Butler's Genius in Kindred

 Aakash Vasireddy | April 18th, 2022 | History as Fiction | Blog Post #4

Examining Butler's choices in developing Kindred's science fictional storyline

In comparison to Ragtime and Mumbo Jumbo, I definitely found the storyline and the development of Butler's Kindred more engaging and entertaining. On the surface, there are some basic attributes that differ such as the writing style, which uses more dialogue and imagery than the previous novels, and the method in which these fictional characters are incorporated. However, I wanted to take some time to simply appreciate the writing choices that Butler has made to make this science fictional storyline so captivating for readers like myself and such an interesting point of discussion.

First off, I'd like to start with how Butler builds the foundation of Kindred. Like many of my fellow readers, I have encountered many science fiction novels or popular culture sources that contain the classic science fiction trope of time travel. Back to the Future, The Flash, and even Avengers: Endgame all contain some form of time travel. However, what I appreciated in Kindred in comparison to these popular culture movies is the manner in which that time travel is set up. 

At the beginning of the book where this first time travel occurs, Dana is transported to the river to save a young Rufus from dying. However, in this moment, the fact Dana has traveled to a time period over a century ago isn't glaringly obvious, neither for her or for the readers. For all we know, Dana has just been teleported somewhere across the country to help a young stranger from drowning. When Dana returns home, the moment seems really strange of course because Kevin has just seen Dana disappear for a few seconds and come back saying she was somewhere else entirely, but the concept of time travel hasn't hit them yet. It's only truly revealed when Rufus is a bit older that Dana has actually gone back to a time period where her ancestors were born. 

What I would like to takeaway from these observations is the spontaneity in which the time travel occurs.  In other narratives and stories, the main characters typically spend long periods of time constructing the proper equipment, working out the time travel calculations, and completing some other complex science fictional tasks in order to make the time travel occur. For example, in the Avengers movie, Tony Stark and company help build suits and the machine to time travel using the particles. This element pretty much disappears in Kindred for our main character Dana because she has no prior warning (besides her rapidly increasing dizziness) over when the time travel occurs. In a two paragraph stretch, Butler can go from simply having Dana eating dinner or talking to Kevin to suddenly waking up in front of the Weylin plantation. 

Furthermore, as readers, we constantly talk about the concept of a "time paradox" in which a set of events that has been altered in the past significantly affects the present, a phenomenon typically referred to as the "Butterfly Effect." However, by giving up Dana's sense of control over when these events occur, the time travel element arrives at a point of acceptance for the main characters and the readers. Granted, Dana and Kevin do spend time trying to figure out what triggers her travel and return back home, and as curious consumers of what's happening in the story, we're going to ask questions regarding these events. However, because Dana cannot make that decision and can only choose how to respond/prepare herself for when this time travel happens, there's not much time to really stop and question why/how this is happening unless it's through the thoughts of Dana and the other relationships she engages in (like Kevin). Additionally, the time spent back in the comfort of her apartment is limited and very much corrupted due to the fear of being transported at any given time, so there's not much time for Dana to process what's happened to her in her most recent visit. In this respect, instead of asking, "How would this decision affect the present?", we are saying, "Oh, this is super interesting." It's also worth noting that Butler doesn't spend too much time asking, "What if?" either. 

I appreciate this choice because the decision to give our main character little control over if this time travel occurs (which means less control for us because we process the story through the main character), we are truly roped into the most important element of the science fictional/historical fictional blend which is highlighting the horrors of slavery from the perspective of a late 20th century black woman.