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A review by lmkennedy
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book feels like it was written yesterday, not almost 50 years ago. And that is perhaps what makes it so masterful. Butler ties us to the past in a timeless way. Dana is yanked back in time but is also living in a moment fresh off the heels of the civil rights movement and still experiences racism in her modern life. Throwing her back into 1815 puts her in a position to understand more deeply the generational trauma her family has endured, and perhaps explains the attitudes of characters like her uncle.
Kevin’s character in this book is interesting, Butler wrote Dana’s husband to be a white author who goes back with her in one of the trips back to 1815, and he gets left behind for a number of years while there. During his 5 year stint he becomes an abolitionist and teacher.
Rufus’s character is perhaps the most well crafted of Butler’s in this story. Writing him from the age of four to twenty-five. Dana believes she can influence him to be kinder and treat the enslaved with more humanity. But the antebellum south and its mindset wins out. Rufus is a product of his time, the way his foil, Kevin, is a product of his. Despite having some “good” moments, like freeing his children, Rufus is ultimately a deeply flawed and dangerous person who has little regard for the other humans in his life because they are slaves. Dana, despite trying to change him, figures out in the end that he will never change, and does the one thing she can to save herself.
In the end, Dana’s choice to save herself is a reflection of 1815 runaways. She knows her choice has the consequences of harming the other enslaved on the plantation and yet she still chooses herself. She lives with that weight everyday going forward, and struggles bearing it. Kevin tries to convince her it is okay, but they will never know the results of her choices as they are lost to history.
The ending felt representative of how many Black Americans are unable to learn about their ancestry due to lack of record keeping, destroying records and illiteracy from their families. Despite Dana’s physical connection to Rufus and his children, she still does not know where they end up after her choice to kill Rufus. Despite trying to find answers, she’s left with more questions. All she knows, is they survived long enough to have children; but how did they live their life? As slaves? Or as the free children Rufus promised they’d be. Dana will never know.
Kevin’s character in this book is interesting, Butler wrote Dana’s husband to be a white author who goes back with her in one of the trips back to 1815, and he gets left behind for a number of years while there. During his 5 year stint he becomes an abolitionist and teacher.
Rufus’s character is perhaps the most well crafted of Butler’s in this story. Writing him from the age of four to twenty-five. Dana believes she can influence him to be kinder and treat the enslaved with more humanity. But the antebellum south and its mindset wins out. Rufus is a product of his time, the way his foil, Kevin, is a product of his. Despite having some “good” moments, like freeing his children, Rufus is ultimately a deeply flawed and dangerous person who has little regard for the other humans in his life because they are slaves. Dana, despite trying to change him, figures out in the end that he will never change, and does the one thing she can to save herself.
In the end, Dana’s choice to save herself is a reflection of 1815 runaways. She knows her choice has the consequences of harming the other enslaved on the plantation and yet she still chooses herself. She lives with that weight everyday going forward, and struggles bearing it. Kevin tries to convince her it is okay, but they will never know the results of her choices as they are lost to history.
The ending felt representative of how many Black Americans are unable to learn about their ancestry due to lack of record keeping, destroying records and illiteracy from their families. Despite Dana’s physical connection to Rufus and his children, she still does not know where they end up after her choice to kill Rufus. Despite trying to find answers, she’s left with more questions. All she knows, is they survived long enough to have children; but how did they live their life? As slaves? Or as the free children Rufus promised they’d be. Dana will never know.