How Does Octavia Butler Use Power In Kindred

Caroline Enriquez-Ruiz Rice

English 9

15 May 2023 “Rape Rewarded”: The Unquenchable Thirst for Control in Octavia Butler’s Kindred

In the novel Kindred, Octavia Butler explores the complex relationship between power, gender, and race. Through the character of Dana and her interactions with Rufus, Alice, and Margaret Weylin, Butler highlights the ways in which power is often tied to gender and race, and how those who lack power are often oppressed and marginalized. This essay will explore the ways in which power is portrayed in Kindred, and how it is linked to gender and race. By examining the characters of Dana, Rufus, Alice, and Margaret, Butler uses the portrayal of the Weylin family’s relationships to illustrate

Their difference in race also causes a disruption. Specifically, on page 124, when Rufus tells Dana how he “begged her not to go with him” (124), dana realizes that he loves Alice but that “there was no shame in raping a Black woman, but there could be shame in loving one” (124). This presents the imbalance between a white man and Black woman in the 1800’s because if he were to publicly love Alice, it would be seen as though he is only looking for someone to control, he is looking for a person to have power over, because he will always have more power over Alice no matter what, in the fact that he is white and she is black, he can own land, she cannot, he can have a career, she

Margret Weylin, his mother pursues power in any relationship she can, more specifically, in her relationships with the enslaved people and Dana. Throughout the novel, Margret is described as a cruel woman who constantly antagonizes the enslaved people on the farm. It became clear she wants power when Dana first arrives onto the plantation and begins teaching Rufus to read and getting close to him, Margret clearly has a problem with dana because she slaps her across the face and calls her a “filthy Black whore” (93), for walking out of Kevin’s room. After she slaps her, Margaret takes steps away from Dana after she does not say anything to the slap. Dana realizes that “she was a little afraid of me, I was an unknown” (93). Being able to physically punish Dana made Margaret feel in power because Dana cannot hit her back, however, with Dana’s no reaction, she began to feel as though her actions towards Dana had no effect on her, as if her slaps did not matter. This made Margaret feel powerless in that moment. Dana’s connection with Rufus also gives her another reason to hate her. She demonstrates this dislike or annoyance by barging in as Dana reads to Rufus and continuously interrupting her as she is reading. As she keeps doing this, Rufus becomes annoyed with his mother, and he tells her to “just leave me alone!” (104). After she does not comply, Rufus gives his mother a look that Dana described as “a smaller replica