The Essay

In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Either from your own reading or from the list below, choose a work of fiction in which the reader is confronted with a scene or scenes of violence. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how the scene or scenes contribute(s) to an interpretation of the work as a whole.  Do not merely summarize the plot.

In the novel, “Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler, she uses scenes of violence in order to convey the internal struggles and the evolving racial, social problems/ ultimately, illustrating that universal injustices in society need to be addressed. 

Butler communicates her infinite setbacks throughout the text, in order to evoke the true meaning behind her writing. Thus, in “Kindred,” the main character, Dana, is struck with the placement of the severity of slavery. Dana is in the year of 1976 and she is moving into a new apartment with her husband, Kevin. Meanwhile, Dana is struck with an object she toques and time travels. This is when the violence sinks in. Dana is put back to the early 1800s on a plantation in Maryland where she encounters young Rufus Weylin. Little does she know the significance he will put on her life. As time passes, Dana reverts to and from 1976 and years in the 1800s. Events that occur within her time traveling sprees aluminates the harsh realities of slavery, rape, and inequality. The most extreme case of violence in the novel is when Dana saves Rufus’ life and later she finds out he rapes one of her ancestors, Alice. The struggle she faces with the decisions she has made that will lead her to the creation of her life. Overall, the racial issues that Dana is subjected to makes who she is in her life in 1976. 

To continue, the scenes of violence that occur throughout the novel happen for a reason. Moreover, the social problems within the text to establish the true meaning. Dana in the present day is put through the discrimination of being a colored woman in southern california who faces the struggles of keeping up with the economy. However, the novel switches and lets her adapt to even more inferior problems of what it was like to be a colored woman in the 1800s. Furthermore, in the present day, Dana, is set to lower standards with avid sexism that is implied with her because of IX. Although these are not physical attributes of abuse, social problems in “Kindred” still emphasizes the meaning of the text. 

All in all, in the novel, “Kindred,” by Octavia E. Butler, acts of violence shape the struggles to make the audience understand the true horror of injustices towards people of color and how decision making can significantly impact the future.