ipl-logo

The Responsibility Of White People In Kindred By Octavia Butler

1817 Words8 Pages

White people, be it men or women, constantly exert their power over black people, taking their humanity piece by piece. During the 19th century, it was often found that black people did not have any rights; little, if any, were truly free. Those that were not free were forced to slave away at some plantation, owned by a white man that had complete power over them. Black people were forced to care for the children of the whites, they had to do strenuous field work, cook, clean, etc. Although white people seem to have a great deal of power during the 19th century, Octavia Butler's novel Kindred demonstrates that they depend utterly on the labor and bodies of black people because that is how they implement their power and superiority over them.
The relationship …show more content…

Rufus new Alice from when she was little, they were friends, so one would expect that Rufus would try to protect her, help her, more than to the other slaves. Instead. He “falls in love” with her, and that love becomes a destructive one. He just wants he body, he wants her like an object, and that is what he obtains, a body to pleasure him. Dana was impressed, and more so shocked when she found out what Rufus had done to poor Alice.
"Rufe, did you manage to rape that girl?" He looked away guiltily.“Why would you do such a thing? She used to be your friend.” “When we were little, we were friends,” he said softly. “We grew up. She got so she’d rather have a buck nigger than me!” It didn’t matter if Dana tried really hard to help Rufus grow up into a good person, she feels like a failure when she realizes Rufus has been trying to rape Alice, and succeeds. Rufus thinks Alice is an object, a property, a possession. He thinks that black people are just things that he can use whatever way he wants. That is something that Dana tries really hard not to be in her relationship with Kevin, she tries to be a person, not a

Show More
Related

Analyzing Character Development In Octavia Butler's Kindred '

1936 Words | 8 Pages

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

Read More

Embodied Agency In Octavia Butler's Kindred

886 Words | 4 Pages

In his “’No.’ : The Narrative Theorizing of Embodied Agency in Octavia Butler’s Kindred,” Bast underscores humanity’s desire for agency, one’s “ability to reach decision[s] about themselves and [express them]” and how one’s agency can benefit a society or a community (Bast 151). In the beginning of his article, Bast labels this decision-making and expression as beneficial and necessary for a community, while simultaneously underlining society’s limitations put on mankind’s freedoms such as discrimination, prejudice, or injustice. Nevertheless, he follows up by stating that it is simply human instinct to want to express thoughts even if other factors oppress them, undermining these social limitations.

Read More

Dbq Essay On Reconstruction

750 Words | 3 Pages

In the 19th century, slavery and the Reconstruction was a sore subject for the South. Reconstruction forged civil rights for African-Americans, but once the North’s influenced waned in the South, the South terrorized African-Americans and blocked them from accessing their newfound rights. While Reconstruction may have brought civil rights, those rights were quickly squashed by the South’s racism. Even after certain freedoms were securely gained, every new attempt to make African-Americans equal to the white populace was contested. A large group of people were happy to see slavery ended and civil rights rise.

Read More

Kindred By Octavia Butler: Literary Analysis

642 Words | 3 Pages

In Kindred, Dana’s narrative entirely revolves around the slaveholding American narrative of Rufus which illustrates the second fiddle notion of Dana’s identities. The fact that she can only time travel when white man, Rufus, mortally needs her demonstrates that her entire story regardless of time is dictated by the White Man (Butler 12). Furthermore regarding time fragmentation, the imagery of Dana’s body being in a constant state of scars, bruises, and general crisis in 1976 and 1819 while Rufus’ body and life continues in a progressive linear state depicts how the white historical narrative continues to strut along time whereas the black, female, American narrative continues to be an unhealed wound discarded alongside white-American-male chronology. This notion is expressed when Dana puts her bodily pain to the side in order to sexually usher love and welcoming to Kevin’s five year journey in Antebellum south (Butler 190). Essentially Dana’s body politics do not exist in a state of paradox because through Butler’s textual portrayal of embodiment, she was and still remains as an

Read More

Trauma In Octavia Butler's Kindred

1674 Words | 7 Pages

Similarly, Rufus doesn’t ever take in to account Dana’s emotions, so the beatings and slave trade which are normalized in the 1800s are not normal for Dana, but Rufus ignores her feelings and does what he wants in order to keep power over her (Butler 214). Both Kevin and Rufus simply think that Dana is not used to the situation or is

Read More

Comparing The Relationship In Octavia E. Butler's Kindred

853 Words | 4 Pages

This is why Rufus and Dana’s relationship has many intricacies throughout the

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Racial Inequality Essay

738 Words | 3 Pages

In the world right now, there is still inequality for all. People are criticized everyday because of how they look, speak, dress, act, etc. In America, although there is people that are changing, there with always be that small group of people that won’t change their views on what they believe is right and wrong in our society. You can also see this in the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, written by author, Harper Lee. All throughout the novel, you can see how white people are superior to the African Americans that live in the same town.

