Edana (Dana) Franklin: A courageous and compassionate twenty-six-year-old African-American woman writer. She is the protagonist and the narrator of the story. She is married to a white writer named Kevin. She is forced to travel to a slave plantation in antebellum Maryland by her white slave-owning ancestor Rufus.Consequently, who is Dana in Kindred?
The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Dana is a black woman from 1979 California who gets pulled back in time to Antebellum Maryland to save the life of her white ancestor, Rufus Weylin. Dana is a strong, resourceful, intelligent woman, as well as a writer like her white husband Kevin.
Also, who are the main characters in Kindred? Rufus Weylin Edana Franklin Kevin Franklin Tom Weylin Alice Greenwood
Keeping this in consideration, who is Rufus to Dana in Kindred?
Rufus. Dana's ancestor, son of Tom Weylin and heir to the plantation, master of Alice, father of Joe and Hagar. Dana is called to save his life starting when he is a young boy; she remains with him until she kills him when he tries to rape her after Alice's death.
Where does Dana live in Kindred?
SETTING. This science-fiction novel is set in Altadena, California in (at the time of the writing, the present day day) 1976, and the fictional Weylin Plantation on the rural eastern shore of Maryland near Baltimore in the years 1819 through 1838 or 1840.
Who are the weylin in Kindred?
Rufus Weylin - The inconsistent, power-drunk slave owner and the father of one of Dana's ancestors. Rufus rapes and enslaves Alice and attempts to rape and enslave Dana. He longs to be loved but expects to always get his way, using coercion and violence if he is denied. Read an in-depth analysis of Rufus Weylin.Why is it significant that Dana leaves her left arm in the past?
Dana is profoundly changed by her experience of living out the reality of slavery in the past, and this is reflected by her amputation. The loss of her arm is therefore a powerful symbol of the impact of slavery.What is Luke's job in Kindred?
Luke: A slave at the Weylin plantation and Nigel's father. Luke works as Weylin's overseer until Weylin sells him for not being sufficiently obedient. Nigel: The son of Luke and a slave at the Weylin Plantation. As a small boy, he is also Rufus's playmate.What story does Dana read to Rufus?
Dana visits Rufus, at his request. He tells her he sympathized with Sarah when his father sold off her sons. He asks Dana to read Robinson Crusoe to him, and she does. Rufus tells her that the books in the house belonged to his father's first wife, Miss Hannah.What happens to Kevin in Kindred?
Kevin is a progressive, liberal, middle-aged white man who defies convention and the disapproval of his family to marry the black woman he loves. Slavery appalls him. He fights for his ideals in the South by helping slaves escape, even though getting caught might cost him his life. However, Kevin is an imperfect man.What is the theme of kindred?
One of Kindred's central themes is the role of environment in shaping people's attitudes and personalities. Moreover, Butler makes clear her belief that environment and training shape one's self-image and, thus, one's feelings toward one's own and others' power or powerlessness.How does the relationship between Dana and Rufus develop?
Dana and Rufus have an extremely complex relationship because when Dana travels into the past, she is a slave while Rufus is the plantation master, but she also later finds out that she is biologically related to Rufus. While she is a slave on the plantation, she is mistreated and beaten, as the other slaves are.What happened at the end of kindred?
The end of this book basically tells us that neither Kevin nor Dana (nor the book, really) feels remorse over the fact that Dana has murdered Rufus. There have been many times when Octavia Butler or Dana have tried to build our sympathy for Rufus.Why does Rufus use Dana to get to Alice?
Dana gets Rufus to help sneak her out of the house without being seen. She wants to know where she can find Alice's cabin in the woods because Alice and her mother are freed slaves and Dana thinks she can stay with them.Why does Rufus say he didn't help Dana Contact Kevin?
Rufus says his father wrote to Kevin when he found out that Rufus had not sent Dana's letters. Weylin felt bound to do so because of Rufus's promise to Dana. Dana tells Rufus that she already knew he didn't mail the letters. He says he didn't mail them because he doesn't want Kevin to come and take her North.What does Rufus ask Dana to call him?
Dana asks him to call her a black woman instead. Rufus says he set fire to the drapes because his father beat him. He says his last name is Weylin and confirms that he has a young black friend, a free woman, named Alice Greenwood.How are Tom weylin and Rufus weylin similar?
Rufus had no boundaries with the slaves, while Tom Weylin kept more of a standard 'professional' relationship with them. Rufus, however, created relationships with the slaves, showing them kindess and warmth as long as they pleased him.What does Rufus make Dana do when he finds her book on slavery from 1976?
Rufus finds a book on slavery that Dana brought from 1976. Worried about what his father will do if he finds it, Rufus makes Dana burn it. She agrees, although for a while she tries to hold on to a map, thinking she could use it to run away. Rufus tells her that the book and the map are irrelevant because she is home.What are the similarities between Dana's relationship with Rufus and her relationship with Kevin?
Another similarity between Dana's relationships with Kevin and Rufus is the trust she puts in both of them. For the majority of the text, Dana is assured that she and Rufus have a mutual agreement regarding one another's boundaries.Who dies in Kindred?
In the final moments of the main narrative in Octavia Butler's Kindred, the protagonist, Dana, kills her ancestor and adversary, Rufus. Throughout the novel, Dana is forcibly pulled back through time, from her life in 1976 California to a plantation in the antebellum South.What is Dana's moral dilemma?
In Kindred, Dana faces the moral dilemma of having to choose between saving herself and her existence when she goes back in time, or saving the people that Rufus is Hurting, thus, not having him rape her and Hagar not being conceived.Who does Alice resemble kindred?
Alice functions as a mirror for Dana, and Butler creates notable similarities between them. Alice is Dana's ancestor, and the two women look alike. Both earn Liza's enmity. Both are loved by Rufus. 
