Brief Summary Of Tlic's Eggs
Summary: The story begins with an insect-like alien called T’Gatoi bringing her human family eggs, which act as both a drug and a medicine (prolonging life). Gan, the main character gets a whole egg to himself while his brother and sister share. Suddenly, T’Gatoi jumps up and goes outside, sensing something is wrong. Gan follows and sees her bringing back a man named Bram Lomas who is N’Tlic, meaning that he is about to give birth to his Tlic’s eggs. The situation becomes an emergency because his Tlic, T’Khotgif Teh is sick and unable to help with the delivery. T’Gatoi then sends Gans brother to get help while Gan stays and helps with the procedure. T’Gatoi tells him to go kill a large animal. He retrieves a hidden rifle and kills an achti,
then hides the rifle again. When he returns T’Gatoi cuts into the man’s abdomen, retrieving the grubs, and placing them in the carcass of the animal. Disgusted by the process, T’Gatoi excuses Gan to go outside and vomit. Gan then sees the doctor arrive with Qui and T’Khotgif Teh. Hanging back, Qui tells Gan that he has always been suspicious of the Tlic and hostile toward T’Gatoi. He also tells him he once saw a Tlic kill a man who was N’Tlic. Gan then becomes furious and returns to the house with a loaded rifle waiting for T’Gatoi. She enters and asks if Gan means to shoot her and he does not answer, but asks, “What are we to you?” and moves the gun to his own throat. She says that that is up to him and asks if she should go to his sister, Xuan Hoa instead. He at first agrees but then changes his mind. They then go into the bedroom and the egg is implanted.
Themes: Right from the opening line, “My last night of childhood began with a visit home” you can tell that it is a coming of age story. After Gan witnesses the flesh-eating grubs hatch from Bram Lomas, he still agrees to be implanted with the eggs despite knowing what’s to come. Bizarre as this may seem, the story’s plot shares many elements that are common to coming of age stories. At the beginning of the story Gan is innocent and doesn’t understand his mother’s or Qui’s hostility toward T’Gatoi. At the end of the story, he is in a position of knowledge, agreeing to be implanted with T’Gatoi’s eggs despite the risks that are involved. He agrees to the implantation for complicated reasons that show he has matured greatly. While T’Gatoi initially has a somewhat motherly relationship to Gan, this relationship changes when he pulls out a gun and challenges her, asserting his new status as her equal. When he chooses to accept T’Gatoi’s eggs, he not only protects his innocent sister, but also assumes responsibility for keeping the social order established between the human and Tlic species.
then hides the rifle again. When he returns T’Gatoi cuts into the man’s abdomen, retrieving the grubs, and placing them in the carcass of the animal. Disgusted by the process, T’Gatoi excuses Gan to go outside and vomit. Gan then sees the doctor arrive with Qui and T’Khotgif Teh. Hanging back, Qui tells Gan that he has always been suspicious of the Tlic and hostile toward T’Gatoi. He also tells him he once saw a Tlic kill a man who was N’Tlic. Gan then becomes furious and returns to the house with a loaded rifle waiting for T’Gatoi. She enters and asks if Gan means to shoot her and he does not answer, but asks, “What are we to you?” and moves the gun to his own throat. She says that that is up to him and asks if she should go to his sister, Xuan Hoa instead. He at first agrees but then changes his mind. They then go into the bedroom and the egg is implanted.
Themes: Right from the opening line, “My last night of childhood began with a visit home” you can tell that it is a coming of age story. After Gan witnesses the flesh-eating grubs hatch from Bram Lomas, he still agrees to be implanted with the eggs despite knowing what’s to come. Bizarre as this may seem, the story’s plot shares many elements that are common to coming of age stories. At the beginning of the story Gan is innocent and doesn’t understand his mother’s or Qui’s hostility toward T’Gatoi. At the end of the story, he is in a position of knowledge, agreeing to be implanted with T’Gatoi’s eggs despite the risks that are involved. He agrees to the implantation for complicated reasons that show he has matured greatly. While T’Gatoi initially has a somewhat motherly relationship to Gan, this relationship changes when he pulls out a gun and challenges her, asserting his new status as her equal. When he chooses to accept T’Gatoi’s eggs, he not only protects his innocent sister, but also assumes responsibility for keeping the social order established between the human and Tlic species.