...Power Strategies in Kindred In Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred, issues of misused power are prevalent. Through time travel between the 1970s and the 1800s, the book, Kindred, has shown major differences in lifestyle between an era of slavery and modern culture. The slave owners shun the slaves if they did not listen to their demands. Many of the slave owners use violence in order to control others. Slaves are mistreated with violence for something as small as not bringing back enough food from the fields, or not cleaning enough. The violence that is used is mainly whipping, hitting, yelling, and cutting off their fingers or ears. Despite the misuse of power, Dana, the protagonist, resists the violence through time travel. Throughout the book there...
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...Octavia E. Butler's novel Kindred, portrays the theme of power in relationships through the theme of gender and the roles of blacks vs. whites. In the novel, Dana Franklin often time traveled back to a slave plantation in the 1800’s. While on the plantation, Dana pretends to be the slave of her white husband Kevin. During her time, Dana uncovered the true themes of power in relationships. From being told to do tasks, and that she should not be reading as a woman, to being beaten for simply being black, Dana witnessed the way people were treated back then based on their status, and how to prove herself worthy to others. Throughout the novel, the recurring themes of gender and race form the display of power within the characters. Octavia E. Butler...
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...Racism is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. Racism is still very evident in today’s society and is the cause of much controversy. The use of language has always played a large role in racism by playing on stereotypes and the use of offensive terms. In the books, Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler, and, Forge, by Laurie Anderson, language is used to, both create and define relationships. Both books feature both the use of words to encourage and oppress others. In my opinion, a healthy relationship is built around mutual respect for one another and language is a powerful tool in building relationships. This is shown in the book Forge,...
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...The novel “Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler covers the topic of the strengths of the black women and the suffering of African Americans. In the narration, the author enlightens several vital social aspects as racism, gender discrimination, and slavery. The aim of the following paper is to analyze the ways Butler expresses the topic of slavery regarding concepts of past and present, the distinguishing of slavery and freedom, and the principle of social unawareness which are utilized to enhance the impact of the book on the target reader. The book involves real historical background and fantastic elements which make it exceptional among the same genre novels. The protagonist is Dana, a black young woman, who experiences time traveling. The...
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...Lenny Eguiluz Dr Holden English 1B 12, April, 12 Stronger than ever In Octavia E. Butler’s novel Kindred Dana and Kevin have an interracial marriage. Throughout the novel they have their ups and downs. It was not easy form them to be together because they were looked down upon for being in an interracial marriage. In the midst of opposing relationships such as, slave and master, black and white, there is a merge, a union known as Dana and Kevin’s marriage. Dana and Kevin meet at the temp agency where she and he worked at As Kevin and Dana grow closer and spend more time together in the twentieth century. Butler’s creative approach of concealing the couple’s individual racial identities in the beginning of the navel allowed us to truly understand the authentic nature of their marriage and emphasized the humanity in Dana and Kevin’s relationship while constructing the groundwork that would eventually be tested in the twentieth century as well as the seventeenth century. Dana and Kevin had to face a lot of opposition form their family and society it was not easy for them but they managed to stick by each other. Dana and Kevin have had to face many obstacles that where put in their way. Some of the obstacles that are in their way are family, time travel, and Rufus. Dana and Kevin had a lot of obstacles that many would say would harm a marriage. One of the many obstacles that they had was their family disapproval of their marriage. Dana and Kevin where...
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