I AM READY TO DISCUSS KINDRED!!!!

What do you think about slavery, do you think as a modern day woman if you were drawn in to slavery days you could handle it.

Do you think Rufus kept getting himself in trouble just so Dana could keep coming back

Why did Kevin (her husband) age but she didn't

What was the significance of her carrying back all that happened to her in the 1700 to 1976 ie scars, pain etc

I await answers and a lively discussion.

Ok, Shamma, I'll answer!!! BTW, things are now good with my mom

What do you think about slavery, do you think as a modern day woman if you were drawn in to slavery days you could handle it.

I don't think I'll be able to handle it, and most likely I would probably try to commit suicide!!! I don't think I would be able to survive the pain or the humiliation and dependence on others for your life.

Do you think Rufus kept getting himself in trouble just so Dana could keep coming back

I don't think so, from what I remember, Rufus wasn't much of an intellectual and probably could not comprehend the fact that his attempts to kill himself would always bring Dana back, although it was explained to him.

Why did Kevin (her husband) aged but she didn't

I didn't really understand why, except that Kevin's blood line was not connected to Dana, so perhaps that is why he did age, and she didn't during the slavery times.

What was the significance of her carrying back all that happened to her in the 1700 to 1976 ie scars, pain etc

I think the author tries to remind the reader that the effect of slavery is permanent on the people involved, even after it is long gone? I don't necessarily agree with this opinion, but it seems that this is what the author is trying to convey!!!

Alian, I loved your answers, here are mine

What do you think about slavery, do you think as a modern day woman if you were drawn in to slavery days you could handle it

As I was reading the book, I began to appreciate even more, what my fore parents did for me. They went thru so much but they were so resilient and humble. In a sense it gave me a greater appreciation for all the freedoms, however limited they might be, that I have. I could never ever be a slave. If I was drawn back like Dana was, I would run, I would just die. The only way I could survive is if I had a mindset of a slave. This was just too much for me to read how slaves were treated.

Do you think Rufus kept getting himself in trouble just so Dana could keep coming back

I had to keep reminding myself that she told him that everytime he gets in to trouble she was pulled back in time. I think he did not like the life he had, he was such a self centered selfish person.

Why did Kevin (her husband) age but she didn't

This I have no answers to, that is why I asked it, b/c when she described him with the beared and the age lines, I was shocked at how much he had aged. I like Alina's answer.



What was the significance of her carrying back all that happened to her in the 1700 to 1976 ie scars, pain etc

Alina, I think hit it right on the head, the scars of slavery or whatever opression a people is placed under will always be remembered.

What do you think about slavery, do you think as a modern day woman if you were drawn in to slavery days you could handle it.

I don't think I could imgaine going back. I think the author did an excellent job describing how difficult it was for Dana. It required so much for her assimilate into that world. It was really interesting how the author described how her speech, her mannerism, her dress were questioned.


Do you think Rufus kept getting himself in trouble just so Dana could keep coming back

It been awhile since I read the book. My memory is a bit faded on this issue.


Why did Kevin (her husband) age but she didn't

I didn't understand this either.


What was the significance of her carrying back all that happened to her in the 1700 to 1976 ie scars, pain etc

I think the author wanted us to know that this was not a dream for Dana -- one that she could wake up from and forget. The pain and scars will allow her to remember this experience.

Other questions from ReadingGroupGuides.com:

. Both Kevin and Dana know that they can't change history: 'We're in the middle of history. We surely can't change it.' (page100); and 'It's over . . . There's nothing you can do to change any of it now.' (page 264). What, then, are the purposes of Dana' s travels back to the antebellum South? Why must you, the reader, experience this journey with Dana?


2. How would the story have been different with a third person narrator?


3. Many of the characters within Kindred resist classification. In what ways does Dana explode the slave stereotypes of the 'house-******, the handerkchief-head, and the female Uncle Tom' (page 145). In what ways does she transcend them?


