Maryland in 1815, like much of the south, was a hot bed for slavery plantations. For slave owners in particular, it was a benefit if your slaves were not educated, as they would be less likely to question the oppressive treatment, and not adequately be able to express the conditions under which they labored. In the novel Kindred by Octavia Butler, various aspects of education are intertwined throughout, effectively depicting how education and slavery do not go together cohesively. Specifically, in the case of Dana, the novels protagonist, her intelligence led to her owners feeling inferior, which prompted many verbal and physical attacks, an exploitation of her abilities, and the overriding attempt to suppress the education of other slaves …show more content…
Her education works as a sort of scarlet letter, allowing her to stand out, which is not always beneficial to her well-being. Kevin explained the complex that Tom was experiencing; “Weylin doesn’t like the way you talk. I don’t think he’s had much education himself, and he resents you” (Butler 80). Dana feels as though it is her obligation to continually make the trips to the plantation not only to keep Rufus alive to make sure her lineage remains, but in order to experience the hardships that her ancestors withstood. By going through this process however, she did make people uncomfortable because she did not fit the stereotypical slave prototype. The white people viewed slaves as sub-human, and a black woman who was mentally superior was not something they would have encountered before. Dana explains what Margaret, Tom’s wife, may have been feeling; “I don’t think Margaret likes educated slaves any better than her husband does…. He can barely read and write. And she’s not much better” (Butler 82). The absence of education on plantation life is a topic that is deeper than it would appear on the surface. It is a significant part of the stigma that has haunted the African American culture to this …show more content…
After Dana attempts to escape the plantation, she is eventually corralled by both Tom and Rufus, at which point Tom utters; “Educated nigger don’t mean smart nigger, do it?” (Butler 175). Whenever they were given the chance to poke fun at Dana, it made sense for them to target her mentally, to try and assure themselves that she was not capable of various acts of defiance. As the novel progresses, there comes a time when Dana must try and explain the logistics of her travel to Tom; a seemingly impossible task. In the midst of clarifying how time seems to travel at different rates in both places, Tom responds; “Who in hell ever said you were an educated nigger? You can’t even tell a decent lie. Six years for me is six years for you!” (Butler 200). It seems that whenever a nerve is struck, the anger taken out on Dana is projected at her intellect. Dana was not usually found in the field doing manual labor, but on one particular trip with the new overseer Evan Fowler in charge, she was expected to contribute. When he noted that she wasn’t chopping effectively, Dana increased the grip on her knife in anger to which Fowler exclaimed “Try it and get it over with. I thought you was supposed to be smart” (Butler 211). Once again, the underlying issue of her education comes into play. Unlike her counterparts, Dana is more gifted than the white
Analyzing Character Development: Dana Octavia Butler’s novel, Kindred, provides a unique look into slavery in the antebellum South through the eyes of Edana Franklin, a black woman living in the late 20th century, who is suddenly sent through time to the early 19th century where she is suddenly faced with the task of protecting her ancestor, Rufus, from many dangers in order to ensure her existence in the present. Dana begins her adventure with no knowledge of how or why she has been given this responsibility and, as a result, must adapt to her new and unfamiliar surroundings. As the novel progresses, the reader sees Dana’s internal battle with herself as she decides whether or not Rufus is worth saving, or if she should let Rufus die
Kindred In the novel Kindred, the author uses the source of time travel to travel back to the nineteenth century in the United States, to experience the lifestyle of enslaved African Americans by the Whites. Traveling back in time, the author uses Dana to revert to slavery, experiencing abuse and having to adapt quickly to the environment. Readers can experience both mental and psychical experiences the antebellum slaves experienced during this time, though treatment varied from master to master, the diurnal living of a slave was still difficult. Throughout the novel, differences of the modern and past time are illustrated to see how the society has changed with time and how it responds to the decision and the way of life of others.
