What To Fight For Kindred by Octavia E. Butler asks the question of what a black woman from the 20th century would do if she was thrown back into the time of slavery. It is something many people have perhaps pondered in passing but Butler goes into detail on this question. Kindred is a revolutionary take on a slave novel because the main character is from the (relative) present. Many of Dana’s decisions are influenced on the fact that she has opinions and leanings because of her 1976 sensibilities. In Kindred, Dana’s ancestor, Alice is a juxtaposition of all that Dana might have been if she had been born into 1800s slavery. Dana is always looking towards the future where she can be free again, but Alice does not have that to hold on to. Ultimately
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Rufus’s destructive love of Alice is a major conflict in the story. Rufus wants Alice, and he wants Dana to convince Alice to stay. The conversation they have about Rufus’s impending rape of Alice is telling to the subtle difference between the characters. Dana tells Alice she would never let Rufus rape her, even though she doesn’t hate him like Alice does. Alice says she’s run away at first, but them changes her mind. “‘No, Dana! Don’t go.’ She drew a deep breath, then seemed to sag. ‘I’m lying. I can’t run again. I can’t. You be hungry and cold and sick out there, and so tired you can’t walk...I’m going to him. He knew I would sooner or later. But he don’t know how I wish I had the nerve to just kill him!’” (Butler 168). Dana would never allow Rufus to rape her she would rather run away, kill him, die. Alice, however, accepts her fate because she has experience with running away and being near death. Many of the slaves, like Alice, accept their terrible fates because they think the alternative will be worse. Indeed it might very well be for them. Dana, however, has had a better life, and has outside forces to guide her sense of self. She can’t take damage the same way that Alice can because she hasn’t been worn away by slavery over years and …show more content…
Since the beginning of the book, Dana says that she thinks she can influence him into becoming a better person. “‘I’m going to do all I can to see that you never come here alone again.’ I leaned back against the tree, watching him. ‘Just in case I do, Kevin, let’s take out some insurance.’ ‘What?’ Let me help you with Rufus as much as I can. Let’s see what we can do to keep him from growing up into a red-haired version of his father’” (Butler 81). She believes that though her time with Rufus, she can make a kinder better man out of him. Even after almost every character telling her it probably can’t happen, she still tries her best. When Rufus starts being awful and generally inconsistent, she still says that she can’t hate him. While Alice, on the other hand, is pretty clear that she hates Rufus after she becomes his slave. This difference stems from the fact that Alice (and all of the other slaves) have spent years and years with Rufus, and also just being slaves in general. Dana, on the other hand, only spends a couple months a couple times during Rufus’ life with him and doesn’t really know what she is getting into.Their different relationships with Rufus come into play during the end of Kindred
Rufus’s destructive love of Alice is a major conflict in the story. Rufus wants Alice, and he wants Dana to convince Alice to stay. The conversation they have about Rufus’s impending rape of Alice is telling to the subtle difference between the characters. Dana tells Alice she would never let Rufus rape her, even though she doesn’t hate him like Alice does. Alice says she’s run away at first, but them changes her mind. “‘No, Dana! Don’t go.’ She drew a deep breath, then seemed to sag. ‘I’m lying. I can’t run again. I can’t. You be hungry and cold and sick out there, and so tired you can’t walk...I’m going to him. He knew I would sooner or later. But he don’t know how I wish I had the nerve to just kill him!’” (Butler 168). Dana would never allow Rufus to rape her she would rather run away, kill him, die. Alice, however, accepts her fate because she has experience with running away and being near death. Many of the slaves, like Alice, accept their terrible fates because they think the alternative will be worse. Indeed it might very well be for them. Dana, however, has had a better life, and has outside forces to guide her sense of self. She can’t take damage the same way that Alice can because she hasn’t been worn away by slavery over years and …show more content…
Since the beginning of the book, Dana says that she thinks she can influence him into becoming a better person. “‘I’m going to do all I can to see that you never come here alone again.’ I leaned back against the tree, watching him. ‘Just in case I do, Kevin, let’s take out some insurance.’ ‘What?’ Let me help you with Rufus as much as I can. Let’s see what we can do to keep him from growing up into a red-haired version of his father’” (Butler 81). She believes that though her time with Rufus, she can make a kinder better man out of him. Even after almost every character telling her it probably can’t happen, she still tries her best. When Rufus starts being awful and generally inconsistent, she still says that she can’t hate him. While Alice, on the other hand, is pretty clear that she hates Rufus after she becomes his slave. This difference stems from the fact that Alice (and all of the other slaves) have spent years and years with Rufus, and also just being slaves in general. Dana, on the other hand, only spends a couple months a couple times during Rufus’ life with him and doesn’t really know what she is getting into.Their different relationships with Rufus come into play during the end of Kindred