Book Summary: Kindred, By Octavia Butler

Kindred is a book that I really enjoyed reading, it was interesting how Butler was able to combine two totally different eras. The book was also a new topic for me, it kept me engaged with the use of suspense and plot twists. I appreciate that the book is versatile and very mysterious in the beginning. Once I finished reading the first two pages, I was hooked mostly because I was curious about what had happened to Dana’s arm. Putting that aside, I like how Butler brought two different genres together, History and Science Fiction. She integrated slavery, a very delicate subject matter for Butler, considering how her childhood was affected by slavery. Even with the obstacles, she still was able to make both genres flow seamlessly. My goal is

One of the reasons was because there were only white male Science Fiction authors at the time. She felt that even though she was different and was a woman of color, she could still manage to catch the reader’s attention using Science Fiction. She has successfully done it with Kindred, at the same time she throws pieces of historical information to make the reader connect and feel just what Dana is feeling. The Science Fiction elements throughout the book give off a feeling of suspense. In the beginning, Dana is laying in a hospital bed with only one arm leaving the reader filled with wonder about why her other arm is gone. On page 13, in the chapter The River, she experiences her first encounter with the past and you see her connect with her ancestors. She feels as if it were a dream, but in reality, it was more like time traveling. The book goes to explain how Dana connects with a boy named Rufus; every time he is in danger she transports to aid him without having any control. Dana’s first experience with time travel was in her home library, Rufus was drowning in a river when he was just a kid and Dana appeared on the scene. Rufus could see her under the water while he was drowning and was surprised. Then, he describes it to his mom by telling her that he saw a woman surrounded by books in a room, and his mom responded by saying it was all in his imagination. Later, Dana experiences these events more frequently, but in a more physical way. She travels to the time where African Americans are being taken as slaves, and each time Rufus has matured in age. Being a black woman, she is taken as a slave and experiences hard labor and beatings. When she is finally back to the present, she feels the beatings that she had to endure and is left with the bruises and scars as evidence. These are a few details of the futuristic encounters Dana had, in which consequences seem inevitable. In