Education In Octavia Butler's Kindred

Kevin claims that Dana is his wife; Rufus squeals and says, “Niggers can’t marry white people”, “It’s against the law” (Butler 60-61). The Deep South had banned interracial marriages until 1967. Although interracial marriage was unheard of, miscegenation was common but it “often led to complications in the South. Sometimes white men loved their black concubines more than they did their white wives” (Blassingame 84). Many of the white wives would file for divorce if this happened and they would also take out their anger on the black woman involved. 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. Dana realizes that if she is stuck in the south she might as well be working. She was offered a tutoring job, Kevin disagrees with her decision. Dana says, “I’m here. And I am supposed to be a slave”, she is trying to fit in with the black stereotype. Dana pretends to belong to Kevin while they are in the Weylin’s house to prevent blowing her cover. She is from the future, so she appears to be highly educated compared to the other black people in the south during the time of slavery. Although she is beginning to work she has to be careful because she knows information about the future that could get her into serious trouble. Master Weylin is threatened by her education level and is concerned on losing his investment on her, if she runs

The story “The View from the Bottom Rail” is set at the time of the ending of the Civil War when slaves about to be freed from their masters. Knowing that the Union soldiers were close, the slave master would paint the soldier as “long horns on their head, and tushes (pointed teeth) in their mouths, and eyes sticking out like a cow!” (Davidson & Lytle, p. 177). Obliviously, this wasn’t true. 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

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). The fact that the slaves choose to attend Douglass’s school despite the possibility of painful repercussions proves that they had a desire to grow

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. In Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred, Dana and Rufus’s relationship is intricate in the following ways: Dana is more of a guardian to Rufus, Rufus and Dana become companions, and he finally starts acting like a slave owner while she starts acting like a slave that Rufus owns.

One traumatic moment. One horrifying event. That is all it takes to alter a life. Trauma is when the mind’s coping mechanism becomes too overwhelmed by shocking events, to be able to process anything else (Walker 317). In Kindred, by Octavia Butler, the female, Black, protagonist, Dana, undergoes a series of traumatic events as she travels back in time to the 1800s – a period of slavery in America. 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

Literature is often credited with the ability to enhance one’s understanding of history by providing a view of a former conflict. In doing so, the reader is able to gain both an emotional and logistical understanding of a historically significant event. Additionally, literature provides context that can help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the political climate of a time period. Within the text of The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead’s, the use of literary elements such as imagery, metaphor, and paradox amplifies the reader’s understanding of early 19th century slavery and its role in the South of the United States of America. Throughout the novel, Whitehead utilizes a girl named Cora to navigate the political and personal consequences of escaping slavery, the Underground Railroad, and her transition

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story about two workers named George Milton and Lennie Small who are working in a ranch outside of Soledad, California. George takes care Lennie ,who is mentally disabled, throughout their adventure. Throughout the book, there is profound language, racism, and sexism found. These factors make people question if it is appropriate for high school students to read and analyze this book. Even though it includes these factors, Of Mice and Men should not be banned.

College… There are many different reasons why people choose to go to college. In the novel We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowlers, Rosie went to college for the wrong but in her case she may think her reasons is not wrong. Rosie went to UC Davis University looking for something else beside her education. Rosie was unable to finish her college due to the reason why she attend UC Davis.

This too was the effect on many African Americans education, because being smart and literate in this era was a threat to your master, because one could free themselves through writing. Through this time travel, Dana experienced many things that she would not have in 1976 and had to learn quick adaptation in order to survive a time her ancestors were not able to. Facts stated, Dana is married to a white man in 1976, which interracial marriages are not allowed during the time of her time travel. Therefore, the couple had to be secret about the situation, making it paint a picture as though Dana belonged to her husband in a way as it was expected during this time. This situation has led Dana to be vulnerable to abuse and feel the feeling of harm and terror “sweating, shaking, humiliated” (Butler 212); however, while experiencing these things, Dana learned endurance in protection of her surroundings, the actual meaning and rights of freedom, and appreciate the courage of her ancestors while upholding the respect towards them for the depraved things they had to deal

Characters serve as the metaphorical foundation upon which a story is written. In fact, the personalities of characters often reveal the outcome of a story’s plot before the author explicitly states it. In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” the self-indulgent grandmother portrays the outcome of her attempted evangelism through her sanctimonious nature. Through her illegitimate Christian appearance based on deceit and self-elevation, her failed attempt to persuade the Misfit can be attributed to her hypocritical personality.

Sally Hemings was a slave on the Monticello plantation in the late 18th century, and her experience helps us to understand that her gender aided the way she was treated versus if they went by the color of her skin (Dilkes Mullins). {Woman during this era were thought of as property, they were objectified, they were treated poorly and had no choice. Their husbands were liable for anything that they did} [Being a female during this era outweighed what one 's social status was. It did not matter what race you were, but if you were a woman, you were treated as such] (Dilkes Mullins).

The books A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines and Kindred by Octavia E. Butler are set in different time periods but you can see the theme of society and setting playing a huge role on a person’s identity. The book Kindred is set over many years in the eighteen hundreds and in nineteen seventy six. The book A Lesson Before Dying is set in the nineteen forties. In both of these books you can see how the character’s setting affects how they act. Two main motifs that show through during these time periods in that of slavery and racism. These two motifs can be seen throughout almost every chapter of each book.

When Douglass stepped off the ship to New Bedford he was astonished how things could look so beautiful without slaves taking care of everything. “Every thing looked clean, new, and beautiful. I saw few or no dilapidated houses, with poverty-stricken inmates; no half-naked children and barefooted women, such as I had been accustomed to see…” (97). Douglass was also very surprised that the people were wealthy and they didn’t have slaves. He was accustomed of seeing slaves be the “wealth factor” not as much money. “The people looked more able, stronger, healthier, and happier, than those of Maryland. I was for once made glad by a view of extreme wealth, without being saddened by seeing extreme poverty” If Douglass didn’t learn starting at a younger age, then this new life filled with freedom wouldn’t have been a

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? Racism during Cullen’s lifetime was incredibly prevalent, and one can without much doubt infer that the kind of racism depicted in “Incident” would be worth far more than the mere sixty-nine words Cullen grants the poem. One may believe this

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. Inside the train, a black man boarded and the grandfather pointed out to his grandson the appearances of the black people. Nelson was confused