Octavia Butler's 'Bloodchild'

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Octavia Butler’s short story “Bloodchild” does an excellent job of displaying the idea of the endangerment of the human species and the interactions humans have with other species. In essence, “Bloodchild” begs the question the interdependence between different species and the individuality of the human race along with how other intelligent/semi-intelligent animals react to being used by a marginally superior race. In the parallel universe of “Bloodchild”, or perhaps even the not too distant future, a world where humanity is on the brink of extinction is a fascinatingly bleak concept. In Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild”, the T’Gatoi are dependent on the humans for survival through incubation, while the humans are at the mercy of the T’Gatoi who …show more content…
It is very difficult to consider any scenario where the human species is not at the forefront in any and every aspect in relation to other animal species, however, at the same time it is evident that our time at the at the top is drastically altering the world around us. The rampant exploitation of natural resources, in addition to the resulting pollution, by humans have led to the destruction of multiple habitats and this destruction coupled with the rapid expanse of modern metropolises have lead to the extinction of hundreds of species. According to research done by the Gerardo Ceballos and associates at the University of Arizona, “modern extinction rates have increased sharply over the past 200 years (corresponding to the rise of the industrial society) and are considerably higher than background rates.” The background rates referenced by the researchers refer to the projected extinction rates of vertebras at the calculated normal levels prior to human relevance on the global scale. It is evident that humanity has played an irrevocable role in transforming the landscape and global infrastructure on such a level as to completely wipe out and endanger other species. There are only a couple of logical scenarios in which humanity would ever become endangered in any sense of the word and it consists of the introduction of a technologically superior or vastly more intelligent species, or
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