Kindred by Octavia Butler: Prologue

• The novel is titled "Kindred" by Octavia E. Butler.
• It was published by Beacon Press, Boston, MA in 1988.
• The first edition was published by Doubleday in 1979.
• Education, or the lack thereof, shapes characters, relationships, and the narrative.
• The contrast between Dana's formal education and slavery's historical realities highlights the limitations and privileges of her knowledge.

Prologue

• The narrator, Dana, lost her left arm during her last trip "home."
• She also lost about a year of her life and much of her comfort and security.
• The police questioned Dana about how she hurt her arm and if Kevin hurt her.
• Dana told the police it was an accident and not Kevin's fault.
• Dana repeats that it was an accident, and insisted that Kevin should be released from jail.
• After the police left, Dana awoke to find Kevin sitting beside her bed.
• She wondered how long he had been there, but was relieved that he was there.
• Dana awoke feeling able to talk to him coherently.
• Kevin turned Dana's head toward him so she could see the stump where her arm had been.
• Kevin sat down again, took Dana's hand, and held it.
• Dana closed her eyes and said, "Above the elbow".
• Kevin affirmed, "They had to."
• Dana added, "I know. I'm just trying to get used to it."
• Dana remembered the police and asked if she had gotten Kevin into trouble.
• Kevin informed her that the neighbors called the sheriff's deputies when she started to scream.
• He was detained for a while, but the deputies let him go after Dana convinced them.
• Dana told the deputies it was an accident and her fault.
• Kevin said there was no way a thing like that could be her fault, but it certainly wasn't his.
• He stated, "They're sure I did it, but there were no witnesses, and you won't co-operate."
• Kevin gave the police his version of what happened, stating that he found Dana struggling to free her arm from what seemed to be a hole in the wall.
• He told them he didn't know what happened and denied knowing, which was partly the truth.
• Dana and Kevin both admitted they didn't know what had happened.
• "The truth," is what Kevin told the police.
• If he had told the deputies "the truth" as softly as he could, he would be "locked up-in a mental hospital."

