An Egg Dream
In Octavia Butler’s short story, “Bloodchild” this idea of eggs is incorporated throughout the story as this source of life and sense of nourishment—but also a parasite. To summarize, this story is about an isolated colony of human beings on an extrasolar world filled with grub, centipede-like things.
Humans are not the superior species, which is so very different compared to any other science fiction story where the humans win the intergalactic war and colonize every planet and sentient being and are the empire. In this story, humans are hosts for the being’s eggs and that is their sole purpose. Could the same be said for women on planet earth? Yes, as that is the constructed role of women in the patriarchal society. This idea of eggs made me think of something I’ve read that I never really realized before. We were a part of our grandmother while living in our mother, as I was one of my mother’s eggs already in her body when she was in the womb of her mother. We are multiple generations and have lived through multiple generations and this explores the idea that we are a part of each other and closer than we think. It’s beautiful to think of our connection on a deeper level and it creates this womanhood solidarity that we can find comfort in sharing.
In “Bloodchild” this idea is still there, but masked with this parasite phenomenon that makes you question the value and how reproduction is exploited. In this story, the eggs are more valuable than the host, but the host is lied to to be convinced this is safe and they will make it out alive. That isn’t the case. And thinking about our current events and our societal constructions, I don’t think this is as science fiction as you’d think. Don’t you think we are more concerned about popping that baby out rather than the livelihood for the mother and even what conditions that baby will have to grow up in? The mother becomes the victim in abortion cases and we see in this story the pressure and demand to be a host for these eggs as the main character, Gan, feels guilty for being forced to host a parasite given to him by a parasite who has complete control over the relationship. We see the inner turmoil Gan goes through after seeing first-hand the destruction the eggs leave the host in. Gan wanted to back out of the situation and we often read his victim blaming by feeling shame for not wanting to host. This toxic relationship was hard to read, and in the end, Gan gives in and we keep going around the cycle of toxicity, and society continues on with these expectations. Another meaning behind the egg is it’s a source of food. However, it can only be given by the being who is the head of the family. At first, you think it is wholesome that they provide for the family, but really those eggs give them control. They are the main source of food for those humans to survive on and the eggs have effects to make them sleep, hence the idea of “the egg dream.” The being has full control of their bodies by feeding them these eggs. After reading this story it made me think a lot about eggs and their meaning, which I guess put me in my own kind of “egg dream” and not the one that involved scrambled eggs.
