Kindred Character Analysis Essay

Having an older sibling is rough already, but having a brother that you have to worry about him breaking in and stealing valuables of your own, that's tough and the main character Gordie Jessup has to deal with the betrayal of his older brother, Chase Jessup everyday throughout Katherine Holubitskys’s novel “Tweaked”. Gordie’s efforts trying to fix his family are overwhelmed by Chase’s drug addiction and money debts he has with his dealers. There are many themes throughout the book.

The slaves in the novel seemed to adapt much better to their own slavery than the modern blacks such as Dana did. Slavery was the only life many of the blacks had ever known so it was much easier for them to accept their future than it was for Dana to accept her sudden loss of rights. For Dana to come from a world where the possibilities of African American?s futures were so broad to suddenly lose all of her rights and be viewed as property was almost enough to cause Dana a mental breakdown. Although the slaves did not want theirs lives the way they were, they had somewhat grown accustomed to the idea of slavery and accepted it as their future. It is much easier not

As Dana soon discovers, the reality of slavery is even more disturbing than its portrayal in books, movies, and television programs. Before her journey into the past, Dana called the temp agency where she worked a "slave market," even though "the people who ran it couldn't have cared less whether or not you showed up to do the work they offered."

Character’s relationships with power change a lot over the course of Octavia Butler’s Kindred. One of the most important character changes in the book is Kevin Franklin and Dana’s relationship, and how is changed after living in the 1800’s. Kevin is introduced in the book as Dana’s middle aged husband who she met while working in a “slave market”. Both of them are inspiring writers looking to make a life out of their passion. Before both Kevin and Dana are sent back into slavery time their relationship is very normal. Their marriage is very stable, although they go through different problems surrounding power. Kevin is very dominant towards Dana and at times believes he is better than her. Kevin constantly asks Dana to type out drafts of his

To show first hand to the whites the inequality’s and hardships that the blacks face, the entire first section is in a narrative and a descriptive format. The use of these types of essays lets the readers feel more involved in the story and feel things for themselves. Split into two sections within itself, this first paragraph juxtaposes two stories — one about a “young Negro boy” living in Harlem, and the other about a “young Negro girl” living in Birmingham. The parallelism in the sentence structures of introducing the children likens them even more — despite the differences between them — whether it be their far away location, or their differing, yet still awful, situations. Since this section is focused more towards his white audience, King goes into a description of what it was like living as an African American in those times— a situation the black audience knew all too well. His intense word choice of describing the boy’s house as “vermin-infested” provokes a very negative reaction due to the bad

In the play The Crucible many of the characters learn things about themselves as well as others. Discuss the insight gained by the characters of Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, and John Proctor.

Mark Smith's novel 'The Road to Winter' explores the behaviours of characters after their experiences of loss, and their ability to persevere whilst trying to continue to act to their own ethical principles. The protagonist of the novel, Finn, is one of the many who have lost their family and way of life to the deadly disease that has ravaged the world, yet has managed to survive without much external help and relative isolation. Whilst he has managed to keep his benevolent

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor, the protagonist, is a farmer in his middle thirties. The author gives little to no detailed physical description of him, but from Proctor’s speech, we can still picture him as a strong and powerful man who is able to keep every situation under the control, the kind of personality which earns him deep respect and even fear from the people in town. On the other hand, Abigail Williams, the antagonist, plays an inferior role as an orphan who has no social status in a place like Salem. Over the course of the play, John Proctor is absolutely awakened and transformed by Abigail Williams. In the end, he overcomes the crucible by releasing himself from his guilt of

Being the member of African American community, Dana maintained serious reservations for the whites. But she is astonished to find his community members praising and admiring the ways adopted by his ancestors Tom Weylin and his son Rufus. However, she is surprised to note that the black community rebukes and censures Tom and Rufus in their absence and mock at the ways adopted by the Weylins while crushing the Blacks. (The Storm, XI)

Only the best tactics and the quickest decisions can insure a win in a fight for survival. Dana Franklin, the main character in the novel Kindred, has what it takes to take on the cruel South and use those qualities to ensure survival. Due to a mysterious and confusing power she acquires, Dana can miraculously travel through time and reach her ancestors during the slavery period. With that power alone, she has to work hard to survive against the strongest, meanest, and craziest people she’s ever dreamed of to ensure the safety of herself and whom she cares. In addition to working hard, Dana has to witness and carry out what horrors fighting and struggling in the antebellum South was like. In Octavia Butler’s Kindred, Dana is seen fighting,

As Boss Tweed used to say, “The way to have power is to take it.” Therefore, it is not surprising that the characters of Kindred by Octavia Butler fight throughout the book to gain power from each other. They all use methods ranging from violence to influence to gain even a slight amount of power from each other. Even Alice and Dana who are enslaved women during the 1800’s are able to use their words to influence their owners and the powerful white men in society. Like other black women during this time period, they use their bodies and other unconventional methods to slowly gain power over their owners until they are able to influence them to do what they want. Henceforth, Butler wants to demonstrate to the reader that, even during the antebellum south, enslaved women were able to use their influence, resilience and courage to eventually gain power over their owners.

Have you ever been told that you and a friend are practically the same person? Something similar to this happens to Dana and Alice in Octavia Butler’s novel, Kindred. In Butler’s novel, Dana is a young black woman living in 1976. Next thing she knows, she time travels back to the antebellum South. Dana is given the task of saving her several times great grandfather, Rufus Weylin, from multiple life threatening situations. Along the way she meets her several times great grandmother, Alice, who is a young free black woman. In her novel, Kindred, Octavia Butler compares and contrasts Dana and Alice to show the theme that people will do anything in order to survive. Both Dana and Alice have to become slaves on a plantation, run away for a life of freedom, and tolerate the treatment of Rufus.

In this short story by Tim O’Brien, Lieutenant Jimmy cross leads a platoon of men in the Vietnam War. Unable to keep his thoughts from his unrequited love interested, Martha, Cross allowed his platoon to become lax in their duties and mentally removed from the war. The conflict arises when one of his men, Ted Lavender, is killed on a mission. The conflict is resolved when Lieutenant Cross abandons his youthful fantasy world for the reality of the war he is living in. Cross finds new purpose in the vigilant leadership of his men.

Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred is categorized as science fiction because of the existence of time travel. However, the novel does not center on the schematics of this type of journey. Instead, the novel deals with the relationships forged between a Los Angeles woman from the 20th century, and slaves from the 19th century. Therefore, the mechanism of time travel allows the author a sort of freedom when writing this "slavery narrative" apart from her counterparts. Butler is able to judge the slavery from the point of view of a truly "free" black woman, as opposed to an enslaved one describing memories.

First published in 1979, Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred is a unique novel, which can be categorized both as a modern-day slave narrative, and as a science fiction time-travel tale. In the novel, Butler uses time-travel as a way to convey W.E.B. Du Bois’ theory of double-consciousness. Dubois’ theory is based on the idea that people of color have two identities, both struggling to reconcile in one being. His theory about the complex nature of the African-American experience directly relates to Butler’s use of Kindred’s protagonist, Dana, and her experience time travelling as a modern-day African-American woman, and her experience of a pre-abolition, nineteenth-century slave.