essay questions for kindred

Mobile Menu

Find a Tutor
Connection User
Edit Profile
Forgot Password
Novelguides by Title
Reports & Essay by Title
Quotes by Author
Novelguides by Author
Ask a Question
Novelguides
Connections
Reports & Essays
Ask Question
Tutor's Market Place
How it Works

What are You Studying?

Novelguide rooms, novelguide: search by author, novelguide: search by title, book navigation.

Kindred: Novel Summary: Prologue
Kindred: Summary: Chapter 1-2
Kindred: Summary: Chapter 3
Kindred: Summary: Chapter 4:part 1-10
Kindred: Summary: Chapter 4:part 11-16
Kindred: Summary: Chapter 5
Kindred: Summary: Chapter 6
Kindred: Character Profiles
Kindred: Metaphor Analysis
Kindred: Theme Analysis
Kindred: Top Ten Quotes
Kindred: Biography

Kindred: Essay Questions

Facebook share

Top Novelguides

Quotes by topic, report & essay.

Thomas Jefferson: the Man, the Myth, and the Morality
JFK: His Life and Legacy
Gerald Ford
Harry Shippe Truman
Herbert Hoover
The Presidency of FDR
J.F.K. Biography
James Madison

Popular Novelguides

To Kill A Mockingbird Discuss & QA
The Great Gatsby Discuss & QA
Lord of the Flies Discuss & QA
Adventures of Huck Finn Discuss & QA
The Catcher in the Rye Discuss & QA
Animal Farm Discuss & QA
1984 Discuss & QA
Fahrenheit 451 Discuss & QA
Odysseus Discuss & QA
Great Expectations Discuss & QA

William Shakespeare Novels

Quotes: search by author, search reports and essays.

Novelguide.com is the premier free source for literary analysis on the web. We provide an educational supplement for better understanding of classic and contemporary literature. Novelguide.com is continually in the process of adding more books to the website each week. Please check back weekly to see what we have added. Please let us know if you have any suggestions or comments or would like any additional information. Thanks for checking out our website. More Details

Our Networks

novelguide.com
studyhall.novelguide.com
Homework Help
flashcard.novelguide.com/
video.novelguide.com
Share Report & Essay
Join a school
Join a teacher group
Test Prep Material

Useful Links

See what's new on our blog
All Question
Novelguide Authors
Search Your School
Teacher ratings

“Kindred” by Octavia Butler Literature Analysis Essay

“Kindred” is a book that tells the story of slavery, survival, and love. Octavia Butler employs the thriller genre to present her slavery narrative. Butler’s narrative can be summarized as the main character’s journey in which she meets her ancestor, saves her ancestor, and then kills her ancestor. “Kindred” does make use of strong emotions such as those used in Tony Morrison’s book “Beloved.”

Also, the author does not invest too much in her characters as Hailey did in “Roots.” However, the book manages to present the reader with a realistic possibility of being involved in slavery. The author of “Kindred” labels the book as a work of science fiction even though the book fits more into other genres such as thriller, time travel, black history fiction, drama, and love story genres.

The book begins in 1976 when a couple is moving into a new house. The couple consists of Kevin, a white novelist and his wife, twenty-six-year-old African American aspiring writer Edana Franklin. When the two are unpacking their belongings, Dana starts feeling dizzy, passes out, and finds herself in an unfamiliar world. Dana finds herself in front of a river where a white boy is drowning. Instinctively, she jumps into the river and saves the boy.

This is in spite of the fact that the boy’s mother is yelling to Dana to “get her black hands off her son” (Butler 11). The boy’s father points a gun to Dana’s head, and before he shoots her, she is taken back to her apartment where Kevin is looking at her in awe. Dana’s husband informs her that she had been teleported, but even before she processes this information, it happens again.

Dana meets with the same boy while he is trying to burn down a house and manages to rescue him in time. This time Dana manages to ask some questions, and she learns that she is involved in time travel and the little boy is his ancestor. Dana has been picked to be the one who keeps the boy alive until he can start his ancestry (Butler 24). Therefore, if the boy dies before starting a bloodline, Dana’s existence will be in jeopardy.

