In the story "Bloodchild" the author give twist view of what what we call natural boundaries. T'Gatoi is first present as a kind of mother figure to Gan, which make sense because she like 3 times older than his mother. But then creates in word a sense of sexual desire for him. So what he a lover or child to her, but it gets stranger.
Also in the story they are located on a preserve, which we normally think of animals for this. thought they had animals on this preserve, you get the sense they treated as animal because they treat them the same way. They have filled both animal and terrans with there egg, to reproduce the alien race. So then is this a relationship with intelligent species of people and animals? And theres more but I think it gets more disturbing. I think the author blurs the relationship boundaries in this piece, leaving us wondering what kind of twisted relationship is this?
You make the important observation that traditional societal boundaries get thrown out the window in this story which takes place on an alien planet. T'Gatoi seems to view Gan as a son, a partner, a lover, and potentially a "pet" to be used for her benefit. Is this relationship truly "twisted," as you say, or does Butler intentionally break these boundaries as a way of forcing the reader to think differently about the world in which we live? Remember that despite the fact that the story is set on an alien planet, science fiction is usually a commentary on our reality.
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