Octavia Butler's Kindred - 10/17/08

Octavia Butler’s Kindred is a classic example of science fiction and/or fantasy text. It contains quite a number of attributes that pertains to this category. The story includes a hero figure (Dana), time travel (between the eighteenth century and the nineteenth century), spiritual connections between characters (Dana and Rufus) and several other attributes.

Another group that Kindred fits in is the Slave Narrative. This is because throughout the text, the reader is exposed to several themes that are prevalent in slave narratives. These in include Christianity, using ignorance as a tool to prevent slaves from advancing, sexual exploitation of women and several others.

In the text, Master Tom Weylin did not want the slaves to learn how to read or write. This is because he feared that if the slaves became literate they would seek a better life for themselves and this would collapse the whole master-slave relationship. He therefore encouraged ignorance to prevent the slaves from advancing. In addition to that, Margaret had a problem with Dana sleeping in Kevin’s room because she considered her house a Christian one. She did not want to condone such behavior.

As the reader gets engrossed in the text, he/she realizes that Kindred fits into the Feminism theory. Dana is portrayed as hero. She always manages to save Rufus from being killed. She is also not the typical “slave” because she is educated and can stand on her own. This is a classic example of multiculturalism in Feminism.