For the Love of Family: Conflicts and Bonds in 'Kindred' Megan Wenzel College

Relationships between brothers and sisters can be complicated; relationships between parents and children can be even more so. Family often varies in definition from one person to the next. For the majority of the population, the idea of a “nuclear family” doesn’t exist. In the novel Kindred, Octavia Butler uses both science fiction and slave narrative to explore the variances in familial bonds. Every situation is different, but a few aspects of familial relationships are practically guaranteed. Although we relentlessly seek the love that comes from our kindred, humanity is continuously hurt by familial bondage.

At the beginning of Dana and Kevin’s relationship, they didn’t talk to each other extensively about their families. Dana’s parents were dead and later she would find out that Kevin’s parents were both dead, too. Years ago, his parents died in an automobile accident (Butler 56). Further along in their time together, Kevin asks Dana to marry him. This very traditional topic brings up both Dana and Kevin’s very untraditional families. Dana expresses her concern to Kevin about his only close living relative, a sister. Interracial marriages were not yet socially acceptable in the late 1970’s, and Dana is reasonably worried...