Kindred by Octavia Butler involves two central themes: time travel and slavery. Published in 1979, the novel focuses on many issues related to slavery in the 1800s, including abuse of power, gender hierarchy, and the outcome of racial conflict. The novel features a 20th-century black woman, Dana, who is able to travel to the 1800s when necessary to save her white ancestor. She encounters and learns the complex fate of being a black woman during that time and the necessities of surviving. Octavia Butler's Kindred establishes a strong link between the past and present by presenting traces of the past in the present and the present in the past to emphasize similarities and connections by specifically focusing on the evolution of history and racial issues or status in both time periods in Kindred. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Focusing on the historical aspect of the relationship between past and present, in the 1970s the civil rights movement had just petered out and there was still tension between whites and blacks in the United States. Although this was an upsurge from segregation, society was still separate. Blacks and whites were allowed to live in the same places, but society continued to view them as completely separate. Throughout history, the 1960s and 1970s depicted themes of racial inequality, gender inequality, and racial dominance. Butler's novel includes these themes, addressed in both time periods to show readers where the problems arise. Dana, the protagonist and narrator of the novel is a young black woman living in 1976 in Los Angeles, married to a white man, Kevin. where they are both authors. On her twenty-sixth birthday, Dana finds herself brought to the nineteenth-century antebellum South, an opposing world with similarities where she must struggle to establish an identity and live in freedom. His goal is to save his ancestor, Rufus, the son of a plantation owner in times of danger and harm, otherwise he will cease to exist in the future. Throughout his experience, Butler makes a connection between the past of the 1800s and the present in 1976 to represent a strong bond between the two. The first relationship of the past into the present and the present into the past is represented through Rufus. Dana and Rufus' relationship becomes more complex the older Rufus gets. Rufus is described as a typical white man from the 1800s. He does not bear the characteristics of his father or other slave owners. He has a complex history of his own that goes against everything history claims white men are. Another comparison involving Rufus is his relationship with Dana. It is built on the basis of respect and negotiation. Rufus has admired Dana and her intellect since the beginning of their relationship. However, there is a difference in Dana's action compared to the same scenario. Kevin asks Dana to write his manuscripts, which she refuses while Rufus asks Dana to write for him, and she must agree or else she will be punished. This is significant because it demonstrates the racial hierarchy, but also the significance of such moments because in the present, a black woman is given the option to refuse, however in the past it was seen as disrespectful and women, exclusively, did not have the right to refuse . choice, but black women ultimately had no say in arguing against not doing something that a white person, much less a white man, would order. Considering the relationship between Kevin and Dana, Kevin is important to the reader's perception of the present and how we understand how the present is relevant. Kevinhe is a white man from 1976 Kindred, and his ideals reflect those of the present and past. He and Dana fight the stereotype that blacks and whites can't get along equally. Being married presents problems to the couple, including family disagreements regarding their marriage. At the time, society was still reluctant to accept interracial marriage and interactions. Butler uses Kevin and Dana's relationship as an example of how the past still influences society. Compared to the past, where Rufus was not allowed to publicly love a black woman, Kevin and Dana were seen in a negative light by their families because they were marrying the opposite race. This creates a racial divide and contributes to the racial hierarchy in society that both main characters were trying to break in both time periods and provides the understanding that this complex fate will remain viewed negatively. Because Kevin and Dana are able to experience the past in a real environment, they understand the complexity of both time periods and its effects where society is based solely on the status of racial hierarchy. Society can't go into the past like Kevin and Dana do, so it has to rely on history and, during that time, post-Civil War society to make sense of it. This perpetuates the wound because the version of history that the present knows leaves out many details except the remaining pain of slavery and opposition. Butler interestingly introduces Kevin. He purposely hides his race until the end of the novel. In the first section of “The Fall,” the reader is finally told that Kevin is white, in which Butler states, “He was an unusual-looking white man, his face young, almost without wrinkles, but his hair completely gray and his eyes so pale that he is almost colorless.” It creates a change in the novel because Kevin is now a great comparison to Rufus as the two are important aspects of Dana's life. Kevin, although very different from Rufus, reacts in ways that are been shaped by his upbringing and society His understanding of history is as distorted as Dana's argues that Kevin and Dana live in a complex world. oblivion that Dana must deal with in order to have a potentially meaningful relationship with him." Schmitt describes that this type of “forgetting” is what society is doing on a larger scale around Kevin and Dana. Butler emphasizes these things to the reader so that the connection to the past can be made and addressed through Dana. Kevin, in many ways, reflects these actions. He doesn't see Dana differently because of her color, but he looks at Dana the way Butler intended Rufus to be shaped at the end of the novel. The comparison between Kevin and Rufus, in relation to the past in the present, and the present in the past is their connection to black women. Kevin's bond with Dana is stronger than Rufus' relationship with Alice due to their mutual need to work through racial issues and the tension of gender hierarchy. Kevin and Dana continue to be together throughout the troubles that occur in 1976. After Dana's trip to the 1800s, she returns to Kevin, who is worried and holds her close, hurting Dana without realizing it (Butler 15). When she tells Kevin he is hurting her, he tries to help her in which Butler states, “We sat together on the floor, me wrapped in the towel and Kevin with his arm around me calming me just by his presence. After a while I stopped shaking." Kevin reacts in such a way that he wants to make sure Dana is safe and calm; he's not angry.