Kindred by Butler
Kindred is a book by Butler, written in a first-person perspective, and that generally talks about slavery and the relationship between the blacks and whites in the 19th century in America.
The Protagonist and Time Travel
Dana Franklin, from whose point of view Butler tells the story, acts as the protagonist in the story. She travels between the past and the present and meets different people while in this quest, some of which are her ancestors. She also got to interact with the African Americans who were enslaved by the whites and got directly involved in their lives. Of course, her ancestors are the key reason why she could alternate between living in the past and the present. It is her role to ensure that she protects her lineage and keep it intact. It is in this quest that Dana goes through a lot of adventures and where she may have possibly "hurt" her hand. Dana's interactions with the present and the past give rise to various themes in the book, some of which include power abuse owing to existence in two sets of realities, double consciousness. The book contains various cases of abuse of power, and the essay offers an indepth study of some of the cases.
The Theme of Abuse of Power
The theme of abuse of power appears in several instances in the book. It refers to a specific level of authority that an individual has and how they use it to influence others negatively. In the book, Butler majorly talks about slavery. The act of slavery implies that one person or a group of people exercises power over an unwilling group of people. The whites used continuous power and authority over the blacks whom they had taken as their slaves. The slaves were forced to work with almost no pay at all. Moreover, they had to perform their duties regardless of their health status at the moment. Dana said, "I was stronger now, but Rufus had forbidden me to get up. For once, I was glad to obey. I knew that when I got up, Tom Weylin would expect me to work as though I were completely well" (Butler 179) to prove that the slaves worked regardless of any injuries. Also, the whites went to further extents by molesting the slaves because the slaves were helpless at their hands. Rufus had his way with Alice, and she would not do anything about it but give in to his urges (Butler 164). He also intended to do the same with Dana. The slaves, more so, the field-hands had to work under harsh weather conditions. They also went through a lot of cruel treatment from the whites who were their superiors. As a result, most of them contemplated escape while others even attempted it. At some instances, the situation would get so severe that even Dana would wish that she be taken back to her own time.
The Power Struggle between Dana and Rufus
The second instance of abuse of power within the story is when Butler indicates that Dana and Rufus were undergoing a power struggle between themselves. It was a bitter struggle as Dana was the slave and she appeared to be struggling for power with her master, Rufus. Dana's power over Rufus shows when Butler points out that she would occasionally travel to the past whenever Rufus faced any form of danger which may result in his death, consequently depicting her as his savior. "The boy was the focus of my travels-perhaps the cause of them." (Butler 24) Dana describes the travels as having "crossed time as well as distance." (Butler 24). According to Mueller (2017), despite the fact that Dana was not in control during any of the sudden trips she made to the past, all the clues pointed out that she only traveled back when Rufus' life was under threat. Furthermore, she would only leave the place when her life too got endangered while saving Rufus.
On the other hand, Rufus expressed interest in getting to exercise control over Dana. He looked for all possible ways until he realized that he could best control her by issuing threats to others and ensuring she was aware of it. This technique may have been possible due to Dana's empathy for the slaves, and Rufus took advantage of just that to blackmail her into doing his will. An example is when he asks Dana to convince Alice into getting into a sexual interaction with him. He tried to persuade Dana by telling her that it would be better if she agreed to convince Alice because then he would not "have to beat her" unlike how it would go if he confronted her himself (Butler 164). At this point, Rufus attained the power that he mostly desired as Dana did not have any other options but to give in to the will of her master. Consequently, she convinces Alice who then gives in to the desires of Rufus. Rufus having his way with Alice is a clear indication of his power over Dana. Additionally, Rufus practices power over Dana by trying to rape her even though she stabs him to death while at it. She "pulled the knife free of him, somehow raised it and brought it down again into his back" (Butler 260). This statement means that she stabbed him more than once and he died as a result.
The Struggle for Power Among Slaves
The struggle for power is evident in the story when Butler talks about the struggle for power between the slaves who worked within the houses, known as house-slaves, and those who mainly served in the outdoors, known as field-hands. According to both groups, working as a house-slave was better because house-slaves received better treatment and had to perform more straightforward tasks. They also had a lot of privileges in performing their duties. Consequently, there was a struggle on who got to work as a house-slave and who got to work as a field-hand. Everyone preferred to work as a house-slave and as a result, they occasionally carried out a contest which decided where each person got to work. Everyone who preferred to work as a house-slave had to vie for the position. This struggle depicted that those who worked as house-slaves were superior as they got privileges almost similar to the whites causing the rivalry. The rivalry resulted in the slaves fighting amongst themselves or against one of them; for instance, Liza was beaten by her fellow slaves for allegedly betraying one of them (Butler 178). Liza had reported Dana when she attempted to escape, and Dana was caught and beaten. As a result, a group of slaves who were Dana's friends exercised their power over a single slave, Liza and hit her as a way of teaching her a lesson.
Conclusion
Butler, having been brought up in Pasadena, is a mix of both black and white and comes up with a book which explains in details what slaves went through in the earlier periods in the 19th century. The novel, Kindred, indicates morals in people; the instances where they put their morals to use and the cases they do not. The main character is a slave herself and is in the first person. It ensures that the book plays its role in delivering the right message and to the right audience. The book also gives a clear illustration of what it feels like to be a slave, what the slaves go through and what eventually becomes of them. Butler indicates different ways in which the whites took advantage of the blacks when they made them slaves. They had the blacks work under harsh conditions, subjected them to cruel punishments in case things did not go their way, and even had their ways with them whenever they felt like doing so. All of these serve to indicate how the whites expressed their power over the blacks, as discussed in detail in this essay. Additionally, despite the fact that the blacks went through harsh treatment, they also treated themselves harshly. They formed various slave groups which were occasionally against each other or an individual from the same groups. The book also attempts to compare links between races, that is, the blacks and the whites. The difference between the two relations is that in the first group there is a legal agreement (marriage) while the other one involves a master taking advantage of a slave. It brings to our awareness what our ancestors may have gone through thereby playing the role of educational purposes.
Works Cited
Butler, Octavia. Kindred. Beacon Press, 2004.
Mueller, Bethany. "Kindred Plot Summary." LitCharts LLC, 25 May 2017.
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/kindred/summary. Accessed 16 May 2018.
