A Reflection of the Past: The Links Between Dana and Alice Madison Williams College

As one may look into a mirror, the reflections that they see may vary. For Dana Franklin in Octavia Butler’s Kindred (1979), she sees her long lost ancestor Alice Greenwood. The story tells the tale of Dana, a young black woman in the 70’s, and her husband Kevin, a young white author, as they travel to and from the antebellum South of the 1800’s. The book begins with Dana and Kevin unpacking into a new home on Dana’s 26th birthday, until Dana passes out and awakes to find herself near the Weylin plantation. It becomes clear to Dana and Kevin that the goal to her time travelling is to keep Rufus Weylin, who Dana discovers to be her ancestor, safe in order to carry on their line. Dana travels approximately six times to the Weylin plantation in the past, each time getting more and more trying and dangerous for Dana. Soon after meeting Rufus, Dana meets Alice and discovers her to be the other half of her ancestry. Knowing these pieces of information, Dana goes to the extremes to keep Rufus and Alice alive each time she travels to the past. Due to her role as ancestor to Dana, Alice becomes an extremely important character in Kindred because she represents a version of who Dana would be if she were born in the past, a reflection of...