This novel starts off on June 9, 1976, in California with an African American Girl named Dana on her 26th birthday with her husband Kevin and are moving into their new home. Kevin has started to unpack his office and Dana is unpacking books. Then Kevin walks out of the office to talk to Dana when Dana all of a sudden starts to get dizzy and Dana then finds herself in a grove of trees thats in the late 1800’s in the state of Maryland by a nearby river when she spots a young boy drowning named Rufus. She then goes into the river to save the unconscious boy. Once the boy has came back to life and she dealt with his mother she reappears back into her apartment. Several minutes later she begins to feel dizzy again and then disappears. This …show more content…
Alice then eventually kills herself and because of that Rufus also nearly kills himself. Rufus then clings to Dana because she’s just like Alice but he then tries to rape Dana but in doing so, Dana stabs Rufus and kills him. Dana then immediately appears back at her apartment all beaten up.
The writing style that Octavia Butler is very simple. Nothing in this novel is very dramatized or extremely brutal. Although it t does have a few very dramatic and sad at points when it talks about Dana getting beat up and Allice hanging herself. The feeling is very dark and kind of dingy because of all the slavery in this book that the characters go through. This novel has a lot to do with slavery back in the 1800’s. It kind of talks about the life of some African Americans back in the 1800’s and some being worked on the Weylin Plantation. It has a lot of violence and deals with whipping, hangings, rape, and many other brutal actions.
The culture in this books is African American. The African American culture that this book goes through is the life of an African American in the 1800’s. Back in the 1800’s African Americans were treated very differently than they are treated today. Butler focuses on some of the aspects that they had to go through. Such as slavery, rape, and getting abused and beaten. African Americans weren't allowed to do a whole lot. They had to always live in fear.
The tone in
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
What cultural values, customs or traditions are presented in the book and how do they contribute to a legacy of the African American experience in America-be specific and use some examples to illustrate?
In the beginning chapters of the book, we get a glimpse of the typical home and community of an African American during segregation. Many Africans Americans were too adjusted to the way of living, that they felt
The book follows Dana who is thrown back in time to live in a plantation during the height of slavery. The story in part explores slavery through the eye of an observer. Dana and even Kevin may have been living in the past, but they were not active members. Initially, they were just strangers who seemed to have just landed in to an ongoing play. As Dana puts it, they "were observers watching a show. We were watching history happen around us. And we were actors." (Page 98). The author creates a scenario where a woman from modern times finds herself thrust into slavery by account of her being in a period where blacks could never be anything else but slaves. The author draws a picture of two parallel times. From this parallel setting based
The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers best conveys the character traits of courage, ambitiousness, and supporting family even when times appear to be distressful. This book takes you through African American history with the excitement and thrill of fiction. It allows you to witness the glory of African American evolution, from a period of slavery to modern day. The reader witnesses courage as African Americans try and fight for freedom and equality in an unforgiving society. African Americans try and defy the society’s perspective of them in an attempt to reach an optimal level of success. They work to divert from their typical expectations, and strive for success even when the possibilities are minimal. They strive to build a better living besides being maids and factory workers, and they attempt to remove every obstacle in their way of success. They desire to go above what is expected of them, so they can achieve at a prodigious level in a segregated society. Even as technology advances, the reader witnesses the character’s sense of community. They always believe that family is crucial to success even in times of distress. If they abandon their community, then they abandon the only people that support them. In this time period, their community was composed of the only people that cared about them. The African American society emulates these traits throughout this book, as the author inserts you into their fight for equity and freedom. The Glory Field takes
Racism is a big part of this book. It shows the absurdity of what people thought back then, which is an important lesson. It is important for us to learn what people’s views used to be, and how important it is not to go back to that mindset.
Culture is such a broad and complex term that can be defined in numerous ways. It is said that in part is the integrated pattern of human knowledge, communication, belief, art, literature, and music one acquires upon learning and transmitting characteristics from previous generations. Culture is symbolic communication, and its symbols are learned and carefully perpetuated in a society through its institutions. In Black Culture and Black Consciousness by Lawrence W. Levine, he carefully attempts to uncover Afro-American culture during the antebellum and postbellum periods. More often than none, historians like to emphasize the things that get lost in the culture of Afro-Americans when they are taken from Africa and forced to live as enslaved people in North America. However, in Levine’s book, we discover that he carefully
The novel under the title Kindred is a magnificent literary piece created by renowned African-American fantasy writer and novelist of contemporary times Octavia Butler. This superb piece encompasses the most burning issues and problems faced by the African-American community. The novel throws light on the pathetic condition of the black slaves and vehemently condemns domestic violence and slavery inflicted and imposed upon the black stratum of the American society. The novel also discusses atrocities and hatred exercised upon the African Americans on the basis of racial and ethnic discrimination prevailing in the society. Butler points out the communication gap between spouses and family members, which adds to the misery of the black
Although the author makes emotional connection, she also presents information that you would find in a history textbook in a new light. Anderson does this by incorporating terms that may be learned in history class such as loyalist, indentured servant, and regiment into a plot. For example, Isabel was befriended by an indentured servant, she worked for a loyalist family, and her friend was apart of a rebel regiment. It’s interesting to see the author eloquently incorporate these terms into a historical fiction story. This book has increased my interest in the subject matter of slavery. The book has peaked my interest, because it just gives the reader a look at what life was like for slaves. The abuse and injustice just shows how important rights are and that they should not be taken for granted. This book ignited a fire inside of
The purpose of this research is to identify the uniqueness and diversity of people and practices of the African American culture. Each culture in life has some similarities and some differences. The similarities and differences that are present in a culture is what make the culture what it is. When dealing with a culture, race, ethnicity, of a people or religion it has a history of where it originates and or a heritage that that culture or people can relate to and always go back to, because this is what sets a
“The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you: they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.” -Wade Davis. Through the evolution of time, there have always been unique cultures. Culture is a critical factor that sculpts you into who you are. In the book The Boy in The Striped Pajamas three main cultural aspects stood out to me; gender role, religion, and laws. It intrigued me how my culture was super similar but also so different to the culture portrayed.
The story, for the most part, centers upon an African-American family, their dreams for the future and an insurance check coming in for death of the eldest man. Stirring into the mix later is the hugely oppressive,
For many years, African-American culture developed separately from Westernized culture, both because of slavery and the persistence of racial discrimination in America. As a result, African-American slave descendants desired to create and maintain traditions of their own. Today, African-American culture has become a staple facet of American culture while still maintaining its individuality. African Americans who remained in the South have carved out their own path that continuously influences the socioeconomic and
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,