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Kindred Presentation

The document discusses the novel Kindred by Octavia Butler. It begins by explaining the title refers to kinship, similarity, and the connection between Dana and her ancestors, both enslaved Africans and white people. A key theme is how the novel deconstructs the myth of separate human races by showing how black and white people are dependent on one another. The story involves a black female protagonist who is transported between contemporary California and a Maryland plantation in the 19th century, exposing the trauma of slavery and its legacy.

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926 views

Kindred Presentation

The document discusses the novel Kindred by Octavia Butler. It begins by explaining the title refers to kinship, similarity, and the connection between Dana and her ancestors, both enslaved Africans and white people. A key theme is how the novel deconstructs the myth of separate human races by showing how black and white people are dependent on one another. The story involves a black female protagonist who is transported between contemporary California and a Maryland plantation in the 19th century, exposing the trauma of slavery and its legacy.

Uploaded by

api-252344608
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Kindred

Octavia Butler

Kindred Spirits
What are kindred spirits? Are they the
same as a soul mate? Do you believe in
soulmates, destiny, fate?
Find a partner and discuss the
question

Why the title Kindred?


first used p. 57 kindred spirit
Kinship, kindness, similarity, relationship, connection
Pun: kin-dreadfear of relatives, ancestors
Plot: Dana reluctantly discovers her ancestry, which includes
whites, as well as, enslaved Africans.
Danas kindness is evident in many scenes (such as in first
saving the young Rufus from drowning
Danas light skin and educated speech are seen as her kinship
with white people, one of whom she has married
Black and white folks are kindeconstructing the myth of
separate racesand dependent on one another for survival

Why We Are Reading This:


I'm comfortably asocial a hermit living in a
large city a pessimist if I'm not careful; a
student, endlessly curious; a feminist; an
African American; a former Baptist; and an oil
and water combination of ambition, laziness,
insecurity, certainty, and drive.-Octavia Butler
To understand the institution of slavery, the
ideologies that perpetuate the institution, the
history of human enslavement, and the
connection to contemporary forms of
enslavement today.

Take a minute to respond to these 3


different edition covers of Kindred.
What do you see in each of them?

A Female Protagonist
Actually, I began with a man as main character, but I
couldn't go on using the male main character,
because I couldn't realistically keep him alive. So
many things that he did would have been likely to get
him killed The female main character, who might be
equally dangerous, would not be perceived so. She
might be beaten, she might be abused, but she
probably wouldn't be killed and that's the way I wrote
it. She was beaten and abused, but she was not
killed. That sexism, in a sense, worked in her favor.
But, anyway, that's a long-winded answer. And that's
how I came to write Kindred.

Tale of Two
Settings
From sea to shining sea What are the two settings of
the novel?

Weylin Setting: Maryland


Talbot County Maryland
Home of the young
Frederick Douglass,
whose Narrative of the
Life of an American
Slave (1845) is the
most famous slave
narrative
Serves as a source for
most of the details in
the novel

Contemporary Setting
Pasadena, California
Time of the novel: June-July 4, 1976
Americas Bicentennial, anniversary of
the Declaration of Independence
Are all men (and women) treated
equally as the Declaration promises?

Key Themes

Race as a social construct


Trauma and Historical
Memory (Historical
Amnesia)

Patriarchy

White Supremacy and


White Privilege

Black Community

American Myopia

Survival

Power Dynamics

Normalization

Education as a subversive
act

Redemption

Concept of Home

Sex and Gender Inequality

Slavery (Now Versus Then)

The Time Travel

Rufus born about 1805


The River (about 1811)
The Fire (1815)
The Fall (1819)
The Fight (1824)
The Storm (1830-1831)
The Rope (1831)

Historical Fiction
As many of you mentioned, the key difference between this
novel and stereotypical science fiction pieces is the aspect of
historical reality. It takes the novel from the fictionalized
world and scaffolds the reader to make a deeper connection.

According to the Fourth of


July 1863 Harpers Weekly,
"McPherson and Oliver of
Baton Rouge, La."
distributed this carte de
visite photograph of
"Gordon" who escaped
from his master in
Mississippi, "his back
furrowed and scarred with
the traces of a whipping
administered on
Christmas day."

Historical Context
1819 Missouri Compromise
Rebellions and Abolitionists

1811 Charles Deslondes

1822 Denmark Vesey

1831 William Lloyd Garrison

1863 Emancipation Proclamation


1865-1877 Reconstruction/Jim Crow Laws
1964 Civil Rights Act
1965 Voting Rights Act
Black Power Movement

Black Panther Party, October 1966, Oakland

Quick Activity: Recognizing


Faces
Understanding American Mytopia
You will be shown a collection of photographs of
people who have made an impact in history.
On a scrap piece of paper, write that individuals
name down and a word or two on their
contribution to history.

Name These People


1.

3.

2.

4.

Name These People


5.

6.

7.

8.

Name These People


9.

10.

Name These People


11.

12.

13.

Leading Up to 1976

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