Abstract Between the characters of Octavia and Cleopatra there exists a "moral contrast" (Bree 110) -a conflict of Roman ideals and Cleopatra's foreignness. Throughout the tradition of Cleopatra, authors, including Plutarch, Shakespeare, Dryden, and Fielding, as well as filmmakers such as Mankiewicz, have separated Cleopatra from Rome and Octavia because of her combination of political power and sexuality: "The notion of Cleopatra that we have inherited identifies her primarily as being the adversary
Kindred by Octavia Butler Octavia Butler’s novel Kindred is categorized as science fiction because of the existence of time travel. However, the novel does not center on the schematics of this type of journey. Instead, the novel deals with the relationships forged between a Los Angeles woman from the 20th century, and slaves from the 19th century. Therefore, the mechanism of time travel allows the author a sort of freedom when writing this "slavery narrative" apart from her counterparts. Butler
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. Influences on Society Page 16. Footnotes Page 17. Bibliography A BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH OCTAVIA E. BUTLER 1. Who is Octavia E. Butler? Where is she headed? Where has she been? Who am I? I'm a 51-year-old writer who can remember being a 10-year-old
Movie the Matrix and Octavia Butler's Dawn When I first announced to my parents that I was going to marry my current wife, the first words out of my father’s mouth were, “But she’s from another culture.” My father and mother, although being generally good people, are the products of an older system of beliefs. It is the matrix I was raised with, and that dictated my earlier learning experience. Fortunately for me, I chose to risk alienating my parents, and told them that if they ever mentioned
Rape Rewarded in Octavia Butler’s Kindred “So you’ll be rid of the man and have possession of the woman just as you wanted,” I said with disgust. “Rape rewarded.” He turned his head toward me and peered at me through swollen eyes. “I begged her not to go with him,” he said quietly. “Do you hear me, I begged her!” I said nothing. I was beginning to realize that he loved the woman-to her misfortune. There was no shame in raping a black woman, but there could be shame in loving one. Dana
Parable of the Sower is a very well-written science fiction novel by Octavia Butler. The setting is California in the year 2025. The world is no longer prosperous and has turned into a very poor place. There are countless people homeless, jobs are scarce and hard to come by, and very few communities of homes. The few communities that are still occupied have huge walls with barbed wire and laser wire surrounding them. There are robberies, murders, and rapes just about every day. People walk
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, is a novel about an African American woman named Dana (born in 1950) who lives in 1976 California. She experiences weird headaches and dizziness one day and gets teleported to a river in the woods. She sees a boy drowning and rushes into the river to save him. The boy’s mother comes out yelling at Dana and then the father comes out with a shotgun just as Dana is sent back to her house. Dana kinda sees it as a hallucination and goes on shocked. Later she experiences the
Octavia Butler's Kindred vs. Harriet Jacobs' Incidents In The Life of a Slave Girl According to 'the conventions for slave narratives', it is possible to categorize Kindred by Octavia Butler as a slave narrative. However, the circumstances that take Dana back in time are imaginative and fantastical compared to slave narratives such as Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. While reading Kindred, one doesn't really get the experience of the slaves, but how Dana feels as she
effect on James’ life. She does not accept any form of charity. An old woman offers Octavia and James some food, but Octavia declines the offer until James does some chores for the woman. James had to work instead of getting a free meal because his mother would not let him accept charity. Octavia tried to purchase some salt meat from the old woman but makes the woman cut the offered chunk of meat in half because Octavia thinks the portion of meat that the woman offers is an act of charity on the old
their relationship (or to destroy it, depending on your level of cynicism). Octavia should marry Anthony. By Act 2 Scene 5the news of Anthony's betrothal has reached Cleopatra in Egypt and though she rants and raves she doesn't actually do anything constructive about it. In Act 2 Scene 7 we are in Rome again and there is a party where the three triumvirates become drunk to varying degrees . In Act 3 Scene 2 Octavia and Anthony leave Rome together. The next scene is in Egypt, where again very
or she begins the long task of writing a fiction novel? This question can be answered if the author's life is studied and then compared to the work itself. Octavia E. Butler's life and her novel Kindred have remarkable comparisons. This essay will point out important events of Butler's life and how they link to the mentioned novel. Octavia Estelle Butler was born on June 22, 1947 in Pasadena, California (Voices From 1). She began her life with many hardships as an only child and having her father
fiction stories written by authors looking to change the world in some way or another. Authors begin with an idea, and then move towards placement of thought and scheme into somewhat of a reasonable reality. Authors such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Octavia Butler use the stories they write as ways to express their problems that they have with the present world. Advances in the present day world can only be reached through dreams and desires. These dreams and desires come to life as authors present their
Tom’s Cabin to Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, the exploration of the black position in America has been a theme that engrossed generations. In the past century, as science fiction has established its place in the literary genre, authors such as Octavia Butler have become increasingly popular. In her short story "Bloodchild", Butler extends the discussion of oppression in America into the science fiction genre. In this manner her story, "…like almost all science fiction, though it seems to concern
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
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
Bloodchild by Octavia Butler Bloodchild is one of the best science fiction stories in history. The novel was written by an American writer, Octavia Butler. This book was first published in 1984 and edited in 2005 where two stories; Amnesty and Book of Martha were added. Blood child has been a famous novel and it has won several awards such as Science Fiction Award in 1984 (Butler, 1984). The novel Bloodchild generally describes the unusual bond between a human being who has escaped from the earth
Octavia E. Butler Octavia Estelle Butler was born on June 22, 1947 in Pasadena California. When she was younger, she was known as Junie because her mother and she had the exact same name. Her father was a shoeshine man until he past away. Her mother had to raise her on her own. She was dyslexic, but that never stopped her from her from chasing her dreams. She loved reading books and she started to create her own stories. At the age of 10, she knew she wanted to be an author. “She went to Pasadena
Literary critic Thelma Shinn Richard has said that “colonialism has inscribed its history on every African-American body and mind.” This is certainly evident in the science fiction slave narrative Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. One of Butler’s primary reasons for writing Kindred, perhaps subconsciously, may have been to try to receive closure about any white slave-owning ancestors she possibly had in her family tree. Creating the story of Dana Franklin, a modern black woman traveling through time
In Octavia Butler’s novel Dawn, the world as we know it no longer exists. Lilith is a seemingly ordinary woman chosen from a desolate Earth as the best chance to help aliens merge and create a new species to repopulate the Earth. She is alone as she navigates the new and foreign world of the aliens in preparation to lead forth a new humanity that has been locked away in cryo-sleep. New levels of the book are reached when a lens of feminism are applied as Lilith is confronted with how her own identity
they always find a way to thrive. It seems that no matter what happens, no matter how bleak a situation becomes, there is always someone who is willing to fight back. This mentality has been all but lost in humanity in the short story “Amnesty” by Octavia Butler. Throughout the story we continually find out more information about the ways that humans as a whole have been changed by the arrival of an alien species known simply as Communities. Through the analysis of this short story I will delve into