Jasmine Williams
English 103
Professor Bryan Henery
16 December 2015
Postcolonial Criticism When analyzing stories from a postcolonial criticism viewpoint, oftentimes one will see and oppressed group along with a dominant group. Postcolonial critics also see stereotypes in text as people without power are portrayed as the inferior ones. Oppressed individuals as seen from this viewpoint can also develop feelings of alienation. Postcolonial criticism can be similar to cultural studies, however it can have a unique perspective on literature and politics. This type of criticism can look at certain issues of power, politics, economics, and culture. Moreover, the authors can often reinforce colonial hegemonic ideology, such as Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Western critics might consider Heart of Darkness an effective critique of colonial behavior. But post-colonial theorists and authors might disagree with this perspective: "...as Chinua Achebe observes, the novel's condemnation of European is based on a definition of Africans as savages: beneath their veneer of civilization, the Europeans are, the novel tells us, as barbaric as the Africans. And indeed, Achebe notes, the novel portrays Africans as a pre-historic mass of frenzied, howling, incomprehensible barbarians..." (Tyson 374-375). In many works of literature, specifically those coming out of Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian Subcontinent, we meet characters that are struggling with their identities in the wake of colonization, or the establishment of colonies in another nation. The post-colonial theorist enters these texts through a specific critical lens, or a specific way of reading a text. That critical lens, post-colonial theory or post-colonialism, asks the reader to analyze and explain the effects that colonization and imperialism, or the extension of power into other nations, have on people and nations. In Octavia Butler’s story “Bloodchild”, we can examine the relationship between the Tlic and the humans. There is a clear slave-master relationship along with a co-dependency between the two species. This relationship between the Tlic and the humans in the story parallel the relationship between slave life under the Europeans. The Terrans are confined to a designated tract of land. Each household has a Tlic “master” who is clearly the head of the family and in absolute control. When the behavior of a member of the household is displeasing to T’Gatoi, she corrects it with the sure authority of one in a position of dominance. The Tlic maintain physical dominance over the humans as well as symbolic: they are much bigger, stronger, and more powerful creatures than the Terrans. The Terran’s are victims of the Tlic culture which forces them to participate in the Tlic reproductive cycle, whether or not they wish to do so – every family must give at least one child for reproduction. In much the same way, slave masters would coerce female slaves into sexual submission by threatening loved ones, revoking offers of freedom or privilege, or resorting to violence and force of will. Though Gan claims that the Terrans remain an independent people, a brief look from the outside perspective of the reader reveals this to be obviously false. Humans are not allowed to journey outside the Preserve unless they are brought out with a Tlic. They are not allowed to have firearms or motor vehicles, ostensibly for their own protection.