![]() Butler’s reappropriation of a science fiction conceit allows her to create a postmodern, Black version of a genre that has historically excluded Black narratives, and in doing so, she creates a scathing critique of the genre itself and the society that created it. In using standard tropes of the genre-not being able to interfere for fear of creating a paradox, for example, or interacting with ancestors in an ironic way-Butler over and again emphasizes the way racism is built into the fabric of American history and the inescapable legacy that this racism has for people living in the present. Dana’s journey in Kindred is similar, but by highlighting how unsafe time travel is for Black people (or any other historically oppressed people), Butler draws attention to the genre as one that is written by and for the white imagination. ![]() Kindred is in direct conversation with previous stories in its genre, most notably Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, which sees an American travel back to Arthurian times and try to use his knowledge of modern technology, only to be stymied by medieval society. While policies have greatly improved interracial relationships in Dana and Kelvin’s world, it is a lot worse in Rufus’ world, and this is a major reason readers will notice a streak of political, socio-economic, and socio-psychological backwardness in Rufus’ time.ĭespite a torturous description of a world where one race dominated over the other – followed by a subsequent sufficing of actions that are abusive as they are dehumanizing, for posterity, the most important take away from Butler’s groundbreaking book ‘ Kindred’ is the need for all of the human race to stand together in unity, and recognize that we are first of all humans – before we are Black or white.As a literary subset of the science fiction genre, time travel stories have a rich history in both literature and pop culture. From a reader’s standpoint, it’s clear that the biggest cause of social instability in both timelines is racism – a concept to which the practice of slavery came to be born. In ‘ Kindred’, Butler tries to compare life and the whole living conditions in two distinct realities – first is Dana’s present time of 1976, and second is Rufus’ era of the early 1800s. And although her book ‘ Kindred’ is mostly classified as belonging to sci-fi, interracial matters clearly top the list of important agendas discussed for the most part of the book. Butler certainly gets readers in deep water with ‘Kindred’ but is also kind enough to salvage the story in ways that are verifiable and realistic.īutler is one of the first science fiction genre writers to unite gender, ethnicity, and race with the intricacies of time travel. ![]() And I lost about a year of my life and much of the comfort and security I had not valued until it was gone. However, Dana does have greater control over departing Rufus’ messy world and back to her own 1976 timeline, and this is usually when she feels afraid or becomes terrified for her life. Chapter All Chapters Character All Characters Theme All Themes Prologue Quotes I lost an arm on my last trip home. Interestingly, it does seem as though Dana has the power to travel through time, but a more keen attention to the facts of the book suggests she doesn’t and is only able to do so because of being summoned somehow, someway into the 1800s by Rufus every time he’s in trouble. Twenty-six years old young female protagonist Dana really does travel back in time on more than a few occasions to save her ancestor from potential life-threatening dangers which, for the most part, are caused by either Rufus himself or his mean father Tom. Themes such as gender, violence, power, abuse, slavery, and marriage, among other things, are given a good amount of time in the book and then there is the time travel aspect which in itself is as intricate as it is perplexing – and usually a stand-alone subject of thought. And despite being written by a Black author, the book doesn’t show signs of pontification.Īfter reading ‘ Kindred’, I’m left with one thought: It’s a brave and courageous book, and Butler must have been a brilliant writer of her time for going so deep and thorough on the themes in less than three hundred book pages. Dana, a modern African American woman, has to deal with the total loss of her freedom in order to keep herself alive on the estate of her white ancestor, Rufus Weylin, in the oppressive Antebellum South. Butler – through ‘ Kindred’ – dares to tackle a range of interesting topics which are considered very complicated and controversial to handle. The book is a complete joy to read and has several takeaways and hidden lessons for readers to walk away with. Butler’s masterly description and art of storytelling – with an easy, minimalistic flow of diction – make the book such an unputdownable piece of art. With ‘ Kindred’, readers observe how Octavia E.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |