Have you ever done something in the past that you regret doing because it affected you later on? In the book Kindred, Octavia Butler tells a story about a woman who unexpectedly time travels to the early 1800's because of the actions she should've done. Octavia Butler's main message in the story is that actions we take, can lead to unexpected events!
An event in the book which was unexpected was when Dana tried killing Rufus, but found out her arm was missing when she got back home. "From the elbow to the ends of the fingers, my left arm had become a part of the wall." (Page 261) Dana's left arm disappeared because she made a mistake trying to kill Rufus. Rufus was attached to Dana's arm while she was time traveling and nothing can come with her from the past to the present.
Another unexpected event in the story was when Dana kept time traveling to the 1800's because of Rufus getting in trouble all the time so Dana prevented him from dying. "But it would be so hard to raise the knife, drive it into the flesh I had saved so many times." (Page 260) Dana regrets saving Rufus every time because if she just let him die, Dana would've never gone back to the 1800's.
An action in the story that was regretful was when Kevin, Dana's husband, traveled up North when he got left behind because he wasn't with Dana while she was time traveling. "Five years is longer than it sounds. So much longer." (Page 193) Kevin was stuck in the 1800's for five years! If he just stayed put where Rufus lived, than he would've got home sooner.
In the book Kindred, the author's main message is that actions we take could lead to regretful events. From this, people should think about their actions before they do them because it might not turn out how they want it to go. Your actions today will affect your tomorrow.
