AFAS 342 Kindred Octavia Butler Essay

Violence and Kindred (Prompt 2)

The novel Kindred by Octavia Butler depicts a story of a slave plantation through the eyes of a modern black woman--a story that is driven by violence, racism, misogyny, and pain. Violence works as a key motif, motivator, and catalyst throughout the novel. Violence develops characters in different ways, ultimately deciding whether it will make or break them, and it functions as the cause for every action in the novel.

From the beginning of the novel there are ever present examples of terror and pain inflicted on the 17th century slave people, creating a contrast between Dana’s life in the 20th century. Butler packs her novel with examples of violence such as forced labor, rape, and whippings to signify the ever present fear that African Americans were forced to live in. Dana lived her life before Rufus relatively free of pain, learning about the violence that slaves faced but never able to imagine how it truly felt to live in a society like that. She explains exactly this to her husband, speaking about how common violence is in Rufus’s society compared to her own, “Most of the people around Rufus know more about real violence than the screenwriters of today will ever know.” (Butler, 48). She continues this train of thought, expressing that even with a weapon she doesn’t believe she could survive there.

Another purpose for which violence exists in Butler’s novel is to be a pushing force of the plot, causing the original problem of Dana being transported through time and space to her ancestor’s time. It is clear Rufus experience violence--intentional or not--is what causes Dana to become involved in the story, “The boy drew me to him somehow when he got himself into more trouble than she could handle,” (26) and as Rufus grew up and developed as a character the events that drew Dana back became increasingly violent.

However, more than the cause of main events, violence also motivates every single smaller event in between. Examples range from the mom hitting her the first time she was teleported to Alice and Dana being whipped for running away. Because of this, violence motivates every action and shapes their personalities and development. In those who wield power the societal call to use this powerful weapon results in a more callous and vitriolic character. In those who are oppressed by violence, the threat influences their actions by dampening their spirits. Either way, violence works to develop characters by either making or breaking them--no matter if they are powerful or not.

In the end only Kevin and Dana come out of this process of warping oppression in a way that can be considered positive. Of course, the scope of their character growth is not all positive, and is quite limited by the negative effects they experience. For example, Kevin enters the story naive about slavery and racism, saying “This place isn’t what I would have imagined. No overseer. No more work than the people can manage…” (100) and painting the slavery plantation in a positive light. He grows in the sense that the realities of slavery and such a regressed society are impressed upon him after five years of living within it. He even assists with the underground railroad movement, using his power for good. However, Dana notes an obvious change in his harshened outlook and broken spirit.

Examples of broken, repressed spirits are far from few, easily found among the slave characters. Both Sarah and Nigel are controlled by their families. After having her two babies sold off, Sarah is forced to stay obedient in order to protect her only remaining child, Carrie. Similarly, once Nigel begins a family with character, any previous notions of running away which he had harbored were controlled by his wish to remain with his family. Both of these are examples of deliberate threats of violence in order to maintain control.

Alice, while also a slave, does not respond to these threats in the same way. Even after bearing the children of Rufus she hopes to escape and become free again. Even after being captured, beaten close to death, and continually raped her spirit is unbroken and she continues to hope for freedom. In the end this is what destroys her, as it results in her babies being taken away. This final act of violence causes her to lose the battle and kill herself.  

Dana gives up on Rufus in the end after having spent the whole book trying to save him. His final act of violence finally sent him over the edge. There is a moment when Dana wonders if allowing him to rape her would be easier than continuing to fight. This critical moment, driven by Rufus’s violent intentions, is the pinnacle of Dana’s development. In this moment she had to choose between giving into the violence as all the other slaves were forced to, or continuing to fight against it and ultimately lose the battle to influence Rufus positively. Unfortunately, Rufus gives into violence after having tried to fight against societal expectations. Despite the help of Dana along the way he is a product of the society he lives in, and is ultimately killed because of this fatal flaw.