Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Ultimate Power Today, freedom and equality are two virtues that Americans overlook and take for granted. However, examples from the past point out that Americans were not always this fortunate. Octavia Butler’s “Kindred” takes us on a time-traveling journey through the antebellum south. In order to save her ancestry, a black woman named Dana is sent back into time repeatedly to save her great-great-grandfather Rufus who ironically is a white southern slave-owner, confused, spoiled, and a rapist with a remarkable gift for self-destruction. Analysis of the novel reveals that being white was the safest position to be in during the pre-Civil War Era. Not only did whites have absolute freedom and power, but they also had the ability to control slaves by taking away human rights they were entitled to. Rufus had the power to control and threaten Dana despite the fact that she was a “free” slave. Even though she was free, the color of her skin designated her as an easy target for Rufus’s manipulation. Dana does not receive physical abuse from Rufus, but she was a victim of his threats, blackmail, and lies. One of the main goals that Dana has in the novel is to find her husband Kevin. Unfortunately as a black w