During the period of enslavement, African American women worked extremely hard, and endured a lot of pain and suffering. Many of these women have different stories, and in the novel Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler, she uses female characters, and gives them stories that likely could have happened during this period of time. With the use of African American women characters such as Dana, Alice, and Sarah, Butler’s narrative supports our perception and understanding of enslaved women.
Dana, a young, African American woman is the main character. She is a writer and is married to Kevin, with whom she finds herself being drifted back to the 1800s with. This was a period of enslavement. Butler incorporates an instance where Dana, who is enslaved when she travels in time, is caught reading. The plantation owner, Weylin, beats her until she is unconscious. Dana also encounters a moment where she is desperately wanting to gain her freedom, but she comes across another problem. Her husband, Kevin, was supposed to mail her the papers, but they did not arrive. With frustration building, she decides to run away, and when she returned, she was harshly beaten. It was so bad that she said she had no urge to try to escape again. This relates directly to the African American women who were enslaved. Many African American women who were enslaved did, in fact, participate in trying to run for their freedom. It has been …show more content…
By making this story one that included science fiction, but still dealt with the real life tragic events of slavery, it gave readers a new way to learn about the past. She remains in control of her stories by using events that likely took place over hundreds of times. However, it was her use of women to show both mental and physical strength that was unmatched, and completely supported all that we know about African American women, and their impact on slavery during the
Dana, a young, African American woman is the main character. She is a writer and is married to Kevin, with whom she finds herself being drifted back to the 1800s with. This was a period of enslavement. Butler incorporates an instance where Dana, who is enslaved when she travels in time, is caught reading. The plantation owner, Weylin, beats her until she is unconscious. Dana also encounters a moment where she is desperately wanting to gain her freedom, but she comes across another problem. Her husband, Kevin, was supposed to mail her the papers, but they did not arrive. With frustration building, she decides to run away, and when she returned, she was harshly beaten. It was so bad that she said she had no urge to try to escape again. This relates directly to the African American women who were enslaved. Many African American women who were enslaved did, in fact, participate in trying to run for their freedom. It has been …show more content…
By making this story one that included science fiction, but still dealt with the real life tragic events of slavery, it gave readers a new way to learn about the past. She remains in control of her stories by using events that likely took place over hundreds of times. However, it was her use of women to show both mental and physical strength that was unmatched, and completely supported all that we know about African American women, and their impact on slavery during the