The River

• The trouble that the main character reflects on begins long before June 9, 1976.
• She remembers June 9 as her twenty-sixth birthday.
• June 9 was also the day she met Rufus and the day he called her to him for the first time.
• Kevin and Dana had moved from Los Angeles to a house in Altadena the day before her birthday.
• Kevin had stopped unpacking when his office was in order, while Dana kept unpacking.
• After cataloging Kevin either loafed or thought in his office because Dana didn't hear his typewriter.
• Finally, Kevin came out to the living room where Dana was sorting books into one of the big bookcases and the books were fiction only.
• Kevin said he was struggling with his own perversity.
• He elaborated that he had half-a-dozen ideas for a Christmas story yesterday during the moving, but none now when there's time to write them down.
• Dana put a stack of nonfiction books in front of him, after he picked up one book and turned some pages.
• He stared at them unhappily and asked her why she came out here.
• She told him he came out here to get more ideas, because they come to you when you're busy.
• Kevin gave her a look that she knew wasn't as malevolent as it seemed.
• He used his pale, almost colorless eyes to intimidate people.
• Dana grinned at him and went back to work.
• Kevin took the nonfiction to another bookcase and began shelving it.
• Dana bent to push him another box full, then straightened quickly as she began to feel dizzy and nauseated.
• The room seemed to blur and darken around her, and she collapsed to her knees.
• Kevin made a wordless sound of surprise, asking "What happened?"
• Dana raised her head and discovered that she could not focus on him, gasping she said that "Something is wrong with me."
• Kevin moved toward her, and then vanished.
• Suddenly, Dana was outdoors kneeling on the ground beneath trees, at the edge of a woods.
• Before her was a wide tranquil river, and near the middle of that river was a child splashing and screaming because he was drowning.
• Dana reacted to the child in trouble, then decided she would ask questions and try to find out where she was, and what had happened later.
• She ran down to the river, waded into the water fully clothed, and swam quickly to the child.
• He was unconscious by the time she reached him - a small red-haired boy floating, face down.
• She turned him over, got a good hold on him so that his head was above water, and towed him in.
• There was a red-haired woman waiting for them on the shore now.
• The mother reached them and examined him, as she was feeling and examining him as she did.
• The mother screamed, "He's not breathing!"
• As they reached the shore, Dana snatched the child from her and began artificial respiration.
• If he could cough, throw up, and cry he would be all right.
• Moments later, the boy began breathing on his own, throwing up for his mother.
• Rufus. "Oh, Rufus, baby..." cried the woman as she grabbed him and nearly smothered him.
• The woman inflicted an ugly name on a reasonably nice-looking little kid.
• A man demanded to know, "What the devil's going on here?".
• Dana turned, startled, and found herself looking down the barrel of the longest rifle she had ever seen.
• She heard a metallic click, and she froze, thinking she was going to be shot for saving the boy's life.
• Dana tried to speak, but her voice was suddenly gone.
• She felt sick and dizzy and her vision blurred so badly that she could not distinguish the gun or the face of the man behind it.
• The man, the woman, the boy, and the gun all vanished.
• Dana was kneeling in the living room of her own house again several feet from where she had fallen minutes before.
• She was back at home-wet and muddy, but intact.
• Kevin stood frozen, staring at the spot where she had been, he asked "What the hell... how did you get over there?"
• Dana responded, "I don't know."
• Kevin touched her tentatively as though he wasn't sure she was real, then he grabbed her by the shoulders and held her tightly, asking 'What happened?'.
• Dana reached up to loosen his grip, but he wouldn't let go and then dropped to his knees beside her with what he wanted, responding, "I would if I knew what to tell you. Stop hurting me."
• Kevin let her go, finally, staring at her as though he'd just recognized her, asking she was ok
• As calmly and coherently as she could, Dana explained what she had experienced beginning with feeling dizzy and with as much detail as the memory allowed her after she thought, "There was a river. Woods with a river running through. And there was a boy drowning. I saved him. That's how I got wet."
• Upon wiping the mud from her leg at the towels' edge, Kevin declared, "This stuff had to come from somewhere," to convince Dana he believed her and she wasn't crazy.
• He then faced Dana and asked, "You know how long you were gone?".
• When she answered that the time had been a "few minutes", he corrected that there had been 'no more than ten or fifteen seconds'.
• While not disbelieving Kevin was also cautious even though he admitted to having seen it before and had to "force the words out. You were here until my hand was just a couple of inches from you. Then, suddenly, you were gone".
• And while she realized the time disparity, Dana insisted she was indeed there in the moment as she described it and insisted "this mud came from somewhere".
• The tree density, the mud, the boys' gun, the rivers' southern language, and all reminded her that she couldn't be comfortable if something bad could happen again.
• She couldn't tell him where they came from in the river she found it from the Woods, but at least this all happened before.
• As calmly as he could, Kevin said that she shouldn't blame herself if something bad does happen again but he didn't trust it.
• She was feeling all the more distant she was from when she rescued him but since they all ended up safely she assumed it to be a "hallucination".
• She insisted that she wasn't being delusional and it wasn't just some "dream" as Kevin asked and he then pleaded for her to "Tell me how you got wet. Start with that."
• Kevin thought the best thing to do, real or not, is to "Let go of it" "Let yourself pull away from it".

The Fire

• Dana tried to shake off the whole experience that she was having and try to become more in tune with her surroundings, but Kevin didn't see that she was better.
• While trying to go to sleep that night and calm herself she questioned if the same episode was bound to begin again "naked among strangers" and felt she was "totally vulnerable".
• Since Kevin had "Almost finished shelving them," Dana tried to occupy herself by finishing the sorting of the books, when Kevin stated that she should pack away as much of the items today and offered to accompany her to "Let's go get something to eat."
• Dana stated tomorrow would be a better day and that she will be able to relax knowing she has a restful "night's sleep" to separate her from the events of that day.
• As Dana feared that the kitchen was warping itself around her when they were eating, yet again this time in their own house, the feeling of sickness came back again.
• "I think so," she replied but it was to late, everything had shifted the linoleum tile and the chair, the only thing that she used to depend herself with by touching everything "vanished."
• Finding herself on a bed in a "dark green ca" she looked on a person "before me was a red-haired boy".
• The boy that she found before her was Rufus.
• His stick was charred on the corner of the bed, and the flames from the end of it then seemingly jump up onto the "draperies at the window".
• Then almost with some level of instinct to save and protect like she had that kid by the river, she shoved the innocent young boy out of the way and "pulled them down".
• She hoped that she hadn't set fire too closely to the foundation.
• It was different from the time that she had jumped to the river to save Rufus's life, since her 'get home' time wasn' was not being so nice, rather extended.
• She was calm to the extent that it could be since all of the light sources were "City Lights".
• In this new encounter, a new person was there with a child unlike what typically happens with adults.
• "Someone should use one like that on you"" she said as she took " the stick from his hand" and said to him, "before you burn the house down"
• With his "unmistakably southern" voice, he said, "You lay a hand on me, and I'll tell my daddy!"
• If she had seen, would that encounter go any different?
• That child's name was "Rufus?".
• "Yeah'' he said, in an unfamiliar way to how she remembered him.
• Rufus said this time "I didn't see anything but fire" he had never saw her before?
• Rufus asked her in the moment did she know how that feels in his mind the same way it comes to her mind by comparing it a little to what she would define she saw to how, with her eyes partially close to the floor.
• Did she feel scared the more times she traveled to the past in relation with the people and times in there
• Dana's "first trip had ended as soon as the boy was safe had ended just in time to keep me safe", it was not like first impressions.
• Now it was the time for a different approach in thinking since, as she realized that ' she wasn't going to be that lucky again'.
• This time a older young boy of around, three or four years bigger then him.
• That was the right answer, the reasonable answer. I tried to make myself accept it in spite of his name, his too-familiar face.
• As Rufus was asked if he " Can you remember a time when you nearly drowned?"
• With confusion he responded, "You were younger".
• Then she thought, Did you save him again?, because both this moment and the one by the river now, have came full circle.
• He even started remembering and said out loud to show some level of acknowledgement in his life.
• This is why there was some familiarity the boy said to himself.
• With the eyes close was exactly what could be described as something that someone like Alice could use like such a way and be able relate back to the real world.
• The boy wanted to know everything he could, because now, there is another that is standing before him like the woman in his life as she was when he is drowning, because they could be closer to him then they could be themselves.
• It just so happens that something could be said when looking again, from both points of view.
• "Where do you think I went, Rufe?" To further be told you are not "going to tell me el - ther:"

