The Importance Of Love And Freedom In Kindred

The work ethic of the slaves was much greater than that of Dana and the African Americans of the modern times. Although Dana had viewed herself as having a good work ethic, when she was put in the fields for only a short time she could not withstand the physical hardships which the slaves endured day after day. The slaves were not only more physically capable to complete the work but they were also more focused on completing their goal. You must remember that in Dana?s time money was always a strong motivation for any worker but in the slave?s time a whip could drive someone just as good. Ultimately the slaves were motivated to complete their work because they knew that their well being depended on it.

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."

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

During the 19th century, women were generally trapped in their homes and would perform only domestic duties. Society had put them into a role of home keepers and housewives for their families. This role of the 19th century white housewife was portrayed by Margaret Weylin. In the novel, Margaret is a white woman who stays home and has nothing to do but be a wife and mother to her husband and child. Although she has way more privileges than the African American women during her time, she still felt powerless. “But Margaret Weylin still rushed everywhere. She had little or nothing to do” said Dana (Butler, 93). Despite her position of power over her slaves, Margaret still suffered from knowing that her husband was sleeping with the slaves. She had no real respect from anyone, and felt that she had no real role in her household. This led to Margaret finding amusement in

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,

In a time period when women were considered inferior, as were blacks, it was unimaginable the horrors a black woman in the south had to endure during this period. African women were slaves and subject to the many horrors that come along with being in bondage, but because they were also women, they were subject to the cruelties of men who look down on women as inferior simply because of their sex. The sexual exploitation of these females often lead to the women fathering children of their white masters. Black women were also prohibited from defending themselves against any type of abuse, including sexual, at the hands of white men. If a slave attempted to defend herself she was often subjected to further beatings from the master. The black female was forced into sexual relationships for the slave master’s pleasure and profit. By doing this it was the slave owner ways of helping his slave population grow.

In Celia, a Slave, written by Melton A. McLaurin, the relationships of race, gender, sexuality, power, law, and slavery in the antebellum South is revealed by Celia’s case. In antebellum South, many things dictated a person’s worth, but the race of a person was the number one factor. If a person was of a race other than Caucasian, such as being Black, then he or she would live in the United States as one of two classifications: slave or freed slave. Of these two classifications, both were thought as being subpar humans when compared to white citizens. Due to these beliefs regarding Blacks, slave and free, Blacks themselves were unable to protect themselves from slave masters and in most legal standings (McLaurin 137). This means that Blacks did not have the same citizenship as white people because a slave was not a citizen in the eyes of the law but the human property of his or her master. Gender is the second idea that dictated a person’s worth and character. Males, white particularly, always held more power and sexual control over the women of the antebellum South. White women, when married, became the legal property of her husband (139). Even if a woman was not married, then she was still considered the property of her father and under his protection until she was given away. For example, Virginia Waynescot and Mary Newsome both lived with their father, Robert Newsome (10-11). By living with their father, the two daughters basically handed over their power because Robert

Gender inequality was a big issue during the early 1900s, and especially for the African American women because some “Africa American women were used as sex slaves or just slaves in generally” (Karpowitz). These women were treated badly even if it was from their dad or their "husband"/owners, but at the end of the day they knew only one person who these women can trust which is God. In Alice Walker’s novel, she shows and expresses how women will have bad times or bumps on the road, but if they keep going towards their dream they will succeed. Walker also showed how women did not have a voice to stand up for themselves but later in their life they started getting together to fight back for their rights. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker demonstrates gender inequality in the lives of African Americans in the early 1900s.

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 the novel Kindred, by Octavia Butler, the main character Dana is exposed to the brutality and exhausting existence inflicted on slaves in the 1800’s. Through intentionally suppressive measures, slave owners used a series of methods to control and manipulate an entire race of people into submission. Dana describes this process as dulling and her experiences haunt her as she is slowly broken down. “See how easily slave are made?” (Butler 177) her thoughts say; this is Butler attempting to illustrate how it was nearly impossible for the enslaved people to change their situation and fight for freedom. Contemporary people didn’t understand why the slaves didn’t rise up and revolt against the whites, so Butler puts Dana through conditions that eventually show her and the audience it wasn’t that easy. The slaves were too tired to revolt, too broken to fight back, and too connected to each other to leave; thus giving the repulsive entitled whites the ability to continue their disgraceful contempt for human decency. By means of labor and sensational punishment, family ties, surveillance that included slave hierarchy; dreams of revolutions and freedom were overpowered and even Dana becomes complacent accepting the role of slave.

Secondly, the discrepancy between times moves the drama in the plot along, in particular, Dana’s relationship with Rufus. Once Dana learns that her purpose is to protect the life of Rufus, in order to continue her own family line, she takes on the maternal role. She teaches him the lessons of discipline and respect for others that have been considered the parents role:

Dana finds herself travelling between her present day life in 1976 and her ancestral plantation of 1815 – two time periods that represent two opposite concepts of her identity as an African-American woman. In the beginning of the novel, Dana’s identity is constructed strictly through the lens of her experiences as a modern African-American woman, and she defines herself solely through these contemporary constructs and experiences. Her experiences of time travel cause her to alter her self-identity from that of the modern woman to one based on her life as a slave in antebellum Maryland, experiencing and overcoming racial and gendered oppression. Essentially, we follow Dana as she attempts to reconcile her historical, fragmented reality. This fragmented sense of self creates a double-consciousness for Dana,

The only people slaves could turn to were each other. In essence, they formed a community of sorts in which each one tried to watch out for one another while maintaining their own survival at the same time. This is evident when Sarah welcomes Dana into the cookhouse to help. She gives her work, despite the fact that Dana has few skills in household chores. Also, we see camaraderie when Alice’s mother welcomes Dana into her home. “I saw her glance over at her daughter, then touch her own face and wipe away blood from the corner of her mouth. “Wasn’t going to turn you ‘way,” she said softly” (38). The welcoming of Alice’s mother stretches beyond kindness because she is putting her whole family at risk. Furthermore, she is taking in a woman who she doesn’t even know. As a result, we can concur simply that slaves did all they could to help fellow slaves.

“Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life” (Bob Marley). It all begins with Dana Franklin and everything she has to do in order to both save her ancestry as well as keep love and freedom in her life. It is 1976 in Maryland and Dana Franklin is a black woman married to a white man named Kevin Franklin. One day after moving houses, Dana begins to feel dizzy and faints. When she wakes, she realizes she is no longer in 1976 and must save a boy, Rufus Weylin, from himself everytime she is sent there. Dana is constantly sent back to 1815, a time where people with her skin color resort to lives of fear and taking orders, but all Dana truly wants is to have love and freedom. In Kindred, Octavia Butler

Throughout the 19th century, there were many racial injustices that continued after Rufus accepted his father’s place. In the case of Rufus, he had to accept that Dana was educated, thus, not being able to control her. In short, he decided to manipulate and threaten the lives of others to gain control of Dana since he knew she would be more compliant. As a slaveholder, he had deprived the people he owned of their rights to education since whites were the only ones worthy at the time. As expert Baldwin suggested, “In this long battle, a battle by no means finished…the white man’s motive was the protection of his identity; the black man was motivated by the need to establish an identity” (73). In order for Rufus to protect himself, he took away many rights from his slaves. Nonetheless, this is why Dana began to teach others how to