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What Is The Theme Of Kindred

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Psychological Complexities and Resistance: Unveiling the System of Slavery
The system of slavery in the United States was one of emotional and physical abuse. By delving into Octavia Butler's novel, "Kindred," we gain a deeper understanding of the psychological repercussions endured by individuals ensnared within the system of slavery in the
United States. In the novel, the main character, Dana, portrays symptoms of Stockholm
Syndrome, further highlighting the dehumanizing relationship between captors and captives.
Dana's character and her experiences throughout the story offer valuable insights into the real-life physical and psychological abuse faced by enslaved people in the United States. Her journey through the story illustrates the psychological …show more content…

There is recorded information from ex-enslaved people directly regarding this ideology. In volume 1., of the “Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narrative Project,” which specifically touches on ex-enslaved people from Alabama, “Aunt” Charity Anderson,
Valenzuela 5 highlights how the system of slavery was engulfed in psychological abuse. To the point where
Ms. Anderson believes that her enslaver was a good man. She even has that understanding that
“all white folks weren’t good to their slaves,” (page 12) but that her enslaver was different, since he allowed her to be in charge of the house, and to wait on his children. (page 13) According to her, Black people “ain't got no manners, and don’t know nothin’ about waitin’ on folks.” (page
12) In fact, Charity was conditioned to believe that the times of slavery were the “good times.”(page 14) Since she wasn’t abused in the same way that other enslaved people were, …show more content…

It demonstrates that their fight for freedom and their sense of
Valenzuela 6 resistance was stronger than any psychological phenomenon like Stockholm Syndrome or a manufactured sense of caring for their captors. It is essential to acknowledge and remember the resistance and the fight against slavery, displayed by enslaved individuals throughout history, as their struggles and contributions played a significant role in the ultimate abolition of slavery.
In conclusion, Octavia Butler's novel "Kindred" sheds light on the psychological complexities experienced by enslaved individuals, exemplified through the character of Dana.
While she exhibits symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome, it is important to note that these responses were a result of the traumatic circumstances and abusive environment. Despite the presence of these symptoms, enslaved people actively resisted their captivity through acts of defiance and rebellion, highlighting their determination and resistance in the fight for freedom.
Their struggles and contributions played a significant role in the eventual abolition of slavery, surpassing any manufactured sense of responsibility for their

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Octavia Butler's Kindred: Literary Analysis

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Imagine being a modern African American woman, and all of the sudden you start feeling dizzy, and wake up in 1815. Not only you don’t know how you got there, but also you don’t know how you are going to get back home. Later, you realize that you are there to save the life of a slave owner’s child. The child you are trying to protect, end us up being a relative of yours. In the novel “Kindred” by Octavia Butler, includes the main character Dana, a modern colored woman that overcomes many obstacles as she experiences slavery.

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Douglass uses paradox to demonstrate that slavery degragrates the slaverholder. When Douglass under Mr. Sever’s care he described that: “He was less cruel, less profane… He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. ”(Douglass 24). Most slaveholders are characterized to be cruel and inhuman because of the whipping and the way they treated the slaves.

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Character Development In The Novel Kindred By Octavia E. Butler

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Octavia E. Butler's novel Kindred tells the tale of American slavery from a more modern-day perspective through time travel. The novel includes many themes and recurring motifs, but it also includes many different characters with different motivations and personalities that all go through some sort of character development. No one character follows a certain archetype commonly found in a lot of other literary works, and it makes the story engaging and more realistic. First off is Dana, the main character of the story. At the novel's start, Dana has experience with doing hard labor to barely make a living, but her development starts after she travels back to the Weylin plantation.

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Analysis Of Kindred By Octavia E. Butler

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But it came— like a hot iron across my back, burning into me through my light shirt, searing my skin …” (Butler 107). Dana also had formed different relationships with different slaves because they either had house jobs instead of field jobs and some slaves did not for her personality and some didn’t. For most slaves in the 1800’s, slaves and their masters had very little to no relationship and the masters would only tell them what to do or face their consequences. For all of these reasons, the book could categorize into the genre of historical

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Many people have been slaves and prisoners since they were young. Some of them born there and are slaves or prisoners for their whole entire lives. Most of the time their lives are stuck in the darkness and never know what is going to come or happen to them. Every day in their lives they feel worry, afraid, and frightened because they’re scared that they might do something wrong or unable to do what they have been told. In their lives, the only goal they have is to escape from slavery and imprisonment or be a good slaves and prisoners.

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Most importantly, I will argue that claiming her freedom, her agency, and therefore her body, results in her being perceived as monstrous by the white slave-holding community and to another extent the slaves she shares the experience of. Furthermore, I will demonstrate that her agency being perceived as monstrous impacts Dana’s self-representation. Dana’s struggle for survival is a struggle for a monstrously perceived agency that results in an identity

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It’s globally known that the relationship between slaves and owners were abusive and unbalanced. Both male and female slaves endured horrible conditions and punishments brought on by their masters, but a woman’s slave-experience proves to be very different than a man’s. While women had to experience the abuse that came with their race, they also had to experience the oppression that came along with their gender. Regardless of viewing and treating them as animals, many male slave owners still had a sexual attraction and sense of protection over the female slave- sometimes even developing feelings for them. This creates a dangerous situation where not only the men have control over how the women work, but they have control over their body and emotions.

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Not only the relations between the enslaved and their owners, but how the enslaved view and treat themselves. In Toni Morrison’s A Mercy, Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred, and Ishmael Reed’s A Flight To Canada, interracial and intraracial relations are depicted through various different ways. The relations between slaves themselves and their masters, is represented by stereotypes, self hate, and the different attitudes of the oppressed enslaved.

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Examples Of Oppression In Kindred

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Examples Of Power In Kindred

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Power, Violence, Identity. Three simple words that at a time in America's history meant a lot more. Slavery was a time in everyone's life that affected them physically and mentally until 1865 when all the violence ended. Kindred Give us a perspective of both sides of this these terrible events. We get to learn about a younger white man growing to be just like his father and all his horrible ways, and a younger black woman who is trying to help this younger man be a better person.

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Frederick Douglass Use And Abuse Of Power Essay

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Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the  kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.

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