Dana's Education

• Dana Franklin is a well-educated, modern woman.
• Her education provides her with a unique perspective when she's transported back in time to the antebellum South.
• Dana's education clashes with the social norms and expectations of the 19th century.
• Her knowledge of history, literature, and social issues makes her an anomaly in the eyes of both white and black characters.
• Dana's literacy is a source of both power and danger.
• She is able to read and write, skills that are forbidden to most slaves.
• Her ability to read challenges the racial hierarchy of the time.
• To survive, Dana must downplay her education to avoid arousing suspicion or envy.
• Dana's education gives her a sense of moral superiority, but she struggles with the ethical compromises she must make to survive.

The Education of Slaves

• Slave education was actively suppressed in the antebellum South.
• Laws prohibited teaching slaves to read or write in many states.
• Slaveholders feared that literacy would empower slaves and lead to rebellion.
• Some slaves did learn to read and write in secret, often with the help of sympathetic whites or free blacks.
• Literacy was seen as a tool for resistance and self-emancipation.
• The novel portrays the limited opportunities for slaves to learn and the harsh consequences of being caught trying to do so.
• Characters like Sarah demonstrate the ingenuity and resilience of enslaved people who sought knowledge despite the risks.
• The lack of education among slaves perpetuates their oppression and dependence on their masters.
• They are denied the ability to read legal documents, communicate privately, or understand the world beyond the plantation.
• The denial of education is a form of control, keeping slaves in a state of ignorance and subservience.

Education as a Theme

• Education is a symbol of power, freedom, and social mobility.
• The contrast between Dana's education and the lack of education among slaves underscores the injustices of slavery.
• Kindred explores the ways in which education can both liberate and alienate.
• Dana's education allows her to understand the historical context of slavery and to resist its dehumanizing effects.
• However, it also isolates her from the other characters, who cannot comprehend her modern sensibilities and knowledge.
• The novel raises questions about the responsibility of the educated to use their knowledge to fight injustice.
• Dana's struggle to reconcile her education with the realities of slavery highlights the complexities of historical memory and social change.
• Education is presented as a means of personal and collective empowerment.
• By learning about the past, we can better understand the present and work towards a more just future.
• The novel suggests that education is essential for breaking the chains of oppression and creating a more equitable society.

Characters Shaped by Education

• Dana's education shapes her interactions and survival strategies.
• Rufus's limited and biased education reinforces his prejudiced views and perpetuates the cycle of oppression.
• Alice's initial education and later forced illiteracy reflect the changing circumstances and constraints placed upon free black women.
• Kevin's role as a writer and his intellectual curiosity create a bridge between Dana's world and the past, while also highlighting their differences.
• The contrast in education levels among characters underscores the power dynamics and social stratification of the time.

Significance of Literacy

• Literacy is portrayed as a critical tool for empowerment and resistance.
• The ability to read and write allows individuals to access information, communicate privately, and challenge oppressive systems.
• The denial of literacy is a deliberate strategy to maintain control and perpetuate inequality.
• Characters who possess literacy, or who seek to acquire it, are shown to be more resourceful and resilient.
• The act of reading and writing becomes a form of rebellion against the constraints of slavery.
• The novel highlights the importance of preserving and passing on knowledge as a means of cultural and historical preservation.