Kindred

This novel really exemplified the difference between thought and engulfment within a situation. We, contemporary beings, look back on the past and take it for granted. We accept history without any real effect on ourselves. Dana, the main character of the novel, a middle aged black female, is transended through time into the age of slavery. She experiences first hand what it is like to be a slave yet she still has one advantage that the other slaves don't hold. She is an educated, knowledgeable and needed by a "superior". Even with these set advantages she has to live the life of a slave and experience what it means to be a one.

There are many similarities between the old times and current times. In the book Dana states “I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery”. This is concurrent with today’s society and the discrimination of women. In today’s world it is statistically shown that women hold inferior positions to men in industry and are paid less (on average). Well educated people look back on the situation and do not understand how anyone could stand to "put up" with the treatment that blacks were put through in the 1800's. This is when you have to look at the difference between living through something and reading about it. When you read about it you accept it for what someone else says to be fact and move on with your life. When it is a question of life and death this mindset is obviously changed.

This novel was a great way to learn what it was actually like to be part of the antebellum south without actually going there. Butler, the author, allowed the reader to experience everything through Dana and was able to show the effect such events had on a persons life and being.