In the course of her time travel episodes, Dana comes face to face with many misfortunes including almost being raped and killed. Her biggest challenge is to identify herself in 1815 because she does not have the necessary identification documents (Butler 78). In the next few weeks, Dana is involved in various instances of time travel where she is supposed to rescue Rufus, her ancestor.

In the course of these events, she becomes close with some of the slaves in Rufus’ plantation. Also, she is involved in several adventures, including time traveling with her white husband. For instance, at one time, her husband is left stranded, and Dana “has to go back five years to rescue him” (Butler 135).

The book mostly relies on the main character when telling the slavery story. The main heroine is a knowledgeable African American woman who is married to a white novelist. Dana’s wide knowledge of historical and social matters is very instrumental during her time travel episodes. The author uses the heroine to explore black history. When Dana is transported to the past, she adapts to that environment with ease. Her intellect helps her in understanding the plight of a nineteenth century black woman.

During her time at the plantation, Dana faces her predicament with dignity. In spite of all the things that happen to Dana, she just shrugs them off and keeps on going. She avoids getting involved in any of the modern Civil Rights palaver. It would be correct to assume that any person from the Civil Rights’ Era would be too eager to preach the equal rights gospel to the stakeholders of slavery. However, the author chooses not to delve into this angle and creates a character who understands the history and the scenarios surrounding slavery.

Moreover, Dana’s attitude towards the characters she encounters during her time travel is civil and compassionate. Dana’s role is to be an observer of slavery and not a critic. The main character recognizes that her protests will not change either the past or the future. All she needs to do is to ensure that the past is not distorted so that her current life is guaranteed.

For instance, she does not try to ‘change Rufus’ behavior’ during her interactions with him (Butler 102). By not being vocal against slavery and the other injustices she encounters, Butler’s main character acts as a trustworthy slavery observer. Dana seems to understand that the characters she encounters are a product of their time, and that is why she carries on with her life unperturbed by people’s actions.

Nevertheless, Dana is not ignorant of the challenges she witnesses during her time travel. This is in line with the author’s aim of exploring slavery from the inside while still maintaining a periodical distance. The same applies to Kevin when he travels back to 1815. Although he has the advantage of not being mistaken for a slave, he does not try to alter the dynamics of the past. The only radical activity Kevin engages in is “aiding escaping slaves” (Butler 199). However, this was a common practice during the slavery period.

The metaphor of time travel is used extensively in this book. The author uses time travel to subdivide the sections in her book. Each time-travel episode in the book gives a complete section of the story. The time travel metaphor is not used as a scientific aspect, but it is used to show the passage of time. The author does not explain the mechanisms of time travel, but she uses it as an interface between the past and the present. The simple nature of this time travel shows how people consider slavery as a simple occurrence.

At the beginning of the book, time travel is a little shocking, but as the book progresses, it becomes mundane. The metaphor of time travel shows how easy it is for people to get used to the institution of slavery in the same Dana gets used to time travel and slavery.

The main character’s inability to control her time travel episodes is a metaphor for how the people who were entrapped in slavery were unable to control their fate. Dana moves back and forth in her time travel episodes, just like the people who were involved in slavery were moved around by its events.

“Kindred” is more about fantasy time travel than it is about science and fiction. First, the author does not try to explain the metaphysics behind the time travel aspect. This implies the science behind the time travel is irrelevant to the story being told. Butler’s characters just find themselves in a tricky situation, and they try their best to maneuver through their predicaments and come out alive. The essence of time travel is to allow the plot to develop.

The author explores how modern people would fare in slavery, Maryland irrespective of their race. In one instance, Dana claims that reality in 1815 is “a sharper and stronger reality” (Butler 191). The author uses Dana and her husband as a thought provocation mechanism. Through these two main characters, the reader can contemplate what it would be like to survive through the most difficult days of slavery. Also, readers can think about how this experience would change their historical outlook.

