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Discrimination Exposed In Kindred By Octavia E. Butler

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Kindred by Octavia E. Butler highlights the issue of racial discrimination and brings out the horrors that are attached to it. The book was written in 1979 and became super popular because of the issues still prevalent today. It reveals the story of a black woman, Dana, who travels back in time and becomes a slave, she then has to face the authorities that a white man had back then. Dana is pulled back and forth through time to protect an ancestor, Rufus. Dana struggles throughout the 1800s as a slave while having to work harder than she ever has, while also trying to protect him. Dana experiences the typical slave life and realizes that being a woman in the 1800s was an obstacle. Dana had to deal with sexual harassment, emotional abuse, …show more content…

I believe the use of symbolism is a key strength. There were many different symbols used, like Whips, reading, and Dana’s arm. Whips symbolized the power a white man had. They want the slaves to fear them and want a sense of control. As Dana explains in "The Fall," Part 6, "The whip was heavy and six feet long. I wouldn't have used it on anything living." (96) The whites use the whip to have power and control over their slaves. These men use violence to get what they want and they lash out on the slaves for only their convenience. Reading is also another symbol used throughout the novel. It symbolizes both danger and freedom. If slaves knew how to read, then they would understand that there is more to life, and would want to escape even more. Dana says “ One of the reasons it was against the law in some states to teach slaves to read and write was that they might escape by writing themselves passes. Some did escape that way.” (49) Owners feared that if their slaves knew these things then they would use it against them and try to get away. Lastly, Dana’s arm being hurt symbolizes the impact of slavery and how it affected people’s lives and even America’s society as a whole. Dana makes it back to present time with Kevin, but she didn't make it back all together. Dana’s time as a slave has followed her and will affect her for the rest of her

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Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred is a science fiction time travel novel, but Kindred is not like other science fiction novels. The book is told in first person by the main character Dana, a modern day black woman as she travels between her time 1976, and the antebellum South. When Dana transports to the antebellum South she is forced to endure slavery and the violence and abuse that comes along with it. As we read further into the book we see Dana’s life and relationships change because of the time travel. Dana is first introduced to us a Dana's last visit to the past brings us full circle; when she must murder Rufus to fend off his attempt to rape her, he grasps her arm as she is sent forward in time, anchoring her arm in the past.

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Dana is young, intelligent, middle class writer and in interracial relationship different, almost extraordinary, for a black woman in the late '70s. This novel was to try to make people feel the past as well as understand the history of the slavery experience. Butler wanted us to be in their skin, mind emotions and to feel like we were them in the past. Dana didn’t agree with the plantation life, Dana sees how the Whites act towards the Blacks. The goal was to keep Rufus alive whenever she was pulled back in time.

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