Analysis Of The Book Kindred By Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler displays her brilliance as a writer by creating multiple, complex characters in the novel Kindred, characters who epitomize real people with hardships, passions, and transformations that reflect the strict regulations placed upon the Southern society in the early nineteenth century. Dana faces many hardships from the moment Butler shifts her back one-hundred and sixty-one years to a time of slavery where she is stripped of her freedom. Rufus’s passion for Alice transitions into a fog, where he is unable to distinguish between love and control. On the other hand, Butler gives Tom Weylin a depth that reflects his actions and directly relates them to his experiences. Together all three characters’ ideas come to a screaming halt, when they are placed alongside each other and without a choice lives in a time of slavery. First and foremost, Dana lives in 1976, works and gets paid for her labor. There is tension between colored and non-colored people at this time, however, this is nothing compared to what she faces when summoned back to the past. Hearing a child screaming and thrashing in a body of water instantly Dana runs over to his aid and afterwards is not properly thanked. Butler writes: â€Å"I turned, startled, and found myself looking down the barrel of longest rifle I had ever seen. I heard a metallic click, and I froze, thinking I was going to be shot for saving the boy’s life. I was going to die† (Kindred 14). This incident left Dana confused andShow MoreRelatedOctavia Butler Essay3243 Words   |  13 Pages Table of Contents Page 1. A BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH OCTAVIA E. BUTLER Page 2 - 4. Biography Page 5 - 9. Synopsis Page 9 - 14. Analysis of Criticism Page 14 – 15. Influences on Society Page 16. Footnotes Page 17. Bibliography A BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH OCTAVIA E. BUTLER 1. Who is Octavia E. Butler? Where is she headed? Where has she been? Who am I? Im a 51-year-old writer who can remember being a 10-year-old