Diverse Position Science Fiction

Kindred by Octavia Butler is a really intriguing approach on science fiction. It's a refreshing tale, I don't think I have ever seen a plot quite like this. Traveling through time from the present to the past, the 1800's in a time where her people had much less freedom. It is a very dark story that follows how the main character, Dana, treats the people she meets while time traveling despite their obvious hatred and prejudice against the color of her skin. Despite all of the hatred and harm that comes her way, she treats the white folk as kindly as she can.

As sweet as that insinuation is another part of me kind of is heartbroken by that. Dana is from the late 1970's so perhaps at first it is just her natural instinct to be kind to those she finds despite their color. Later on in the novel though it feels more like a survival instinct. If she doesn't treat Rufus kindly enough she could be killed, and the fact that she is still kind and saves him on numerous occasions doesn't stop him from treating her poorly. Dana's back is against the wall, and when her husband gets involved with the time traveling it just adds a whole new layer of struggle. Her husband grows jealous of how she treats Rufus, one of the white folk. The main character is a strong woman, but at the same time she is completely helpless to the situation she is in.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Contemporary Urban Fantasy

When kids and young adults are young they are always warned "be careful what you wish for" when they make reckless wishes. Like wishing their parents were nicer, wishing they were popular, wanting to have a better life than what they have already endured. In several fables where these wishes are granted they are not entirely up to par, the reader learns the hefty price of such wishes and desires. The myth of this moral lesson has been given a face lift because of how heavily grounded it is in the real world. The main character is a normal man from England, getting married, and the main settings are very real and discoverable places. The only thing that is not as realistic necessarily is these gods and beings walking among the Earth, raising families, interacting with humanity. If there are truly gods on the Earth they haven't been discovered yet, but it also cannot entirely been proven that they are not here on this planet. It makes the situation much more appealing and i
Read more

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Everyone has had the question on their mind "what if the world ends tomorrow?". It's a big question to have on your mind, and if you're in no position of power like the main character in this story it probably doesn't brush your mind as much as other worries. Like your house getting bulldozed, not burning your breakfast this morning, getting to work on time, getting your favorite drink. I think this story in a way showcases human nature. We as human beings are so comfortable with little worries like such listed above, that for us to waste our time with such big questions would turn out to be counter intuitive. Even those that are called "doomsday preppers" don't entirely have a clue of how the world will end specifically. They are just banking on the possibility of it being nuclear fallout, or maybe destroyed in a way where this is hope of return. What if that's not the case? What if the Earth is utterly obliterated to the point not a trace is le
Read more

The Future as I Believe it

I've never really put into consideration what my future might be like, and what might become of the world beyond my own. If I had to make an educated guess, based off of the way my life is at this very moment I would say that the world will change but not end. I am aware that there are a lot of issues environmentally, like coral bleaching, deforestation, overpopulation, stress, fear. I do have faith in brilliant minds of children and professionals in the field to produce appropriate solutions to any problem that comes our way as a human race. I will say one thing I do not see being reversed or resolved is media, and issues revolving around it. There is a small video game out there called "We Become What We Behold" a 5 minute quick game that tells the story of how our media covers things, and what is happening because of it. It's tragic really, you get the public scared stiff, interviewing kids that have been shot or lost their friends in school shootings, then not eve
Read more