Read More

African Americans In The North Were Free Essay

628 Words | 3 Pages

Although there was no slavery in the North, “How Free Were Free Blacks in the North”. Though blacks were free in the North they were extremely restricted in many aspects of life. Blacks in the North had no sense of political,economic,or social freedom. Political freedom could be described as being able have a voice in the government. Everyone should have some type of way they are involved in the government because the government governs everything you do while you live in America.

Read More

'Slavery Exposed In Octavia Butler's Kindred'

996 Words | 4 Pages

In the story “Kindred” by Octavia Butler the slaves hardly fought back. The book showed that the slave owners as a whole weren't the entire problem, society was. No matter how much the slaves fought against it in their personal lives it was still widely accepted and enforced. The slaves had virtually no rights and were seen as sub human even when they were freed. Every part of society was against them and fighting back did much more harm than good.

Read More

The Role Of Women In Kindred

967 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel, Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler, a lot of ignorance and intelligence is demonstrated all through the book which in a way is dangerous. Kindred is a wonderful work of science fiction that catches the attention of readers by telling a story of Dana, a modern-day African-American woman, who is abruptly transported from California in 1976 to the antebellum South. Not only is Dana abruptly transported back in time but she’s able to experience first-hand the cruelty of enslaved black women and men in the 1800s. The experiences of Dana and the enslaved women in the novel were viewed as mostly women working in households.

Read More

Frederick Douglass Rebunk The Myth Of Slavery

814 Words | 4 Pages

In the 1700-1800’s, the use of African American slaves for backbreaking, unpaid work was at its prime. Despite the terrible conditions that slaves were forced to deal with, slave owners managed to convince themselves and others that it was not the abhorrent work it was thought to be. However, in the mid-1800’s, Northern and southern Americans were becoming more aware of the trauma that slaves were facing in the South. Soon, an abolitionist group began in protest, but still people doubted and questioned it.

Read More

Minorities: Equal Rights And Stereotypes

865 Words | 4 Pages

Minorities should have the same rights as majorities reminding us that everyone is equal. The journey for minorities to gain and maintain equality has not been easy. Minority groups have fought for ages to be treated equally. Whether it be for racial equality, gay rights or women's equality, these problems continue to be a struggle. Minorities have fought relentlessly for their rights and equality.

Read More

The Fight For Freedom In Octavia Butler's Kindred

1598 Words | 7 Pages

And Rufus was Rufus-erratic alternately generous and vicious. I could accept him as my ancestor, my younger brother, my friend, but not as my master, and not as my lover. He had understood that once” (260). Dana is distancing herself from being a slave doesn’t feel that she could ever be subjected to it like Alice was. She uses pronouns like “her” to describe a slave to show that she will be associated with one.

Read More

Examples Of Oppression In Kindred

501 Words | 3 Pages

This section of the paper focuses on the ways in which the African slaves were oppressed in America as documented in Octavia Butler’s novel of Kindred. It elucidates some cases in the novel; including the novel’s writer who experienced the life of slavery to their masters. The paper further gives a prelude on how the owners of the slaves dominated, repressed and subjugated their slaves. According to other sources that Butler used in composing the Kindred, the essays of Andrea Hairston, express the sufferings her fellow slaves including racial discrimination, harsh labor, separation from their families and even rape.

Read More

Racism Exposed In Octavia E. Butler's Kindred

670 Words | 3 Pages

In Octavia E. Butler’s novel Kindred, Dana battles an external conflict of time traveling to the past, and experiencing what it was like to be a slave. Dana ultimately resolves this conflict by killing her ancestor named Rufus to return to her present time; however, this choice also illustrates her true character as both scared but brave. Dana’s decision to kill Rufus because she did not want to live in a time where slavery and racism occurred also reveals the universal theme that racism was very common in the past, and it still occurs till this day. When traveling to the past Dana struggles with an external conflict of racism and slavery.

Read More

More about The Responsibility Of White People In Kindred By Octavia Butler

Related Topics

Open Document