Here are the discussion questions for Kindred. Please feel free to post you comments about the book here.
1. Both Kevin and Dana know that they can't change history. They say: "We're in the middle of history. We surely can't change it" (p100); and "It's over....There's nothing you can do to change any of it now" (p264). What, then, is the purpose of Dana's travels back to the antebellum South? Why must you, the reader, experience this journey with Dana?
2. How would the story have been different with a third-person narrator?
3. Many of the characters in Kindred resist classification. In what ways does Dana explode the slave stereotypes of the "house-nigger, the handkerchief-head, the female Uncle Tom" (p145)? In what ways does she transcend them?
4. Despite Dana's determination to refuse the "mammy" role in the Weylin household, she finds herself caught by it: "I felt like Sarah, cautioning" (p156). Others see her as the mammy as well: "'You sound just like Sarah'" (p159). How, if at all, does Dana reconcile her conscious efforts with her behavior? How would you reconcile them?
5. "I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery." Dana says this to Kevin when they have returned to the present and are discussing their experiences in the antebellum South. Do we also in the twenty-first century still have conditioned responses to slavery?
6. How do you think Butler confronts us with issues of difference in Kindred? How does she challenge us to consider boundaries of black/white, master/slave. husband/wife, past/present? What other differences does she convolute? Do you think such dichotomies are flexible? Artificial? Useful?
7. Compare Tom Weylin and Rufus Weylin. Is Rufus an improvement over his father? How, if at all, is Dana's influence evident on the adult Rufus?
8. Of the slaves' attitude toward Rufus, Dana observes, "Strangely, they seemed to like him, hold him in contempt, and fear him all at the same time" (p229). How can they feel these contradictory emotions? How would you feel toward Rufus if you were in their situation?
9. Compare Dana's "professional" life in the present (i.e., her temporary work) with her life as a slave.
10. When Dana and Kevin return from the past together, she thinks: "I felt as though I were losing my place here in my own time. Rufus's time was a sharper, stronger reality" (p191). Why would the twentieth century seem less vivid to Dana than the nineteenth century?
11. Dana loses her left arm as she emerges-for the last time in the novel-from the past. Why is this significant?
12. Kevin is stranded in the past for five years, while Dana is there for less than one year. Why did Butler feel Kevin needed to stay in the past so much longer than Dana? How have their experiences affected their relationship to each other and to the world around them?
13. A common trend in the time travels of science fiction assumes that one should not tamper with the past, lest you disrupt the present. Butler obviously ignores this theory and her characters continue to invade each other's lives. How does this influence the movement of the narrative? How does it convolute the idea of cause and effect?
14. Dana finds herself caught in the middle of the relationship between Rufus and Alice. Why does Rufus use Dana to get Alice? Does Alice also use Dana?
15. The needs and well-being of other residents of the plantation create a web of obligation that is difficult to navigate. Choose a specific incident and determine who holds power over whom; assess how it affects that situation.
16. Dana states: "It was that destructive single-minded love of his. He loved me. Not the way he loved Alice, thank God. He didn't seem to want to sleep with me. But he wanted me around-someone to talk to, someone who would listen to him and care about what he said..." (p180). How does the relationship between Dana and Rufus develop? How does it change? What are the different levels of love portrayed in Kindred?
17. Discuss the ways in which the title encapsulates the relationships within the novel. Is it ironic? Literal? Metaphorical? What emphasis do we place on our own kinship? How does it compare with that of the novel?
18. Do you believe that Dana and Kevin's story actually happened, or did they simply get caught up in the nostalgia of examining old papers and books? How would their situation's significance have changed in Dana's and Kevin's lives if it had been imaginary? If it were merely nostalgia or an imagined situation, how would that change your perception of the antebellum South and the treatment of slaves? Would that make the events less significant?
19. Butler opens the novel with the conclusion of Dana's time travels. The final pages of the book, however, make up an epilogue that once again demonstrates a linearly progressive movement of time. How does the epilogue serve to disrupt the rhythm of the narrative?
20. After returning from his years in the nineteenth century, Kevin had attained "a slight accent" (p190). Is this alteration symbolic of greater changes to come? How do you imagine Kevin and Dana's relationship will progress following their reentry into life in 1976?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
A Piece of Cake
Here are the questions for the group discussion. Please feel free to post your comments here as well.
1. How do you think Cupcake and Larry’s trail through the foster care system would have been
different if they had been close? Do you think it would have helped either of them later in
life?
2. On page ten Cupcake says, “That was one thing about me. I didn’t have many people in my
life, but those I had I loved fiercely.” Do you think this changed as she moved through the
foster care system, and then onto drugs, drinking, etcetera? Why or why not?
3. Discuss the adult figures Cupcake had in her life while she was growing up—Daddy, Jr, Mr.
Burns, Diane Dobson. With these role models, could she have found a better way out of her
situation then turning to drugs and alcohol?