Depending on whether the reader is white or black, his/her survival chances would vary. The question of how an individual might react to the slavery environment also comes up. Several people would react differently to how Dana reacted. For instance, most people would be too eager to demand their rights and freedoms, while others would most likely urge the enslaved characters to revolt.

The author makes Dana’s quick adaptation to slavery seem easy. However, readers find it hard to believe that an ordinary human being would adapt to such hardships with ease. The author wants the readers to believe that the main actor easily adapted to her new environment with few reservations. For instance, Dana observes that “the slaves seemed to like Rufus and fear him at the same time” (Butler 229). However, this outcome is quite unlikely in such a scenario.

Although the book is fictional, it would be more realistic if the main character put up a resistance against her new predicament. The author fronts her book as a work of science fiction. However, her work ignores the parameters of science fiction. Science fiction readers would find the book substandard in various aspects. The author also seems to misuse several literary genres in a bid to pass her message across. Science fiction is one of the genres that the author associates her work with but fails to abide by their disciplines.

Moreover, the author touches on time travel and love story genres but does not fully commit to these genres. The author avoids abiding in any specific genre in a bid to remain true to her core themes. However, the author risked producing substandard literary work by not abiding by any specific genre.

The book’s author presents a near accurate 1815, but her 1976 is too idealized. According to the author, the main character has not encountered any major racial prejudice in her life. This would be an unlikely development in 1976 because racial prejudice was common. Therefore, Dana would have encountered racial prejudice in the course of her education, her social encounters, or her part-time job.

According to the author, Dana could have been “the little woman who knew very little about freedom….the female Uncle Tom” (Butler 145). This assumption prompts the reader to speculate that the main character was living in a 1976 Utopia. This would also mean that the book was a challenge to African Americans who are ignorant of their slavery history.

Although the author makes several genre-related oversights, “Kindred” is a fascinating and thrilling time-travel account. The author strikes a perfect balance between fiction and human drama. The author relies on her well-balanced main character to deliver her message to the readers. Overall, the book is a well-researched time travel cum black history account on the effects of slavery on a modern white or black American.

Works Cited

Butler, Octavia. Kindred , New York, NY: Beacon Press, 1988. Print.

Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, May 8). "Kindred" by Octavia Butler Literature Analysis. https://ivypanda.com/essays/kindred-by-octavia-butler-literature-analysis/

""Kindred" by Octavia Butler Literature Analysis." IvyPanda , 8 May 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/kindred-by-octavia-butler-literature-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2020) '"Kindred" by Octavia Butler Literature Analysis'. 8 May.

IvyPanda . 2020. ""Kindred" by Octavia Butler Literature Analysis." May 8, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/kindred-by-octavia-butler-literature-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . ""Kindred" by Octavia Butler Literature Analysis." May 8, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/kindred-by-octavia-butler-literature-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . ""Kindred" by Octavia Butler Literature Analysis." May 8, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/kindred-by-octavia-butler-literature-analysis/.

Theme of Empathy in “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler
"Blood Child" a Story by Octavia Butler
Dependence in Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild”
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas an American Slave
"Where are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates
"Osage County" a Drama by Tracy Letts
"Nobody Knows My Name" by James Baldwin
John Updike's Story "A&P"

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Books — Kindred

Essays on Kindred

What makes a good kindred essay topics.

When it comes to choosing a topic for your Kindred essay, it's important to consider what will make for a compelling and engaging piece of writing. The best essay topics are those that are thought-provoking, unique, and relevant to the themes and messages of the novel. In order to brainstorm and select a great essay topic, it's important to consider the following points:

Brainstorming: One of the best ways to come up with essay topics is to brainstorm ideas related to the novel. This can include exploring the characters, themes, and historical context of the story. Consider what aspects of the novel resonate with you and what ideas you find most interesting.
Relevance: A good essay topic should be relevant to the novel and its themes. Consider how the topic connects to the characters, their experiences, and the overall message of the story.
Originality: It's important to choose a topic that is unique and not overly common. Look for angles and perspectives that haven't been explored extensively in other essays about Kindred.
Interest: Choose a topic that genuinely interests you and that you feel passionate about. This will make the writing process more enjoyable and the final essay more engaging for your readers.

