Octavia Butler's Kindred Throughout the novel Kindred, Butler compared and contrasted modern African Americans with African Americans that were slaves in the novel. Some of the many ways she compares them are through education, work ethic, and their personal feelings about and/or how they handle their own slavery. Education is very important to the blacks that were enslaved in the novel. The slaves valued education even more than the modern African Americans like Dana who had always thought they had very high standards on education. The slaves valued education so much because to them it was not only a tool to better themselves, but also a very powerful tool that could potentially lead them to freedom. With the ability to read and write the slaves could write themselves ...
Along with family and religion, education is one of the most important aspects in society. Fredrick Douglass realized the importance of a good education by learning to read and later becoming a writer, author and advocate of African Americans, women, and many others. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, we learn the significance and importance of Douglass learning to read, the affect the institution of slavery had on both whites and blacks, and why learning to read threatened the institution of slavery in general.
Kindred by Octavia Butler is an incredible book that leaves the reader hypnotized. This story educates people on the first hand abuse of slavery. Butler took a woman of the modern era and transferred her back into a period in which she, like the rest of us only heard about in books and television. Octavia Butler depicts how trauma not only affects the slave 's, but the slaveholders. Butler also brings attention to adaptation in her work by using a key literary devices such as foreshadowing to expose the trauma and the cause of that trauma.
Frederick Douglass’s “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave” recounts the life of Frederick Douglass as a slave on his journey to finding freedom. As a slave, he was treated as a second-rate citizen and was not taught how to be literate. Literacy is the ability to read and write. Slaves were robbed of the privilege of reading and writing and thus robbed of any educational means. Without these educational means, slaves were not allowed to grow in society and have a sense of capability within society. Instead, slaves were suppressed by the white man as property and forced to labor as the lowest part of society. Literacy is the education that separates humans from other forms of life and whites from slaves. Literacy
Initially, because she underestimates her own courage, which has never been properly tested, Dana doubts that she has sufficient fortitude to survive in the nineteenth century. As Kindred unfolds, it becomes clear that she does, indeed, have abundant courage and stamina. Butler effectively utilizes a common technique in fiction whereby an individual becomes heroic by transcending his or her base humanity by drawing on hidden inner resources. Dana is tested in her second trip to the past when she is nearly raped by a white man who is part of a patrol—the forerunner to the Ku Klux Klan. Never before having experienced physical abuse, initially Dana is reluctant to act. She fails to disable him by gouging his eyes, thereby losing her only chance
I know this because in the first paragraph of, “ History is a Weapon,” which states, “ Whereas the teaching of slaves to read and write, has a tendency to excrite dissatisfaction in their minds, and to produce insurrection and rebellion, to manifest injury of the citizens of this state.” what I feel the author was trying to say is that if they were smart enough to read and write, then they had the intelligence to rebel upon the owners, and they could find ways to reverse what was done to them. Education is a dangerous weapon, and it pays to be
The novel under the title Kindred is a magnificent literary piece created by renowned African-American fantasy writer and novelist of contemporary times Octavia Butler. This superb piece encompasses the most burning issues and problems faced by the African-American community. The novel throws light on the pathetic condition of the black slaves and vehemently condemns domestic violence and slavery inflicted and imposed upon the black stratum of the American society. The novel also discusses atrocities and hatred exercised upon the African Americans on the basis of racial and ethnic discrimination prevailing in the society. Butler points out the communication gap between spouses and family members, which adds to the misery of the black community at large.
In both books, we can see how both characters, Frederick Douglass (The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass) and Linda Brent (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl) have a contact with the concept of education. The slaves knew that learning things could be useful for them. If some day they become free and had the possibility of obtaining a job, they knew that what they had learned was going be both useful and necessary. They also realized that an educated slave was not well seen. Perceiving this, slaves normally decided to act as if they were uneducated and knew nothing at all. This way the owner will not know that they were actually uneducated or that they were willing to learn. The owners saw slave education as something wrong and it was strictly prohibited. In some cases, owners, mainly wives, will teach slave children how to read or write. This can be seen in the book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, where we see that Linda’s mother’s mistress treated Linda well and taught her how to read. However, in most cases husbands will realize this and prohibit their wife from educating slaves. This concept is easily observed in The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, where we see that Hugh Auld’s wife, Sophia, starts to teach Frederick how to read. When Hugh discovers this, he forces her to stop this; as he thinks that educating slaves will make them more difficult to
Ignorance played a big role throughout the book. It was believed that it was better for a slave to have ignorance than knowledge because with ignorance, the slaves have no reasons to leave. However, with knowledge, the slaves would be able to write their own passes. In addition, they would try to escape because they know they could do better. “It was dangerous to educate slaves, they warned. Education made blacks dissatisfied with slavery. It spoiled them for field work” (236). Leaving a black person ignorant of education and such will prevent slaves from developing self-worth and wanting to leave for a better life. For this reason, leaving the slave ignorant is what many slaveholders do.
