A Threat to a Slave-Owner

4/20/2012

 A Threat to a Slave-Owner

In English class we have been reading the book, Kindred, by Octavia Butler, which was published in 1979.  The story is about a black woman, Dana, who is married to a white man, Kevin, in the modern day.  Somehow Dana keeps traveling back and forth through a time when slavery on blacks existed.  Dana become friends with a slave-owner’s son, Rufus, and becomes a threat to the slave-owner, Tom Weylin.   Tom believes that Dana is trouble for many reasons.  Dana told Tom that she is from New York, which is a free state.  He was unhappy to hear this because that meant she was an independent woman.  The way Dana speaks is a problem for him because he sees she is very educated.  When Tom discovered that Dana could read and write he began to fear that she would teach his slaves and one day they would learn to free themselves.  Tom also has a problem with Dana because his son Rufus has taken a liking to her.  Tom is afraid that this will affect his son in the future when he himself owns the slaves.  He believes that Rufus will feel some kind of compassion for blacks because he is friends with a black woman.