Razor Sharp Freedom Anonymous 8th Grade

If a boy gives a girl a rose, what does this mean? A rose is a widely used symbol of affection or romance, and one as a present would usually signify certain feelings of love. Symbols like roses are used in literature since people first started putting words together. Because of this, symbols inevitably appear in the novel Kindred by Octavia Butler, a tale about a black woman going back in time to help her ancestors. Certain characteristics of the protagonist, like her independence, are incarcerated in the form of an object: the pocket knife Dana always carries with her during her journeys to the past. When momentarily placed in danger, the comforting presence of the knife acts as Dana’s tie to the present. During times of hard decision making, the knife symbolizes her power to make her own decisions even though she is technically a slave. Throughout the course of the novel, Butler uses Dana’s pocketknife as a symbol of Dana’s independence, her ties to the present, and her power to make decisions to show how symbols can take on new meanings depending on their context.

In the novel Kindred, the pocketknife is an important symbol of Dana’s independence. Throughout the text of the novel, Dana thinks about using the knife in...