Kindred

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Summary Key Facts

Full title Kindred

Author Octavia E. Butler

Type of work Novel

Genre Bildungsroman, historical fiction, science fiction, dystopia

Language English

Time and place written Maryland, 1979

Date of first publication 1979

Publisher Doubleday

Narrator Dana

Point of view First person

Tone Spare, straightforward, sober

Tense Past

Setting (time) 1976 and early nineteeth century

Setting (place) California and Maryland

Protagonist Dana

Major conflict Dana struggles to survive in antebellum Maryland.

Rising action Dana is taxed with saving Rufus’s life.

Climax Rufus attempts to rape Dana.

Falling action Dana kills Rufus.

Themes The corrupting influence of power; the bondage of familial love

Motifs Violence, home, race

Symbols Whips, birthdays, maps

Foreshadowing Sarah’s warning foreshadows Rufus’s failure to mail the letter; Dana’s fear of Rufus’s jealousy foreshadows Sam’s sale