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Literary Devices In Kindred

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Kindred Essay When comparing the past to the present, the differences between the two times become very apparent. The novel Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler is about an African-American woman named Dana, time traveling to the past to act as a guardian over her great-grandfather Rufus. Being an African-American woman temporarily living in the 1800s, the reader would expect Dana to have little to no power. But if the reader digs deeper, they realize that Dana has more power than Rufus because she can choose not to save him from danger, and Rufus knows this, which is why Dana gets treated better than most of the slaves on the plantation. But at the same time, Rufus is a white male who lives in the 1800s. White males are known to hold power …show more content…

In the last chapter of the story The Rope, Alice hangs herself because Rufus pretended to sell her kids, Joseph and Hagar. When Alice commits suicide, Rufus turns out to be the most miserable because he does not want to live without Alice or die alone so he sinks into a deep depression. We know this because Butler states, “ something was wrong with him. He was haggard and weary– looked as though it had been too long since he’d last slept.” (Butler, page 247) This quote informs the reader how Rufus’ feelings give Dana and Alice power over him and how Alice’s death affected his life. This quote has significance because it gives the reader an example of why Dana/Alice have hegemony over Rufus when digging below the surface. When digging deeper, the reader also notices Rufus feelings get in the way of more than just power over Alice and Dana, but power over slaves in general. During the middle of the story, the reader starts to spot a pattern involving Rufus' short temper and how it affects him being a successful plantation owner like his father Tom Weylin. Rufus would lash out at the slaves for the smallest things. For example, In the fourth chapter of the story, There is a slave named Sam who seems to be hitting on Dana and Rufus does not condone this. So he ends up selling Sam away and this angers Dana. Dana begs for Rufus to reconsider but he ends up hitting her after she asks peacefully. Dana decides to go up to the attic and slit her wrists to go back

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