Octavia E. Butler

arm as it “was being absorbed into something. Something cold and nonliving.” (Butler 261). For her current freedom has to leave some of herself in the 1800’s. Though the killing of Rufus is an act of autonomy, but Dana cannot control the price of that control. Dana arm loss can be considered altruistic, because Dana truly sacrifices a piece of herself for the greater good. Though control and autonomy exist in both Kindred and Oryx and Crake, it is the ownership of that control that differs between Butler’s and Atwood’s novels. As an unexpected by-product in both novels, control is balanced by altruistic behavior of the protagonists. Jimmy is manipulated by the outside force of his best friend Crake to support Crake’s vision of a new reality, but Jimmy takes on the responsibility he is tricked into as his own. Dana takes control of her situation by using her fear of death, which allows her to protect her own life. Where Jimmy reacts, Dana manipulates her own emotions which gives her control of her future, by her altruistic actions. Both Kindred and Oryx and Crake use the pull of unforeseen events to move the plot of these Sci-Fi classics toward altruistic futures, but the novels differ in their protagonist’s ability adapt or push back with a force of their own making where the end justifies the means. Works Cited. Ashraf H. A. Rushdy. “Families of Orphans: Relation and Disrelation in Octavia Butler's Kindred”. College English 55.2 (1993): 135–157. Web... Atwood,…

Kindred is a science fiction book written by Octavia Butler which explores slavery, interracial relationships, family history, love, hate, and fear through time travel. The main character and narrator is Edana who goes by Dana, an African American woman newly married to Kevin who is white in 1976. Dana and Kevin have just moved from an apartment in Los Angeles to a home of their own a few miles away in Altadena. In the prologue Dana’s arm was crushed inside a wall in her home, and had to be…

From the beginning of Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, Lauren Olamina, the protagonist begins a search to discover just what she believes. The country in which she lives is a much different United States; there have been economic and environmental disasters and most of the country is a functioning anarchy. Laws are not obeyed, and there is widespread immorality. Religion has decayed to the extent that Lauren's father's church was "robbed . . . vandalized . . . and burned" (8). The…

The science-fiction novel Kindred, written by Octavia E. Butler, is an extremely dramatic and fascinating novel that revolves around Dana, an African American writer living in California in the year 1976 and her mysterious trips to pre-Civil War Maryland. How she is being sent back to that time is unknown, but after the initial few trips, she realizes she is being sent back to ensure that her bloodline continues; and this begins with saving a young, white boy named Rufus. This novel forces the…

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…

Butler. In the book, Octavia does an amazing job with the details in the scenes that I had a clear imagination in my mind of what was going on. Specifically, the scenes when Octavia describes the terrible situation that the village goes through. As I read that the village was attacked by the people in the outside, it was clear that the reason for the attacks had been influenced by inequality in the structure, that was when I developed a connection. In my world of 2066, I extrapolate from the…

Survival becomes the most important thing to her. Butler seems to be saying the same thing regarding the slaves. What will you as a person tolerate in order to survive? Rape? Whipping? Being property? Having your children sold? How much are you willing to take, or do you choose death? These are some of the things that a reader will ponder on when reading Kindred. One key question is does a person adapt to an oppressed lifestyle, or do they rebel against the plantation owners? In the novel,…

Language has been a part of society for as long as history can remember. What about language makes it so vitally important? How does language shape our society? In Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler, she explores the meaning of language and how it affects the world we live in. Butler uses a post apocalyptic setting to show the ways that communication are part of and define society. She shows that without language society begins to fall apart. Butler uses Rye’s world to show how vital words are…

This week we read Octavia E. Butler’s novel, Kindred. To summarize the parts of the book that we read, The Prologue and The River. First, in the Prologue, Dana, the main character, lost an arm and was at the hospital with medium consciousness and impaired speech and mobility. When she was finally able to speak the police officers asked if she could describe how she had lost an arm and who had done it to her. The officers tried to blame Kevin, Dana’s husband. They both let the officers know that…

How is every person a unique individual? While some believe that DNA is the largest contributing factor in how a person will turn out, Rufus in Kindred proves that environment is more influential. Written by Octavia E.Butler, Kindred, takes place in both 1800s and 1970s. A black woman, Dana, travels back and forth through the times when her great-great-grandfather, Rufus, gets in danger. Since Rufus was raised by slave-owning environment, Dana attempts to prevent Rufus from being like his…