4. Why do you think Cupcake was so easily swayed by the thinking that “Nothing comes for
free”? How did she make the leap from applying this thought to material items and food to
less concrete realities like love and acceptance?
5. Do you think Cupcake would have changed her ways earlier if she had been able to complete
her first pregnancy? Or like Kelly, would the partying, drinking and drugs have won out
over a child? Do you think having someone to look after the baby for her would have
influenced her either way?
6. Why do you think Cupcake had several abortions after her first lost pregnancy? Was it simply
a matter of wanting to live a fast life, or do you think she was afraid to let herself love and
be responsible for another person?
7. Cupcake finally admits to not liking herself and begins the long road to developing self
acceptance, self worth, and self love. Have you ever struggled with your self image or self
worth? If so, did Cupcake’s story help you in any way?
8. On page 308, the cop “Preacher’ says to Cupcake, “Now don’t get me wrong. Nobody belongs
out here. But some people…well, they need to be here. They don’t want anything better for
themselves. They’re too far gone. They don’t want to come back.” What do you think
“Preacher” saw about Cupcake that convinced him she wasn’t one of the people who “don’t
want to come back”? Do you think Cupcake began to listen to him at this point?
9. On page 326, Cupcake says, “I’d quit talking to daddy and Jr because all we did was argue:
they fuss about how I was fucking up my life, and I wanted to know if they had any money
I could borrow. In my mind, unless they had money to give, we had nothing to talk about.”
Discuss the similarities between Cupcake’s attitude here and Mr. Burn’s attitude towards the
insurance money. Do you think Cupcake realized the similarities? Do you think she would
have changed her ways if she did?
10. Compare and contrast the roles that Fly and Larry played in Cupcake’s life. Why do you
think she allowed Fly to be more of a brother to her than Larry? Did it have to do with
their gang participation?
11. On page 411, Venita asked Cupcake if she ever grieved for her mother. Do you think
Cupcake could have avoided her addictions and problems if someone would have taken
the time to ask this and help her through the stages of grief?
12. Discuss the inspirational qualities of a story like Cupcake’s. Has her story influenced you to
make any changes in your own life?
1. How do you think Cupcake and Larry’s trail through the foster care system would have been
different if they had been close? Do you think it would have helped either of them later in
life?
2. On page ten Cupcake says, “That was one thing about me. I didn’t have many people in my
life, but those I had I loved fiercely.” Do you think this changed as she moved through the
foster care system, and then onto drugs, drinking, etcetera? Why or why not?
3. Discuss the adult figures Cupcake had in her life while she was growing up—Daddy, Jr, Mr.
Burns, Diane Dobson. With these role models, could she have found a better way out of her
situation then turning to drugs and alcohol?
4. Why do you think Cupcake was so easily swayed by the thinking that “Nothing comes for
free”? How did she make the leap from applying this thought to material items and food to
less concrete realities like love and acceptance?
5. Do you think Cupcake would have changed her ways earlier if she had been able to complete
her first pregnancy? Or like Kelly, would the partying, drinking and drugs have won out
over a child? Do you think having someone to look after the baby for her would have
influenced her either way?
6. Why do you think Cupcake had several abortions after her first lost pregnancy? Was it simply
a matter of wanting to live a fast life, or do you think she was afraid to let herself love and
be responsible for another person?
7. Cupcake finally admits to not liking herself and begins the long road to developing self
acceptance, self worth, and self love. Have you ever struggled with your self image or self
worth? If so, did Cupcake’s story help you in any way?
8. On page 308, the cop “Preacher’ says to Cupcake, “Now don’t get me wrong. Nobody belongs
out here. But some people…well, they need to be here. They don’t want anything better for
themselves. They’re too far gone. They don’t want to come back.” What do you think
“Preacher” saw about Cupcake that convinced him she wasn’t one of the people who “don’t
want to come back”? Do you think Cupcake began to listen to him at this point?
9. On page 326, Cupcake says, “I’d quit talking to daddy and Jr because all we did was argue:
they fuss about how I was fucking up my life, and I wanted to know if they had any money
I could borrow. In my mind, unless they had money to give, we had nothing to talk about.”
Discuss the similarities between Cupcake’s attitude here and Mr. Burn’s attitude towards the
insurance money. Do you think Cupcake realized the similarities? Do you think she would
have changed her ways if she did?
10. Compare and contrast the roles that Fly and Larry played in Cupcake’s life. Why do you
think she allowed Fly to be more of a brother to her than Larry? Did it have to do with
their gang participation?
11. On page 411, Venita asked Cupcake if she ever grieved for her mother. Do you think
Cupcake could have avoided her addictions and problems if someone would have taken
the time to ask this and help her through the stages of grief?
12. Discuss the inspirational qualities of a story like Cupcake’s. Has her story influenced you to
make any changes in your own life?
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