4. Despite Dana's conscious effort to refuse the 'mammy' role in the Weylin household, she finds herself caught within it: 'I felt like Sarah, cautioning.' (page 156), and others see her as the mammy: 'You sound just like Sarah' (page 159). How, if at all, does Dana reconcile this behavior? How would you reconcile it?


5. 'The ease. Us, the children . . . I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery.' This is said by Dana to Kevin when they have returned to the present and are discussing their experience in the antebellum South. To what extent, if any, do you believe racial oppression exists today?


6. How do you think Butler confronts us with issues of difference in Kindred? How does she challenge us to consider boundaries of black/white, master/slave, husband/wife, past/present? What other differences does she convolute? Do you think such dichotomies are flexible? Artificial? Useful?


7. Compare Tom Weylin and Rufus Weylin. Is Rufus an improvement or simply an alteration of his father? Where, if any, is there evidence of Dana's influence on the young Rufus in his adult character?


8. Of the slaves' attitude toward Rufus, Dana observes 'Strangely, they seemed to like him, hold him in contempt, and fear him at the same time.' (page 229) How is it they can feel these contradictory emotions? How would you feel toward Rufus if you were in their situation?


9. Compare Dana's 'professional' life (i.e. her work as temporary help) in the present with her life as a slave.


10. When Dana and Kevin return from the past together, she thinks to herself: 'I felt as though I were losing my place here in my own time. Rufus's time was a sharper, stronger reality.' (page 191) Why would the twentieth century seem less vivid to Dana than the past?


11. Dana loses her left arm as she emerges—for the last time in the novel—from the past. Why is this significant?


12. Kevin is stranded in the past five years, while Dana is there for almost one. Is there a reason why Butler felt Kevin needed to stay in the past so much longer? How have their experiences affected their relationship to each other and to the world around them?


13. A common trend in the time-travels of science fiction assumes that one should not tamper with the past, lest s/he disrupt the present. Butler's characters obviously ignore this theory and continue to invade each other's lives. How does this influence the movement of the narrative? How does this convolute the idea of 'cause and effect'?

What do you think about slavery, do you think as a modern day woman if you were drawn in to slavery days you could handle it.

I doubt it. The book makes me sick to my stomach when I read the slavery parts.



Do you think Rufus kept getting himself in trouble just so Dana could keep coming back


Rufus does not seem like he had enough sense to put two and two together to make four. I don't think he was getting in trouble to get Dana's attention.

Why did Kevin (her husband) age but she didn't

For Kevin it was five years and five years in that time was a lot. I mean the average age people lived in those days was about 40.

Also when she first describes him in the book she mentions gray hair so don't let the gray hair mentioned here signal that he has aged tremendously.

What was the significance of her carrying back all that happened to her in the 1700 to 1976 ie scars, pain etc


I think that the scars staying on her highlightened the reality of what she was going through

I don't remember enough of the details. Could I have handled slavery? I don't think so, but I guess if I was living in that time, I would have to learn how to. Its amazing how strong you can be when you have to.

I think Kevin aged because he didn't have Dana's 'power' - without her, Kevin would not have been there and would not have been able to return. So he didn't enter as a visitor.

I think her bringing back the scars and pain made it more real to her and proved that it wasn't just a dream. It also showed her connection to that time - no one goes unaffected.

about Rufus - I don't think he found trouble to bring Dana back. I think it was just his nature that he was always in trouble. It took him awhile to realize the connection between his fear and her appearing.

Here's a question: Wht did time move differently in the past then in the present? How come Dana could be gone for only a few minutes and it would equal a few years?

What, then, are the purposes of Dana' s travels back to the antebellum South? Why must you, the reader, experience this journey with Dana?



I though this was an interesting question to answer. So I will share my views.

Unlike reading a slave narrative, this book allows you live in Dana modern world and the antebelllum south. I think the author wrote this book in this manner to force the reader to put his/her self in dana's place. I think she was very effective in doing this. Throughout the book, I kept asking myself --would I survive in Dana's shoes?