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”?

Readers can easily deduce why Octavia Butler's won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for her story “Bloodchild.” The reader in a way is compelled to finish reading because of Butler's way of using heavily sensual description and mutliple themes in the story. “Bloodchild” is an unusual spin of a coming-of-age tale in Gan's experience throughout the story. Although Octavia Butler asserts “Bloodchild” is not about slavery, there are specific themes that can be identified as slavery in the story. The story contains analogies between human life with the Tlic and European slavery. Humans are inescapably used in the Tlic's reporductive cycle. “Bloodchild” does contain a love story albeit twisted in the sense of role reversals and co-dependency.
As Butler claims, “Bloodchild” is a story about maturity and the introduction of adulthood. The story starts with the line, “My last night of childhood began with a visit home.” which without a doubt signals the last of innocence (Butler 3). At the beginning of the story, Gan is confused as to why his mother shows some dislike towards the Tlic. Gan does not understand why his mother, Lien, does not take any eggs for herself and shows uncertainty to T'Gatoi. Gan narrates, “My mother hesitated for no reason that I could see. [...] She ate her share of eggs then. I wondered when she has stopped, and why.” (Butler 5). He also does not understand why Qui, who is aware of the reproductive cycle of Tlics, has a hatred for them. Gan's