It leaves the readers in an awe of silence as they deliberate and take in the powerful message of Kindred. Octavia Butler extablishes the site of trauma as adaptation and the cause as the inhumane act of slavery. Butler leads her audience to question the equality not only in the past, but also in the present. Developing and Critically thinking about the world around us is the message that Butler is wanted to convey. Are black people really free? Have blacks gained all the right that blacks are reserved to by constitutional law? The answers are up to the individual, but in the words of Jesse Williams, “the burdened of the is not to comfort the bystander. If you have no intrest in the equal rights for black people, then do not make suggestion for those who do. Sit down.”
In the essay “Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass illustrates how he successfully overcome the tremendous difficulties to become literate. He also explains the injustice between slavers and slaveholders. Douglass believes that education is the key to freedom for slavers. Similarly, many of us regard education as the path to achieve a career from a job.
Literacy plays an important part in helping Douglass achieve his freedom. Learning to read and write enlightened his mind to the injustice of slavery; it kindled in his heart longings for liberty. Douglass’s skills proved instrumental in his attempts of escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery.
While writing about the dehumanizing nature of slavery, Douglass eloquently and efficiently re-humanize African Americans. This is most evident throughout the work as a whole, yet specific parts can be used as examples of his artistic control of the English language. From the beginning of the novel, Douglass’ vocabulary is noteworthy with his use of words such as “intimation […] odiousness […] ordained.” This more advanced vocabulary is scattered throughout the narrative, and is a testament to Douglass’ education level. In conjunction with his vocabulary, Douglass often employed a complex syntax which shows his ability to manipulate the English language. This can be seen in Douglass’ self-description of preferring to be “true to [himself], even at the hazard of incurring ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur [his] own abhorrence.” This is significant because it proves that Douglass can not only simply read and write, but he has actually obtained a mastery of reading and writing. This is a highly humanizing trait because it equates him in education level to that of the stereotypical white man, and how could one deny that the white man is human because of his greater education? It is primarily the difference in education that separates the free from the slaves, and Douglass is able to bridge this gap as a pioneer of the
Table of Contents Page 1. A BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH OCTAVIA E. BUTLER Page 2 - 4. Biography Page 5 - 9. Synopsis Page 9 - 14. Analysis of Criticism Page 14 – 15.
The narrator of the story knows that education is important, however in the novel he learns just how important it is. The first thing his education brings him is a briefcase made of calfskin, which was given to him by the superintendent for the achievements he had accomplished. Because of this, the briefcase becomes very important to the narrator and he hangs on to it for the whole book, and it is the only thing that he brings with him when he retreats to the cellar to plot against the whites. In the briefcase is a scholarship which was awarded to the narrator to an all black college, which he attends. The scholarship made the narrator very happy because he now had the opportunity to continue his education in an institute of higher learning. Many of the blacks at the time were not well educated and he wanted to do all that he could to not be included in this bunch. Because of his furthered education, he can now be placed a bit higher in the pecking order of society, above the other stereotypical blacks who lacked education due to a small amount of funding, or because of anything else. The narrator knew the importance of education and wanted to do all that he could to get everything possible.
The significant of education in “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” is the most important theme in the entire passage. Frederick Douglass understands that the only way to freedom, for him and also other slaves, is through learning to read, write, and also have an education. Education helps Frederick to understand things that slowly will destroy his mind, and heart at the same time. Understanding the full extent of the horrors of slavery can be devastating to a person who has just set mind on morals, and values. In the passage Frederick says, “It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but offered no ladder upon which to get out” (Douglass 61). Using this quote as your guide, the reader can examine the meaning and importance of education with slavery time, and modern day.