Slavery and Octavia Butler's Kindred

Essay I: Slavery And Its Social Effects

“We were all ranked together at the valuation. Men and women, old and young, married and single, were ranked with horses, sheep, and swine… Our fate for life was now to be decided. We had no more voice in that decision than the brutes among whom we were ranked. A single word from the white men was enough-against all our wishes, prayers, and entreaties- To sunder forever the dearest friends, dearest kindred, and strongest ties known to human beings.” Frederick Douglass’ accurate representation of slavery in his narratives examines the effect that slavery can have on those who implement it and those subject to it.
The idea of owning a person becomes a power that most people find that they cannot control. Often the power is used for selfish reasons, rather than for the ideal economic reasons. This dynamic is addressed in a more investigative, and relatable, fashion in Octavia Butler’s Kindred. Dana is a woman from 1976 who is suddenly transported to the 1800’s, and is confronted with her ancestor, Rufus Weylin. The resulting relationship becomes the basis for Dana’s existence and her understanding of what slavery is.
Dana’s travels to and from the past become an eye-opening experience that lead to her understanding, and ultimate refute, of slavery. In The Fire, Dana is sent back a second time, and stumbles upon the beating of Alice’s father. She relies on her past, mainly her schooling, to make a correct assumption about the “patrollers” that briefly keeps her from being caught. This sense of power shared among the patrollers is a result of the diminishing effect of slavery. Though educated, Dana does not always outsmart her captures. Dana has a brief reprieve from her third trip home when she is suddenly “flash-learning” as much as she can from everything her husband, Kevin, could find on black history. She was doing this to find a pass sample, and to use a map. Besides her abundant amount of potentially life-saving information, she is almost immediately caught, and beaten. This is Dana’s second run-in with the whip, and her most brutal.
In The Fall, Dana is talking about the “mindless” work she partakes in and getting a comment from future husband Kevin, “Why do you go around looking like a zombie all the time?” She takes caffeine pills to keep awake, but not alert, and so has this appearance of shuffling through life, without a free thought or a yearning for something better. She is in a steady atmosphere where people are hired as they are needed. The freedom of such an existence is poles apart from the institutions of slavery. She figures this out quickly when she has to adopt certain behaviors and attitudes (an agency), such as not talking back and simply saying “Yes, sir”, when in Rufus’ time. Rufus is exposed to 20th century thinking but has trouble of his own trying to rationalize it all.
Rufus is a tragic character whose purpose is to examine the dichotomy created by slavery. As we get to know Rufus a little more, a few things are a constant with him; he is not very smart, clumsy, and selfish. Earlier in his life, the most selfish action we find is when Rufus burns down the stable. “I wanted Daddy to give me Nero-a horse I liked. But he sold him to Reverend Wyndham just because Reverend Wyndham offered a lot of money. Anyway, I got mad and burned down the stable.” Because he had the power to enact revenge, and didn’t think it through, he ends up being whipped and enacting revenge once again by trying to burn down the house. He is a stark opposite to his father, Tom Weylin, who Dana said was adept at “making an example” of his slaves and keeping himself from becoming too attached to his property.
Tom is a man of his word and operates only in the limits set up by the law. Rufus is manipulative and opportunistic in his motives. He keeps letters that Dana meant to have mailed to Kevin, keeping her under his thumb. He also tries to “have” Alice for himself by any means necessary. Initially he attempts to rape her, but is stopped (only temporarily) by Isaac. His love for Alice is going unanswered because Alice simply does not love him. His childhood friendship has grown into a forced communion to suit his needs. Rufus has genuine feelings for Alice and Dana, but because of his upbringing and politics of location, he is torn and ultimately falls prey to the power that slavery allows him to exercise.
The conclusion of Kindred is an important revelation, especially for a neo-slave narrative, that has a would-be slave confronting a would-be master and having the power collapse on itself. Throughout Kindred, Dana is tied to Rufus by “mortal connection”. She only appears when Rufus is in mortal danger and slips back to her time when she feels like she is in mortal danger. The nature of this connection already has grim connotations, so the severing of this connection becomes a proclamation of independence. In The Rope, a grief-stricken Rufus has just lost Alice after sending her children away from her to “keep her in line”. Confronted with the possibility of losing Dana, something he admits having nightmares about, he attempts to rape her. At this point, Rufus has lost all control and in a near suicidal effort, relinquishes himself to his inner selfish wants and power granted to him by the law.
Dana has a revelation, “I would never be to him what Tess had been to his father-a thing passed around like the whiskey jug at a husking. He wouldn’t do that to me or sell me or… No. (…) A slave was a slave. Anything could be done to her.” Dana continues to say that she accepts him as several things but “not as my master, and not as my lover.” She uses the knife on Rufus in self-defense; something to a slave that would be a sure death sentence. This is significant because it gives the saying “give an arm” a whole new meaning. As a result, Dana loses her left arm but is forever free from those suffering from the upset that slavery can have on people in that time.
In conclusion, slavery has dimensions that are mentioned in many slave narratives, but Kindred offers an in-depth view of the changes it can have on someone such as Rufus and Dana. Dana’s life is given a whole new meaning; from shuffling through work like a zombie, to preserving her existence, to severing connections with a power-fiend. Her proclamation is filled with strength and resonates with the wants of her ancestors and other sufferers. Rufus is introduced at a young age with hints at a terrible nature, and the progressive view of his character shows us the effect slavery, the power, had on him. Dana had learned of the power and danger of slavery, and defended herself from it, at the cost of Rufus’ life. Slavery, and the power it has on those willing to use it are subject themselves to become what Douglass explains best, “That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.”





Works Cited
Butler, Octavia. Kindred. Beacon Press. Boston. 179-1988

Douglass, Frederick. “Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass” The Norton Anthology Of
African American Literature. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Nellie Y. Mckay. New
York. London. 1997-2004