With freedom coming, some slaves were still loyal to their masters. Yet, the slave masters still consider slaves to be the bottom rail of society. The bottom rail was considered the “lowest level of America’s social and economic scale” (Davidson & Lytle, p. 179). The slaves were portrayed to be dumb or stupid because state governments discouraged slaves
The grandmother’s bigoted self-elevation quickly taints her moral reputation. While common in her environment, the grandmother does not resist racial slurs. In fact, she wields them as an integrated part of her vocabulary to undermine her supposed inferiors. She first exemplifies her instinctive racism when she calls a black child a
Frederick Douglass Synthesis Paper In an autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass, the author argues that no one can be enslaved if she or he has the ability to read, write, or think. Douglass supports his claim by explaining the experience of himself acquiring knowledge to become an independent and intelligent free man. The author’s purpose is to unravel the collective minds of all who support and oppose slavery in order to diminish the damage slavery has caused in hope of finding a more educational and free society. Based on evidence and personal experience, Douglass is writing for the help of those, the educated white men of high authority, with the ability to create change in our
As an African America, Dana is forced into the life of a slave, suffering through various hardships and numerous close encounters with death. All of these experiences have a significant effect on Dana’s mental stability, as she becomes more and more distant and distressed. However, her fellow characters are unable to fully realize Dana’s state of
Dana and Rufus’s Relationship Ever wonder what it's like to have a changing relationship with a plantation owner's son back in the 1800’s? Dana Franklin is a younger African-American woman married to Kevin Franklin who is a middle-aged man. Dana travels from California in 1976 back to the early 1800’s whenever Rufus is in trouble. Rufus is a plantation owner son and is also the father of Dana’s ancestor. Dana’s travels are random; she gets lightheaded and dizzy when she is about to travel.
Miss. Johnson proceeds to explain to the readers that even though it is a tough time, “we must prove it to White American as well—that our country can’t get along without the labor and sacrifice of her brown daughters” (Block, 386). Hortense is proud to help her fellow Americans in their time of need through her patriotism to America and in efforts to make herself feel like she is equal to the White Americans. Throughout all the effort at her work place and making sure each of the boxes are thoroughly inspected and ready for departure and her troubling route to work and back home she did it with a smile. She prompts, “Did I say my job isn’t exciting or complicated?
She did not want his ‘gift’ to be taken for granted (Birth of a Nation). He was exceptionally smart to the fact that his owner wanted him to assist their children in literature. He drove his master around and worked in the big house. Before his master died, he told his wife that he thinks Turner would now be more useful working in the fields now (Birth of a Nation). He used the way he was treated by the slave owners to his advantage.
In “Artificial Nigger,” a grandfather named Mr. Head and his grandson, Nelson was on a journey to go to Atlanta. Mr. Head is usually hotheaded and typically irritable while Nelson is an arrogant young boy who thinks he is knowledgeable of a lot of information already. After eating, the grandfather and his grandson conversed how Nelson has never seen a black person. Accordingly, in the town of Atlanta, there are a lot of people of colors, especially black persons. Mr. Head told his grandson to prepare himself as they are set on a journey alongside with a lot of black people, this made Nelson intimidated.
From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.
Frederick Douglass must have been aware of this because in his narrative, he actively opposes the idea. He describes the masters as people who would “much rather see [the slaves] as engaged in degrading sports, than to see [them] behaving as intellectual, moral, and accountable beings”(48). At a very young age, Douglass learned from the kindly Mrs. Auld how to read, and eventually how to write. He later began a school on the day of the Sabbath for other slaves who desired this knowledge. In Douglass narrative, he proves that unlike the slave owner’s perceptions, African Americans could be “scholars” that “ardently [desired] to learn”(48).
As Rufus was carried in the house, his mother frantically entered the bedroom and pushed Dana aside. Margaret Weylin noticed Dana and asked for her name. She seemed to recognize Dana from the past but as she spoke Rufus interrupted her asking for some water. Margaret turns and looks at Dana, as if Dana is her slave, and orders her to “get him some water” (Butler 69). Failure to do so Margaret dismisses Dana to the cookhouse.
Rufus no longer understands the difference between friend and master at the loss of Alice. Dana was able to make the selfish decision of killing Rufus, rather than submitting herself, for the good of herself, not the good of anyone else. She could not stand to become like Alice, a slave at the hands of a master; thus, her determination to escape stemmed from her will to remain independent. She knows as soon as she lets herself submit to the will of this society she cannot be viewed as a person, but a tool. Dana represents the women in the current day and age that would do anything to protect their own freedom, even at the
Amara Crook Harmon—L202 Major Paper 3 Clever Title Countee Cullen’s “Incident” explores the concept of unprovoked and unwarranted racism through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy. In his short yet powerful poem, Cullen uses a single incident in which a young boy “riding through old Baltimore” (1) is singled out and called the N-word by another very small child, despite having done or said nothing to offend the boy. Although this incident is clearly hurtful, why is this incident in particular so important?