The Past In Octavia E. Butler's Kindred

Google defines time as “the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.” This view of time as a whole is evident in Octavia E. Butler’s novel, Kindred. Butler writes of a twenty-six-year-old African-American woman named Dana Franklin, of whom suddenly happens to gain the ability to travel back in time spontaneously. Dana travels through events of the antebellum south, and faces many harsh obstacles along the way. Dana's battle through many tough situations and her journey through the past could not have been even remotely survivable without her immense bravery.

It is incredibly difficult to describe the events that took place on Dana's journey, a testament to the suffering …show more content…
When Dana continues to be called back more, she grows to be worried. As the trips go on, the more dangerous they become. She talks to her husband Kevin about it, “I sighed. ‘So the more I think about it, the harder it is for me to believe I could survive even a few more trips to a place like that. There’s just too much that could go wrong.’ ‘Will you stop that! Look, your ancestors survived that era—survived it with fewer advantages than you have. You’re no less than they are.’‘In a way, I am.’ ‘What way?’ ‘Strength. Endurance. To survive, my ancestors had to put up with more than I ever could. Much more. You know what I mean’” (51). When Dana travels back, she is at a disadvantage because of the color of her skin and her gender. But this doesn’t stop her from what she thinks is right, even with all odds against her. Later in the book after Rufus’s dad passes his mom comes back home, Rufus asks that Dana looks after her, “She depressed me, bored me, angered me, drove me crazy. But my back healed completely while I was with her. The work wasn’t hard and she never complained about anything except my sewing. She never threatened me or tried to have me whipped. Rufus said she was pleased with me. That seemed to surprise even him. So I endured her quietly” (220). Even that she does not enjoy spending all day with Rufus’s mom, she realizes that she is in a better position than many others and decides to keep to herself for her own good. Near the end of the book Rufus tries to rape Dana, in reaction she, "I pulled the knife free of him somehow, raised it, and brought it down again into his back" (260). At this point she has done so much for Rufus, she has saved his life multiple times, he has mistreated her, whipped her, and he made Alice commit suicide. With all of this in mind she decides to end all of this for good by killing