...Octavia Butler’s “Kindred” is one of those books that leave you thinking about it long after you have finished reading it. Told in an unpretentious tone, “Kindred” delivers a powerful message and makes the reader question everything they knew about slavery. Most modern people may never have thought about slavery or how easily one can come to accept it as a fact of life, until reading “Kindred”. Time travel makes it possible for Dana, a modern young, intelligent Black woman, to go back to the antebellum South and experience the nefarious effects of slavery. She does not go there by choice, but is, instead, pulled back in time by a mysterious phenomenon activated by one of her ancestors’ intense pain. Furthermore, she can return to her own time, 1976, only by experiencing pain or being in a highly anxiety-filled life- or- death situation. A young white boy by the name of Rufus, who is to become one of her ancestors, finds himself in trouble and Dana goes to his rescue time and time again. Although in the beginning she goes unwillingly, the reader can see that as time passes Dana begins to care for him, and genuinely wants to help him, even though he doesn’t always deserve her affection and dedication: the good-natured child Rufus...
Words: 1022 - Pages: 5
