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Brief Comparison Of Kindred And The Nickel Boys By Octavia Butler

1141 Words5 Pages

History is constantly playing a role in the way the world works in the present day. Octavia Butler's Kindred provides a unique, science fiction perspective on slavery in the Antebellum South. On the other hand, Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys invites readers into a depiction of the loopholes the Thirteenth Amendment left that allowed places like the Dozier School to be functional for over one hundred years. Although on the most basic level both novels have different elements, they contain a great deal of foundational similarities. Kindred and The Nickel Boys have many parallels that provide a larger understanding of African American history and what it is like to be a victim of systemic racism in America. In particular, the concepts of violent punishment as a …show more content…

Kindred has a more overt portrayal of slavery than The Nickel Boys, given the time period and storyline. The main character, Dana, describes being whipped for running away from the Weylin plantation. She states, “He beat me until I swung back and forth by my wrists, half crazy with pain.This was only punishment and I knew it” (Butler 176). Dana knows that while she is being cruelly punished for attempting to escape, she was still somewhat lucky to be kept alive since she still had a life to go home to. This theme of violent punishment and death were common forms of control during the Antebellum era. In The Nickel Boys, this same theme can be found in the ways the boys are forced to do labor and obey authority to avoid punishment since “The White House delivered the law and everyone obeyed” (Whitehead 66).With regards to punishment and consequences, The Nickel Boys portrayed how unforgiving death was handed onto the unlucky ones, “Most of those who know the story of the rings in the trees are dead by now. The iron is still there.

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