Kindred: Critical Book Review
Kindred, written by an African-American Octavia Estelle Butler, is a novel with the combination of fantasy and science fiction themes about the slavery of African-Americans. This novel is unique and successful as the first person narrative is being used, making the characters more vivid and actual, and the scenario of the first scene truly makes the readers wonder about the following plot. In addition, the context of the book engirdles Afrofuturism while the history of the African-Americans in this fiction is running through the novel. Each portrait of these black people is characterized exclusively even though they all are under the control of the slavery, evincing their hopes through different actions. Through that way, she has tried to imply that even though the inhumane political system once existed in the past era is revised over time, that kind of racist thought still can be buried in people’s mind, just in a subtle, and maybe instinctive, way. Kindred is the result of the author’s inspiration from her life experiences. The key character, Dana, is a reflection of her as a Black female writer just in different time frames but receiving the same kind of treatment. She, as Dana, was somehow linked to her white male ancestor and was summoned back by him to one hundred years ago. Her incredible time travel changed her to be more pathetic in a way that she needed to be a savior and also a slave of her ancestor and at the end, she only had one arm left because of him. The time travel did complicate her life as she began to realize she had little control of anything as she had to obey and eventually be manipulated by the white people, including her white husband, even though she had never thought of that. Through this incident, she indicates implicitly that all people, in the modern day or past, have their own piteous destiny and all of them are under the shadow of intersectionality. Out of all the important themes, the first one selected is the privilege of being knowledgeable in the era of discrimination. In order to be free from slavery, free from race, free from gender, the way of people think and react are essential. The behavior and the use of language can be various based on the different levels of knowledge; the knowledge is a property that can enhance the quality of life. Without literacy, it can be more inferior to others. For instance, although an intelligent African-American slave Luke could survive to pass his life without any penalty, he eventually was sold by his white master. His wordless resistance was worthless as he didn’t know more effective ways to defend or free himself as he wasn’t educated. Dana was another contrastive example. Being a woman “slave”, she had more freedom to in and out of her white “master’s” property as she was so erudite that even made her “master” fear of her or respect her in some concealed approaches. The second theme is the rigid family ties that prevail the authority of society with deeply embedded discrimination. …show more content…
During the Antebellum Period, none of the black people can have any rights and none of the white people will sincerely care about their black slaves. However, this kind of complicated background couldn’t change the kinship tied among Dana and her white ancestor. Even by the time that her white ancestor had tried to rape her, she couldn’t really kill him without remorse. Moreover, the whole storyline of this book depends on this kinship. The author uses these two personages depicted with different races, genders, and even cultures to express herself, to prove herself that the family ties will conquer all the unjust social norms or regulations. The third theme is the racial prejudice occurring within the same race due to the offensive and diverged conduct. Several examples can be noticed with ease. Dana, as a black woman, not only was treated brutally by the white people, but the black people also behaved toward her in an assaultive manner and even betrayed her while she tried to escape. It was just because she spoke in more
Kindred, written by an African-American Octavia Estelle Butler, is a novel with the combination of fantasy and science fiction themes about the slavery of African-Americans. This novel is unique and successful as the first person narrative is being used, making the characters more vivid and actual, and the scenario of the first scene truly makes the readers wonder about the following plot. In addition, the context of the book engirdles Afrofuturism while the history of the African-Americans in this fiction is running through the novel. Each portrait of these black people is characterized exclusively even though they all are under the control of the slavery, evincing their hopes through different actions. Through that way, she has tried to imply that even though the inhumane political system once existed in the past era is revised over time, that kind of racist thought still can be buried in people’s mind, just in a subtle, and maybe instinctive, way. Kindred is the result of the author’s inspiration from her life experiences. The key character, Dana, is a reflection of her as a Black female writer just in different time frames but receiving the same kind of treatment. She, as Dana, was somehow linked to her white male ancestor and was summoned back by him to one hundred years ago. Her incredible time travel changed her to be more pathetic in a way that she needed to be a savior and also a slave of her ancestor and at the end, she only had one arm left because of him. The time travel did complicate her life as she began to realize she had little control of anything as she had to obey and eventually be manipulated by the white people, including her white husband, even though she had never thought of that. Through this incident, she indicates implicitly that all people, in the modern day or past, have their own piteous destiny and all of them are under the shadow of intersectionality. Out of all the important themes, the first one selected is the privilege of being knowledgeable in the era of discrimination. In order to be free from slavery, free from race, free from gender, the way of people think and react are essential. The behavior and the use of language can be various based on the different levels of knowledge; the knowledge is a property that can enhance the quality of life. Without literacy, it can be more inferior to others. For instance, although an intelligent African-American slave Luke could survive to pass his life without any penalty, he eventually was sold by his white master. His wordless resistance was worthless as he didn’t know more effective ways to defend or free himself as he wasn’t educated. Dana was another contrastive example. Being a woman “slave”, she had more freedom to in and out of her white “master’s” property as she was so erudite that even made her “master” fear of her or respect her in some concealed approaches. The second theme is the rigid family ties that prevail the authority of society with deeply embedded discrimination. …show more content…
During the Antebellum Period, none of the black people can have any rights and none of the white people will sincerely care about their black slaves. However, this kind of complicated background couldn’t change the kinship tied among Dana and her white ancestor. Even by the time that her white ancestor had tried to rape her, she couldn’t really kill him without remorse. Moreover, the whole storyline of this book depends on this kinship. The author uses these two personages depicted with different races, genders, and even cultures to express herself, to prove herself that the family ties will conquer all the unjust social norms or regulations. The third theme is the racial prejudice occurring within the same race due to the offensive and diverged conduct. Several examples can be noticed with ease. Dana, as a black woman, not only was treated brutally by the white people, but the black people also behaved toward her in an assaultive manner and even betrayed her while she tried to escape. It was just because she spoke in more