Earthlings

by Sayaka Murata

My town is a factory for the production of human babies.

A what now??

It’s handy having a dumpster in the house. In this house, that’s my role. When Dad and Mom and Kise get so fed up they can’t bear it any longer, they dump everything onto me.

My town was a collection of nests, a factory for manufacturing babies. I was a tool for the town’s good, in two senses. Firstly, I had to study hard to become a work tool. Secondly, I had to be a good girl, so that I could become a reproductive organ for the town. I would probably be a failure on both counts, I thought.

Interesting that studying and working is included in her society considering most want women to be uneducated and at home popping out babies

It’s really hard to put into words things that are just a little bit not okay.

this is why sex ed at early ages is important

Miss Shinozuka functioned well enough as one of society’s tools, but maybe she wasn’t functioning properly as one of society’s reproductive organs. She was in the position of educating me and ruled over me, but at the same time she herself was also being judged as a tool of society. But at least once you were able to buy food for yourself, you didn’t need to worry about being thrown away.

Oh my! This speaks so loud to society's view on women

“Children’s lives never belong to them. The grown-ups own us. If your mom abandons you, you won’t be able to eat, and you can’t go anywhere without help from a grown-up. It’s the same for all children.” He reached out a hand to cut a flower from the bed. “That’s why we have to try hard to survive until we’ve grown up ourselves.”

This is eye opening for children who have to endure abuse and its so sad

Everyone believed in the Factory. Everyone was brainwashed by the Factory and did as they were told. They all used their reproductive organs for the Factory and did their jobs for the sake of the Factory. My husband and I were people they’d failed to brainwash, and anyone who remained unbrainwashed had to keep up an act in

I understand this feeling and how they are rejecting societial norms however, these feelings seem to only come from a place of trauma

He was instinctively averse to the suggestion that blood connections and family gatherings were enjoyable.

This is what people consider life worth living for but again its trauma from childhood that is making these feelings come forward

The out-of-body power ended all of a sudden. A golden liquid was spurting from the blue lump. What was this? It must be the pupa of the Wicked Witch, my intuition told me. I had to kill her before she hatched. I knew that if I didn’t, something terrible would happen. Mr. Igasaki was nowhere in the room, so he must have already been eaten by the Witch. The golden liquid was spraying all over the room.

is this how she is training her brain to process whats going on? Would this be diagnosed as a sort of disorder?

“Incest isn’t very common, is it? It’s taboo. Therefore I can use it as a step toward liberating myself from the brainwashing.”

Lmfao OH!

“Do you really want me to save you?” There was a grass-cutting scythe by the front door. “Do you, Tomoya? If you really want me to save you, then I will do my very best.” My husband realized what was in my line of sight and quickly shook his head. “No, no, actually I don’t really want you to help

Man wtf is wrong with everyone in this damn book?????

“That’s true. Training, not mating, is our method of multiplying. How wonderful it would be if we could take our lives forward into the future infecting people with Popinpobotitis!

This feels like a cult.....

It was a perfect night. I went to sleep dreaming of how wonderful it would be to wake up and find the village full of Popinpobopians.

So unliked she stated earlier family and community does matter. She just mistake her trauma and unhappiness as a matter of life