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The sterile eggs function to demonstrate how well the different members of Gan’s family have integrated and participated in the combined Terran-Tlic society. Unlike the fertile eggs that are implanted into hosts, sterile Tlic eggs are offered to Terrans to drink, often as an incentive, and contain several potent properties. For Terrans, not only are they an effective narcotic that induces a dream-like state, they also increase vitality and vigor, extending a Terran’s lifespan well beyond its natural length if consumed often enough. As such, the sterile eggs are representative of all of the benefits that the Terrans receive for their part of the interdependent agreement between themselves and the Tlic. Although the Terrans also receive protection, general provision, and a territory to live in, the eggs are their primary reward for sacrificing their bodies as hosts.
Gan’s father, a model citizen who hosted Tlic young three different times, ate his share of eggs and was blessed with a fruitful life that was twice as long as it naturally ought to have been. By contrast, Lien’s outright refusal of the eggs is representative of her refusal to participate in society or even the life of her family at all. In her defiance of T’Gatoi and the whole arrangement between the two species, Lien will neither contribute to their interdependent community nor will she accept its benefits, choosing instead to live miserably and die relatively young. Qui demands his share of whatever eggs may come into the host—desirous of their narcotic properties that allow him to temporarily escape from his wretched, hateful life—but since he is not a host and unwilling to labor for the sake of the community, the only eggs that he will ever have access to are his share of whatever is gifted to the family. Qui’s desire for eggs underscores the fact that, though they do physically aid the humans who drink them, the eggs’ narcotic properties also essentially make them a pacifying device to maintain Tlic authority and the tenuous peace between the different species.
The Sterile Eggs Quotes in Bloodchild
The Bloodchild quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Sterile Eggs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Bloodchild
Quotes
I lay against T’Gatoi’s long, velvet underside, sipping from my egg now and then, wondering why my mother denied herself such a harmless pleasure. Less of her hair would be gray if she indulged now and then. The eggs prolonged life, prolonged vigor. My father, who had never refused one in his life, had lived more than twice as long as he should have. And toward the end of his life, when he should have been slowing down, he had married my mother and fathered four children.
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Unwillingly obedient, my mother took it from me and put it to her mouth. There were only a few drops left in the now-shrunken, elastic shell, but she squeezed them out, swallowed, them, and after a few moments some of the lines of tension began to smooth from her face.
“It’s good,” she whispered. “Sometimes I forget how good it is.”
“You should take more,” T’Gatoi said. “Why are you in such a hurry to be old?”
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I would like to have touched my mother, shared that moment with her. She would take my hand if I touched her now. Freed by the egg and the sting, she would smile and perhaps say things long held in. But tomorrow, she would remember all this as a humiliation. I did not want to be part of a remembered humiliation. Best just be still and know she loved me under all the duty and pride and pain.
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The Sterile Eggs Symbol Timeline in Bloodchild
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Sterile Eggs appears in Bloodchild. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Bloodchild
...his “last night of childhood.” Gan and T’Gatoi are visiting his family’s home, bringing two eggs given by T’Gatoi’s sister for the family to drink. Gan’s siblings share one and Gan...
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...with T’Gatoi, stretched out against her belly, watching his mother and wondering why she refused eggs. Her hair is graying, and old age is clearly setting in. Gan’s father drank every...
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T’Gatoi tells Lien that she wants her to drink what is left of Gan’s egg. Lien resists at first, but eventually begrudgingly obeys and drinks, her face visibly relaxing as...
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Under the effect of egg and sting, Lien protests that T’Gatoi will never take Gan from her, and could never...
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...Gan. She was there when he was born, holding him within minutes and giving him egg within days. Because he has known T’Gatoi for all his days, Gan trusts her completely...
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...he does. Even so, Qui makes sure that he gets his fair portion of every egg that is made available.
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...knowing his life is in danger. She reassures him that T’Khotgif Teh will come with eggs to help him heal.
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...enough, Qui realized there was nowhere to run to, so he focused on getting whatever eggs he could to drink. He became over-protective of Gan in “a way that clearly said,...
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