Kindred
In the novel Kindred, the author uses the source of time travel to travel back to the nineteenth century in the United States, to experience the lifestyle of enslaved African Americans by the Whites. Traveling back in time, the author uses Dana to revert to slavery, experiencing abuse and having to adapt quickly to the environment. Readers can experience both mental and psychical experiences the antebellum slaves experienced during this time, though treatment varied from master to master, the diurnal living of a slave was still difficult. Throughout the novel, differences of the modern and past time are illustrated to see how the society has changed with time and how it responds to the decision and the way of life of others. As
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This too was the effect on many African Americans education, because being smart and literate in this era was a threat to your master, because one could free themselves through writing. Through this time travel, Dana experienced many things that she would not have in 1976 and had to learn quick adaptation in order to survive a time her ancestors were not able to. Facts stated, Dana is married to a white man in 1976, which interracial marriages are not allowed during the time of her time travel. Therefore, the couple had to be secret about the situation, making it paint a picture as though Dana belonged to her husband in a way as it was expected during this time. This situation has led Dana to be vulnerable to abuse and feel the feeling of harm and terror “sweating, shaking, humiliated” (Butler 212); however, while experiencing these things, Dana learned endurance in protection of her surroundings, the actual meaning and rights of freedom, and appreciate the courage of her ancestors while upholding the respect towards them for the depraved things they had to deal