Write about the novel Kindred by Octavia E Butler

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Write about the novel Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. Compare and contrast each characters’ personalities, and analysis what causes the similarities and differences.
Kindred is a 1979 book that was written by Octavia E. Butler. The book is engaging and the story entertaining while also finding ways to evoke feelings of sadness from the reader. The narrator is Dana, a woman who lives in the 20th century but finds herself in the 18th century and deep within the slavery system. Dana immediately understands where she is and even though confusing, she tries her best to affect the storyline with her actions. Her life is turned upside down as she is torn between two worlds which appear to be demanding so much from her. First, there is her black history which she must protect through her actions towards other African Americans. Then, there is her loving and kind side which forces her to want to protect and care for people like Rufus who eventually becomes a monster and even attempts to rape her. However, she is not the only character who is impacting the flow of the story. There is Kevin, Rufus, Tom, Alice Greenwood, Alice’s mother, and Margaret Weylin. Each of these people’s actions does influence the story and impact the flow of events. The focus of this article is on these characters, and by doing this, this article seeks to compare and contrast their personalities while also revealing the underlying differences and similarities.
Dana Franklin
Dana is a 26-year old woman who is married to Kelvin. She is a young black woman and a writer. Dana works at a temp agency so that she can supplement her writing career. Dana is sent back to the past to save the life of ancestor Rufus where she finds herself plunged into the nineteenth century where she encounters slavery. Dana must struggle to establish her identify at this new world and try to maintain her freedom. She learns what it means to be a slave. The experience makes her grow closer to her fellow slaves as she seeks to identify with them.
Dana is a compassionate woman who cares for her oppressors. In order to save the future existence of her family, Dana must do her best to save the life of Rufus (Hua 395). She knows that her wellbeing depends on the survival of her forbearer Rufus and hence she tries to save his life. Dana wonders if she should let Rufus die and hence assist dozens of slaves. However, Dana shows feelings of genuine affection towards her oppressor. On the contrary, Rufus enslaves and abuses her. He is cruel and does not care about the feelings of the slaves. Despite the help Rufus gets from Dana, he continues to harm her. Each time Dana saves his life, Rufus stripes her of another piece of her dignity. Rufus is not bothered by the compassion he is receiving from Dana because he considers her a slave.
Dana is a strong woman who makes intelligent decisions in the hope (Richard 125). She also has a thriving writing career. Although Dana attempts to adapt to the oppression, she retains her sense of self and autonomy. Dana refuses to tolerate the prejudices and controlling tendencies of Rufus. Even though Rufus wants to sleep with her, Dana denies him the opportunity. Eventually, Dana has to kill Rufus. Due to Alice’s loss, Rufus tries to comfort himself by raping Dana. However, Dana takes a knife and stabs him (Butler 140). She struggles with the decision, but ultimately she has a greater understanding of the past. On the contrary, Sarah lacks the sense of self and autonomy. She is a slave cook and a mother to Carrie and grandmother to Nigel. Sarah tolerates Rufus despite the oppression. When Rufus sells her sons, Sarah becomes scared and becomes submissive. So that she may protect her daughter, Sarah complies with the demands of Rufus. She undertakes physically draining jobs without complaining. Sarah’s subservient attitude towards Weylin family causes her to suffer abuse.
Dana is a strong woman who must do anything to keep on surviving. She does not care what the other slaves think her. At some point, she accepts to become the servant of Margret Weylin who hates her. Dana indicates that Margaret “depressed, bored, angered and drove her crazy.” However, she managed to get over the abuses and states that “Her back healed while I was with her” (Butler 19). The other slaves consider her to be a traitor, but that does not bother her. In particular, Alice accuses her of serving the white woman “like she likes her” (Butler 24). In other words, the slaves accuse her of being a traitor, but she remains string knowing that she has a goal to accomplish.
Similarly, Alice is also a strong woman. As a black woman, she is subject to the advances of Rufus but refuses and marries Isaac. Alice tries to escape with Isaac, but she is caught where she is beaten and becomes the slave of Rufus. Although Alice gets married to Rufus against her will, she still advocates against slavery. At some point, she thinks Dana is not doing enough to push back against slavery. Alice refers to Dana as a “white nigger” for not doing her best to deal with slavery. Her actions while still in Rufus house demonstrate her resolution to overcome slavery one day. She is determined that slavery will end and free the blacks from the chains that have held them for such a long time.
Kevin Franklin
Kevin is Dana’s husband, and the man is attracted to Dana because of how similar she was to him. Both Dana and Kevin appear to be isolated and detached from other people in their office, and this draws them close. Kevin can be said to be the kind of white American who had moved beyond the shackles of racism, and to him, color was not a defining factor. He had rejected racism and went ahead against, of course, the wishes of his family to marry a strong, beautiful woman of color. Even though he strives to treat all people with respect, he fails to understand the history of his wife. However, he does support Dana and even decides to work with her as they research her past. Additionally, even when they time travel together, he appears to show support to his wife and whenever possible shields her from danger. However, his experience in the antebellum South presents him with some challenges as he tries to come to terms with his privileges as a white man and his desire to see a different America.
Kevin comes out as a loving, kind, and supportive man. He devotes his life towards pursuing his dreams and works hard even though he had had a few instances of hurt. Kevin’s personality first compares with that of Dana’s. Kevin liked to try and never gave up on what he had his mind on. At one point, Dana says that he was just like her. “He was like me - a kindred spirit crazy enough to keep on trying” (57). The two had the society’s back turned on them, but in spite of that, they were doing their best to make sure that they pursue their dreams. Even though Kevin finally gave up eventually, he shared the t...