moral agents deserving their total respect as a people, then they see them as

lesser, and there is no grounds for any ethical relationship from that. They are

also banned from motorized vehicles and guns, stripping them of rights that it

seems Tlics have unquestioned. While there are good things they receive from

the Tlics, it seems as though they are not equal to them. And though the

author argues that this story is not one about slavery, there seem to be

enough arguments for the civil rights of the Terrans that should be addressed

before they can be regarded as truly independent and free people.

5. I believe another interesting philosophical aspect of the story is the exploration of

what makes something "alien" or "other" to us. The Tlics reproduce by using a host,

implanting them with their eggs, and then removing the grubs before they can poison

and subsequently kill the Terran host. They must cut open the Terran and remove the

grubs from inside them and then transfer them into an animal host, meaning the

animal is poisoned, eaten (since the grubs need blood to grow), and dies from the

end of the grub's gestation period. This seems very horrific, but what is it that makes

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Assignment 3 Lianne Tremblay
Evaluation of an argument related to science fiction

it truly horrible? We– and the Terrans in the story– see this as a vile, repulsive thing,

but what is it that makes it so? The process for the Terrans is usually painless and

done while they are unconcious or at least sedated in some way, to prevent any pain,

and they don't usually die from the procedure. The implantation doesn't seem to be

done to anyone unwilling anymore, and even the process of implantation seems

painless and even enjoyable. Gan watches the process and thinks to himself, "I knew

birth was painful and bloody, no matter what. But this was something else, something

worse." (Butler, p.34) and that "[t]he whole procedure was wrong, alien." (Butler,

p.35) It is alien to us, and to the Terrans, since our birthing process isn't like that, but

is is it truly so different? C-sections happen quite frequently, and our own babies feed

from us in order to grow and become healthy before they are born, and plenty of

people have died due to complications during childbirth. And yet we haven't stopped

having children. It seems what is so alien in this case is that the grubs are not in any

sort of "womb"; that they will poison, eat, and kill the host body if left inside; and

that they are more insect-like than I think most people are comfortable with. This

story calls on the parallels of human birth and Tlic birth in many ways, and is stated to

be a story of pregnancy by the author in her afterword– and while I'll argue that the

"pregnant man" story is perhaps a bit of a narrow mindset considering how many

transgender men give birth, I understand that it's an interesting perspective to

consider a story in which a cisgender man chooses to get pregnant out of love. It was

interesting to come out of the story at the end feeling a bit less horrified by the

process, examining biases that I had going in, and coming out of it considering

questions about human-alien relations that could possibly be in our future.