Overall, a good Kindred essay topic should be original, relevant, and interesting to both the writer and the reader.

Best Kindred Essay Topics

The impact of time travel on the protagonist's identity in Kindred
The role of race and gender in shaping the characters' experiences in the antebellum South
The theme of power and control in the relationships between the characters
The significance of the river as a symbol in Kindred
The parallels between the protagonist's experiences in the 19th and 20th centuries
The portrayal of trauma and resilience in the novel
The role of education and literacy in the characters' lives
The theme of freedom and captivity in Kindred
The use of magical realism in the novel
The significance of family and community in shaping the characters' identities
The impact of historical events on the characters' lives
The exploration of agency and autonomy in Kindred
The theme of survival and adaptation in the face of adversity
The portrayal of love and relationships in the novel
The significance of storytelling and oral tradition in the characters' lives
The role of violence and its impact on the characters
The exploration of memory and its role in shaping the characters' experiences
The significance of language and communication in Kindred
The theme of home and belonging in the novel
The impact of trauma and its long-term effects on the characters

Kindred essay topics Prompts

Imagine that you are a character in Kindred. Write a journal entry reflecting on your experiences and the challenges you face in the antebellum South.
Create a modern-day adaptation of Kindred, setting the story in a different time period or location. How would the themes and messages of the novel translate to this new context?
Choose a minor character in Kindred and explore their experiences and perspective. How do their experiences contribute to the overall themes and messages of the story?
Write a letter from the protagonist to one of the other characters in Kindred, reflecting on their relationship and the challenges they face.
Explore the use of symbolism in Kindred. Choose a specific symbol from the novel and analyze its significance and impact on the story and characters.

Choosing a great Kindred essay topic involves considering relevance, originality, and interest. By exploring unique angles and perspectives, you can create a compelling and thought-provoking essay that engages both you and your readers.

Kindred by Octavia Butler: Kinship, Survival, and The Power of Actions

Alice greenwood: an individual against environment, the theme of travel back in time in the novel "kindred" by octavia butler, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

Kindred and The Time Machine: The Construction of Chronotops

June 1979, by Octavia E. Butler

Neo-slave narrative

The book is the first-person account of a young African-American woman writer, Dana, who finds herself being shunted in time between her Los Angeles, California home in 1976 and a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation. There she meets her ancestors: a proud black freewoman and a white planter who has forced her into slavery and concubinage. As Dana's stays in the past become longer, the young woman becomes intimately entangled with the plantation community. She makes hard choices to survive slavery and to ensure her return to her own time.

Kindred explores the dynamics and dilemmas of antebellum slavery from the sensibility of a late 20th-century black woman, who is aware of its legacy in contemporary American society. Through the two interracial couples who form the emotional core of the story, the novel also explores the intersection of power, gender, and race issues, and speculates on the prospects of future egalitarianism.

Edana (Dana) Franklin, Rufus Weylin, Kevin Franklin, Tom Weylin, Alice Greenwood, Sarah, Margaret Weylin, Hagar Weylin, Luke, etc.

“Repressive societies always seemed to understand the danger of "wrong" ideas.” “Like all good works of fiction, it lies like the truth.” “Slavery was a long slow process of dulling.” “He wasn't a monster at all. Just an ordinary man who sometimes did the monstrous things his society said were legal and proper.”

Relevant topics

A Modest Proposal
Bartleby The Scrivener
Between The World and Me
Frankenstein
The Great Gatsby
Song of Solomon
All Quiet on The Western Front
American Born Chinese
Lamb to The Slaughter

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

Instructions Followed To The Letter
Deadlines Met At Every Stage
Unique And Plagiarism Free

by Octavia E. Butler

Kindred themes, the deleterious effects of slavery.

