Who Is Octavia Butler's Kindred?

Kindred is a science fiction book written by Octavia Butler which explores slavery, interracial relationships, family history, love, hate, and fear through time travel. The main character and narrator is Edana who goes by Dana, an African American woman newly married to Kevin who is white in 1976. Dana and Kevin have just moved from an apartment in Los Angeles to a home of their own a few miles away in Altadena. In the prologue Dana’s arm was crushed inside a wall in her home, and had to be amputated above the elbow, with no valid explanation as to how it happened. You see instantly the love and concern she has for Kevin as he is her first and only concern when she wakes from surgery. Unable to explain to the police what occurred, she assures the police it was not Kevin who abused her. Although this is not the beginning of the unpredictable travels that have occurred in Dana’s life, it shows the perplexity and reality of what can happen as she travels in time. Dana’s original time travel occurs on her twenty sixth birthday. While unpacking boxes in their new apartment, she finds herself dizzy losing …show more content…
Butler, the author of Kindred, was born June 22, 1947, in Pasadena, California. Butler’s father was a shoe shine man and her mother was a maid. Butler worked hard going to Pasadena City College, California State University, and University of California at Los Angeles mastering her writing skills. Her books merged portions of science fiction and African American history. A few of Butler’s awards that she received include Hugo Award for Best Short Story, in 1984, Science Fiction Chronicle Award for Best Novelette in 1985, MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant in 1995, and PEN American Center lifetime achievement award in writing in 2000. After Butler’s death on February 24, 2006, in Seattle, Washington at the age of fifty eight she was honored as Inductee Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2010. Her books continue to be reproduced and enjoyed by many