Kindred (Masterplots II: African American Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Octavia Butler
- First Published: 1979
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy
- Time of Work: 1976 and the early 1800’s
- Setting: Los Angeles and Maryland
- Principal Characters: Dana Franklin, Rufus Weylin, Kevin Franklin, Alice Greenwood
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism, Science fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, 1970’s, Racism, South or Southerners, Nineteenth century, Slavery or slaves, Interracial relationships, Marriage, Los Angeles, Plantations or plantation life, Time travel
- Locales: California, Los Angeles, CA, Maryland
The Novel
Kindred traces the emotional and physical dilemmas Dana faces as a twentieth century African American woman periodically transported back to the antebellum South. In portraying the experiences of a 1976 woman who must readjust to life during the slavery era, Butler dramatizes important themes: the continuing relevance of the past to the present; the horrors of slavery, which have lost their reality for many, including Dana and her white husband, Kevin; and the ways in which the development of racist attitudes and behavior are a product of societal...
[The entire page is 2655 words long]
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