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The Significance Of Time Travel In Kindred By Octavia Butler

922 Words4 Pages

Many scholar and theorist debate the existence of time travel, many believed that the existence of time travel is true. However, the consensus of time travel is improbable. But many authors and writers use the idea of time travel, even though they know it's not possible, as a narrative technique or as a tool to carry out a thought or a message. Octavia Butler utilizes this technique enables time travel as a tool to send a message to us, the readers. Through the novel Kindred, readers are able to imagine a world where the main character, Dana, and her husband, Kevin Franklin, are able to travel through time. As a result, Octavia Butler is able to employ time travel as a tool to show the readers that people can adapt to their environment by changing …show more content…

Having both Dana and Kevin live in both the past and the present shows that people can adapt to their environment by changing themselves physically and mentally to survive. With Dana and Kevin, Octavia Butler is able to highlight the differences between the past and present. One key difference that Octavia Butler includes with time travel is slavery. In the present, Dana would never see slavery with her own eyes and would consider it almost a myth in her time. But as she as Dana goes to the past she is baffled and taken back by the sight of the slavery that encompasses her. She, like most people, is disgusted by the acceptance of slavery, especially when she sees slaves that are children pretending to sell each other off at a fake slave auction. “Now here a likely wench,” called the boy on the stump. He gestured toward the girl who stood slightly behind him. “She cook and wash and iron. Come here, gal. Let the folks see you.” He drew the girl up beside him. “She young and strong,” he continued. “She worth plenty money. Two hundred dollars. Who bid two hundred dollars?” (Butler 99)
Even though a slave auction is considered normal and even promoted in the past, if a slave auction would be held in the present, the people attending would most likely be arrested and incarcerated for many years unlike the past. Through Dana, we, readers can see the struggles that slaves went through every day in the past compared to the present

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