Last updated on October 6, 2020
This review of Kindred has some spoilers, but won’t ruin the book for you. If you want to know how the book ends, check out this post instead.
In Kindred, Octavia Butler uses science fiction as a vehicle to explore race, power, history and the art of knowing. Edana, Dana, lives in 1976, having just moved to Los Angeles with her husband, Kevin. Dana is black and Kevin is white. It’s not a spoiler to say that Dana has “hurt” her left arm. What follows is the story of how that came to be.
Pulled Back in Time
Something strange happens to Dana on her twenty-sixth birthday. Inexplicably, she gets pulled out of her time and space to save a little red-headed boy, Rufus. She’s not sure what is happening, but she comes back to herself, in her home, after feeling threatened by Rufus’ father, Tom, pointing a gun at her.
At first, Dana thinks that she’s being pulled somehow to a different place, but it’s much more dangerous than that. She’s actually being pulled into the antebellum south, in the nineteenth century.
Within the course of less than a month in 1976 time, Dana travels back and forth in time over several days. One interesting thing is that time isn’t parallel in the two places. What is only days in 1976 could be months or years in the nineteenth century. But her destiny is tied with that of Rufus. How much will she have to sacrifice for him?
Rufus’s fear of death calls me to him, and my own fear of death sends me home.
Dana
Slavery at the Weylin Farm
Each time Dana returns to the Weylin farm, she stays a bit longer. She tries to prepare herself by taking a go bag from 1976 back in time. The striking thing is that Dana thinks she can prepare for slavery. But as time goes on, she realizes that cerebral knowing is not the full dimension of knowing. She begins to realize that slavery is sustained through torture.
Like the Nazis, antebellum whites had known quite a bit about torture — quite a bit more than I ever wanted to learn.
Dana, p. 245
On one trip back in time, Kevin holds on to Dana and travels with her. They have to play the role of master and slave. While that affords her some protection, but she is still a slave and is whipped when caught breaking the rules. When she returns to 1976, Kevin isn’t in time to travel with her and gets left behind. What is only days of separation for Dana is actually years for Kevin. When she returns to the Weylin farm, Kevin is not there, and she hopes that he will return.
In the meantime, Dana gets ensnared in Rafe’s trap. The trap is really for Alice, but Rafe uses Dana to try to convince Alice to submit to him. Dana knows from history that this is inevitable, but she struggles with her role in it.
On Being a Fair Man
Again and again, Rufus describes his father as being a fair man. What does it mean to be fair? Did it mean keeping your word, treating black people like property and ensuring that they continued to provide the value you expect of them, sleeping with the black women you own as you wish and selling off their children?
While Tom is a conflicting character, he does seem to be consistent. And perhaps Rufus is too, but we hope for more from him due to his connection with Dana, Yet, he continues to act like a petulant child who thinks of himself first, and only. He seems almost resentful of Dana for saving his life. Or is it that he thinks she owes him her full devotion?
Dana and Kevin Reunite
Dana keeps trusting Rufus despite his multiple betrayals. She’s shocked when she realizes that he’s not mailed the letters she wrote to Kevin to let him know that’s she’s back. She decides to find Kevin herself, but she is soon caught when she tries to run away. Rufus reminds her later that she is a slave, and running away cannot go unpunished.
Tom ends up facilitating Dana and Kevin’s reunion. Rufus makes Tom out to be the one who is strict but Dana realizes that Rufus is no different. In fact, he may have a knack for letting Tom do the dirty work. Rafe does not want Dana to leave him, and his ugly nature comes out to try to keep her there. Dana’s fear for her life let’s her escape back to 1976. Kevin gets to her just in time to return to 1976 with her. But in a matter of hours, she’s pulled back to to the nineteenth century.
Back in 1976
When Kevin and Dana get back to 1976, they’re surprised that it feels less like home than the Weylin plantation did. Both Dana and Kevin are scarred, mentally and physically, by their time in the nineteenth century. Regardless of Kevin’s politics, They have to get used to each other again, and to their own time. This seems to be especially difficult for Kevin.
Dana’s been black all her life, and although the experience of slavery was new to her, she had first-hand experience with racism. The racism she experience had roots right back to slavery. Her family history of slavery left an indelible mark on her. This did not make her time in the nineteenth century easy, but she had a different connection to it than Kevin. Additionally, she had the power to move back and forth in time, something he had no control over.
Illness at Weylin Farm
During one of her visits to Weylin Farm, Dana nurses Rafe through illness. By then, Tom believed that Dana traveled back and forth in time, and though she had enough knowledge to help Rufus. She is able to help Rufus, but Tom’s heart attack is beyond her capabilities.
Rufus uses his anger at the circumstances to guide his actions and he decides to punish Dana but putting her in the hands of his overseer, Fowler, to work in the field. Once more, Dana is betrayed by Rufus. His action surprises her and makes her feartful
After a while, it was more painful for me to push myself than it was for me to let Fowler hit me. After a while, I was so tired, I didn’t care either way. Pain was pain. After a while, I just wanted to lie down between the rows and not get up again.
Dana
Rufus demands everything of Dana. Despite his betrayal of her, he expects her to take care of his mother.
Margaret Weylin Returns to the Farm
After two miscarriages, Margaret Weylin went to stay with her sister but is ready to return home once her husband dies. She agrees to have Dana, and primarily Dana, take care of her. Dana sleeps on the floor of her bedroom, feeds her, reads the Bible to her. Margaret has mellowed and is no longer mean to Dana and the other slaves as she was before. Dana takes care of most of Margaret’s needs until Rufe decides that he needs her to help him with his communication.
Dana Takes on the Role of Rufus’ Secretary
Kevin would get annoyed that Dana did not want to take care of his communication, and would try to get her to do it. With him, she could refuse, but she has no choice with Rafe. He did offer her a small concession of some paper to do her own writing as well. Dana worked for Rufe by day and took care of his mother at night. She realizes that Rufe sees her and Alice as flip sides of the same coin, that he likes to spend his days with Dana and his nights with Alice.
Rufus as Slave Owner
Dana keeps learning new lessons on slavery. She gets to see her first slave coffle, where Rufus sells slaves. He also displays his jealousy of Dana; that he will not share her affections with anyone.
On this visit, Hagar is born. Alice hatches another plan to run away. Dana wanted to wait until Alice left, and she started teaching Nigel’s son and two children who served at the table along with Joe. Although other slaveholders and the Methodist minister disapproved, Rafe gave permission.
After Dana is hit by Rufus for trying to interfere in the sale of a slave that she blames herself for, she decides she’s had enough slavery and Rufus, She takes actions to send herself home.
Full Circle
It’s 15 days before Dana is pulled back in time once more. She finds Alice dead. Once again, Rafe has acted in an immature way, and this is the effect.
Rafe tries to convince Dana to stay and mother his children, to take on her half as well as Alice’s half. Dana’s done so much for Rufus, that he doesn’t realize she has some set boundaries, and this is one of them. She realizes that she needs to make her final escape from him, but she pays a price by hurting her arm. For the final time, part of her stays in the nineteenth century.
Review
Kindred is a science fiction book which explores the history of slavery in the USA. I found time travel to be a great way to explore the topic. It provided a way to look at what it means to know something, and to consider the sacrifices slaves may have had to make. This book makes me think of the Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Prague. In the same way, slavery chips away at both Dana and Kevin in this book.
Although it’s a fiction book, it’s clear that Butler did lots of research to represent an accurate picture of the antebellum south in Kindred. It’s a great book to read on your own and to discuss with a book club. I give this book 5 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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