Slavery is an absolutely brutalizing system that affects whites and blacks alike. White slaveowners, as well as whites who wish they were slaveowners, have complete and arbitrary power. All good sentiments, rationality, and human sympathy are easily squelched. They are able to do practically anything they want to slaves or even free blacks, as slavery is defined by race. Slaves are beaten, raped, and tortured. They are punished for all offenses great, small, or even nonexistent. Their children can be sold, their marriages are invalid, and they have no rights or recourse to action. They work backbreaking, soulless tasks for their masters and have no autonomy. The slaves in this novel are clearly human beings, capable of pain, emotion, sorrow, and regret; however, they are treated like beasts. Slavery is demeaning and demoralizing in an inestimable way.

Dana appears to be more of an introvert when we meet her in the 20th century, and even when she travels back to the 19th century she initially seems to be aloof, desirous of keeping her distance from the other slaves and considering herself more of a spectator. As time goes on, though, she is further enmeshed in the community of slaves at the Weylin plantation and comes to see that they have formed a new definition of family. Slaves have no guarantees of remaining with their spouses or children, but they can form bonds with each other that provide sustenance and solace. Dana comes to acknowledge this, and opens herself up to this family.

The suffering of slave mothers is almost unfathomable. Women do not get to engage with the societally determined definition of motherhood as the apotheosis of womanhood because they are not considered to have power over their children. Like Sarah , they can see them sold away to other plantations for something as insignificant as new furniture. Alice kills herself because Rufus "jokes" with her that he has sold her children. Slave mothers must also watch as their children not only grow aware of their status as slaves, but also endure watching them be beaten, raped, insulted, worked like animals, and maybe even killed.

Past, Present, and History

When Dana begins her journeys she privileges the present and thinks an awareness of the historical past will allow her to be a distanced spectator and successfully navigate its treacherous terrain. As time goes on, though, she realizes that is almost wholly unprepared to be in the past and that she has to adjust her mannerisms, words, behavior, expectations, and more. Past and present will be interwoven and Dana will even lose part of her body to the past; the past marks the present indelibly and should not be looked on with nostalgia or superiority.

Home and Family

Both Dana and Kevin are surprised how they come to consider the Weylin plantation home, and how their own home in 1976 Altadena feels less like home after their journeys. Critic Ashraf H.A. Rushdy writes that Butler sees home as "more than a place" and as a "liminal site.” He sees that, for Dana, home is a place between Kevin and Rufus, present and past; for Kevin, it is where he communicates with Dana; for Rufus, it is ownership of property. Home is not to be found in writing, which Dana and Kevin initially think it might be–it is found in memory, in linking past and present and considering a new understanding of family and kindred.

While race is certainly the defining boundary of ‘slave’ and ‘free’, gender also plays a role in power dynamics in both the 19th and 20th centuries. White women like Margaret are second-class citizens and have nothing to do but be wives and mothers; their husbands have a public presence and can do what they want. Black women are doubly victimized: 20th century women like Dana still suffer from the patriarchy, while 19th century women can be indiscriminately raped and deprived of their role as mother and wife. Their rights are nonexistent by dint of their skin color and gender.

Power in this novel is defined in many ways. Tom and Rufus have power because they are white men and own property, not because they are educated, kind, or honorable. Black men and women do not have any official power in the 19th century (and are often oppressed in 1976 as well). Every relation is a power struggle in this novel, with characters doing their best to come out on top. Dana and Rufus in particular vie for power, with Dana occasionally besting him in subtle ways. She can even be said to win out in the end, as she kills Rufus and retains her sense of self. Other characters exercise power in more nebulous ways, from suicide to altering food to running away to refusing to love; the novel reveals that, while there are clear power hierarchies, there are also subtle and meaningful ways to resist.

GradeSaver will pay $15 for your literature essays

Kindred Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Kindred is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Why is Isaac fighting with Rufus?

Isaac is fighting with Rufus because Rufus was trying to seduce Alice.

How does she influence him and his attitude toward slavery?

Dana really has no influence on Rufus' attitude towards slavery. Though she meets him when he is a mere child, he still grows up to be a man who abuses and oppresses his slave, and rapes the women.

