I believe a major social issue that is evident through the entire book is discrimination . Discrimination is when there is unjust treatment on a certain group because of their race, religion ,and beliefs. In Kindred I believe discrimination is shown to be equally divided by two themes that I both believe that helps support the idea of discrimination being present. One major theme that people that have dominant power are superior over others is “The greater the power, the greater the chance that the power will be abused”. This theme affect numerous characters and their lives in the plot of the book. I believe power is a huge contributor to discrimination against certain groups and on the slaves.
The evidence that i chose to support the first theme that proves discrimination is shown in Kindred . On page 14 the text states “ I turned , startled , and found myself looking down the barrel of the longest rifle I have ever seen. I hear a metallic click and i froze,thinking I was going to be shot for saving the boy’s life . I was going to die “(14). This shows the abuse of power because Tom thinks that a black women should not be trying to save his son , and he shows his authority by pointing the gun at dana. This scene took place in the past , by a river ,and also in the middle of the day . The different types of devices that are included in this scene is foreshadowing how margaret will act towards dana , and also sensory image on how dana is feeling at that moment .
A piece of evidence that also support the idea of discrimination being present is in The Fire “I’d get into trouble if “daddy” heard me say anything at all.But the boy was obviously concerned,even frightened for me. His father seemed like someone who worked on inspiring fear “(30). This quote relate to the theme because Dana Can see the fear that Rufus has for his father,and she can make the connection that Tom is a powerful man,and he uses the power to inspire fear.This takes place at the cabin at the weylin plantation during the night .The different types of motifs that are used is family and slavery and power . A quotation from the fight on page 18 2 states “ You lyin’ nigger , you do what I tell you to do ….It was like a part of his arm- long and black with its lead -weighted butt . He dropped the coil of it free “ (182). Power in this quote is evident here because edwards feel he has to use the power of a whip to fear to enforce the slaves and be the authority figure. This took place in the past as well and in the cabin , at that time Dana is doing the wash . Similes are present to show that edwards always has the whips with him and uses it all the time . In the Storm Butler sets this chapter back in the past and uses empowerment and slavery in this chapter to show how rufus takes advantage of being able to enslave others included sam and being able to give them up without any hesitations.
