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Kindred By Octavia E. Butler: Literary Analysis

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In Kindred, Octavia E. Butler talks about a young African American aspiring writer that goes on a dangerous journey to Maryland in the eighteen hundreds. The eighteen hundreds was a time where slavery was a common thing in America. Dana, the main character, has a connection with a young white boy from the eighteen hundreds, named Rufus. As the story unfolds, we learn that Rufus would bring Dana back in time when he was in danger. Unfortunately, Dana’s experience in the eighteen hundreds was far from an adventure. Dana experienced grief, loss, and anger, due to the way Weylin, the slave owner and Rufus’s father, treated African Americans. To make matters worse, Dana unintentionally brought his husband, Kevin, back in time with her and left …show more content…

This is where Dana begins to realize that changing Kevin back to his old self was easier said than done. All of the angry expressions he kept giving to Dana gave her a reminisce of the slave owner Weylin. Dana says, “I left him alone. I didn’t know what to do—or even if whether there was anything I could do. Maybe this was something he has to work out for himself ” (195). This quote is important because this is the first time the reader sees Dana begin to doubt herself in modern environment. She realizes that Kevin’s experience in the eighteen hundreds took a major toll on his personality. Dana could not do much because she did not know what it was like being in that time period for so long. Dana blamed herself for the whole situation. She thought that it was her fault for Kevin’s struggle to write again. During the the five years in the eighteen hundreds, Kevin was forced to adjust in a time period where racism and mistreatment was a major thing in America. There is not telling the horrific things Kevin had seen or experience, due to the little information he provides. This goes to show that the five years Kevin was there plagued his personality and Dana’s vulnerability in the

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