How long has it been in 1976?

The time span between the past and the present is approximately 150 years.

Study Guide for Kindred

Kindred is a novel by Octavia Butler. The Kindred study guide contains a biography of Octavia E. Butler, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About Kindred
Kindred Summary
Character List

Essays for Kindred

Kindred is a book by Octavia Butler. Kindred literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Kindred.

Chronotopic Shaping and Reshaping in H.G. Wells' The Time Machine and Octavia E. Butler's Kindred
The Concept of "Home"
Cultural Trauma Narratives' Use of Supernatural Elements
The Many Forms of Home
Individuals that Transcend Time: Non-linear and Fantastical Narratives of Kindred and The Rag Doll Plagues

Lesson Plan for Kindred

About the Author
Study Objectives
Common Core Standards
Introduction to Kindred
Relationship to Other Books
Bringing in Technology
Notes to the Teacher
Related Links
Kindred Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Kindred

Introduction
Main themes

59 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 2

Chapters 3-4

Chapter 5-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Summary and Study Guide

The 1979 novel Kindred was written by Octavia E. Butler, a Black author from California who wrote science fiction that challenged white hegemony. The novel tells the story of Edana “Dana” Franklin , a young Black woman in 1976 whose connection to a young white boy named Rufus Weylin allows her to time travel to 1800s Maryland. As she jumps between 1976 and the 1800s, she learns how she and Rufus are connected, and she must survive as an enslaved person in the antebellum South to fit in.

The novel has been praised for its raw and compelling depiction of slavery, bringing it to the forefront to remind us to never forget the sins of our past. Butler’s use of time travel highlights the importance of keeping the past present because the trauma left behind continues to shape our daily lives.

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

7,600+ In-Depth Study Guides
4,850+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
Downloadable PDFs

Content Warning: The source material includes scenes depicting suicide, sexual assault including rape, sexual coercion, and other instances of graphic violence.

Plot Summary

The SuperSummary difference

8x more resources than SparkNotes and CliffsNotes combined
Study Guides you won ' t find anywhere else
100+ new titles every month

The story begins in 1976 when Black protagonist Dana turns 26 and moves into a new Los Angeles home with her white husband, Kevin Franklin . While unpacking, she suddenly feels disoriented and finds herself outside watching a young white boy drown. She saves him and learns his name is Rufus moments before his father points a gun at her, sending her back to the present. Later that day, Dana time travels again to extinguish a fire Rufus has just started and learns she is in antebellum Maryland. Rufus is her ancestor, and he subconsciously calls her whenever he is in danger, sending her traveling through time to save him. Dana also learns that she travels back home when she believes her life is in danger.

When Rufus falls out of a tree, Dana arrives, this time with Kevin as her companion. Together, they must fit into the roles of the period: Dana must pretend to be an enslaved person, and Kevin must pretend to be her owner. They meet other enslaved people such as Sarah, the plantation cook; Nigel, Rufus’s enslaved friend; Luke, Nigel’s father and the Black overseer of enslaved people; Carrie, Sarah’s daughter who has a speech disorder; and Alice, Rufus’s friend, eventual lover, and Dana’s ancestor as well. They also meet Rufus’s parents, Tom and Margaret Weylin, the cruel plantation owners. Dana wants to make sure young Rufus does not end up as evil as his parents.

When Dana gets caught teaching Nigel and Carrie to read, Tom Weylin whips her savagely, which triggers Dana’s travel back to 1976 alone. Kevin does not make it in time to hold on to her as she travels, so he is left stranded in Maryland. Dana is only gone for eight days when she is called back to save Rufus. Five years have passed for him, and he has been beaten by Alice’s new husband for raping Alice. Dana must again play the role of the enslaved person while helping Rufus, befriending Alice, and searching for Kevin. Eventually, Kevin returns for her and they plan to leave North, but Rufus stops them. He aims a gun at Dana, sending her and Kevin back to 1976 together.

That same day, Rufus calls Dana again; for him, six more years have passed. Dana must care for him as he suffers from dengue fever. Eventually, Alice gives birth to Hagar, Dana’s great grandmother, and Dana is satisfied knowing that she has ensured her own birth. However, Rufus has become controlling, sadistic, and vengeful like his father. Alice and the other enslaved people despise him, and Dana has mixed feelings about him. She tries to make him a kinder slaveowner, but when Rufus catches another enslaved person, Sam James, flirting with Dana, he becomes jealous and sells Sam. This pushes Dana to slit her wrists to be sent home to the present.

Two weeks later, Rufus calls Dana one last time. Alice has killed herself after Rufus made her believe he had sold their children. Rufus asks Dana to stay with him, and when she refuses, he tries to rape her. She stabs and kills him, sending herself back to the present. However, Rufus’s dead hand was still clutching her arm, so when she arrives in the present, her arm is conjoined with the wall of her home and her arm must be amputated.

When she recovers, she and Kevin go to Maryland to search for records of the Weylin plantation. They find that Nigel burned the house down to cover up the murder, and the enslaved people were subsequently resold. Alice’s children presumably went to live with Margaret Weylin’s family in Baltimore. Dana and Kevin are left with their harrowing memories of the past and are forced to move on together now that they are free of Rufus.

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now

Related Titles

By Octavia E. Butler

Adulthood Rites

Octavia E. Butler

Bloodchild and Other Stories

Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Talents

Speech Sounds

The Evening and the Morning and the Night

Featured Collections

African American Literature

View Collection

American Literature

Black History Month Reads

Historical Fiction

Science Fiction & Dystopian Fiction

Home / Essay Samples / Life / Family / Kindred

Kindred Essay Examples

Oppression, possession, and violence: analysis of kindred.

In the novel, Kindred by Octavia Butler, the perspective of the author was told through Dana, the protagonist of the novel. It initially started as she found herself in a dangerous situation where she needed to save a boy, named Rufus, which is in imminent...

The Harmful Effects of Trauma and Abuse in Octavia Butler's Kindred

Octavia Butler's writing about the Ante-bellum South in Kindred highlights the consequences of American slavery and the continuous racism and prejudice that still resides in modern-day America. Dana is exploited throughout the novel-- subtly by her husband, Kevin Franklin, and severely by her 'master' and...

The Merging of Times in Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

One of the longest and most pivotal transformations the United States has been through is the abolishing of slavery and Jim Crow laws. However, race and gender inequality still persist in many avenues of society ranging from the streets to the workplace. To showcase the...

Literary Analysis of the Novel Kindred by Octavia Butler

“Kindred” is a novel by Octavia Butler that includes aspects of the time-travel genre and is based on a slave narrative perspective. The book is written in the first-person perspective of an African-American woman, named Dana, who finds herself being transported between ‘present’ time Los...

The Issue of Race and Gender in Octavia Butler’s Kindred

While Kindred by Octavia E. Butler is primarily a novel exploring the slavery of blacks in the United States, it also takes a secondary theme of exploring the lives of women in general in the South during this time. The contrast between Dana and the...

Analysis of Dana’s Empathy Throughout the Novel Kindred

Empathy allows a person to place themselves in the shoes of another. Often, being in someone else’s shoes allows for an entirely different perspective. In Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred, the main character displays empathy that may be difficult for the reader to process. Butler’s purposeful...

Neo-slavery and Time-travel Genres Within Octavia Butler’s Kindred

When writing fiction novels; many authors of the last century tend to incorporate more than one genre, to explore different and intricate ways a message can be delivered. Octavia Butler's novel Kindred, has a multifaceted analysis of different genres which help her express the overall...

Estrangement and Cognition in Kindred by Octavia Butler

Can it be said that SF genre has only scientific probability? Most people are beginning to see SF as a movie, animation, or game. However, few people can clearly distinguish what exactly SF means. As people call it Science Fiction, they will guess that SF...

Trying to find an excellent essay sample but no results?

Don’t waste your time and get a professional writer to help!

About Kindred