Kindred, Typical America

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Although completely different stories, Octavia Butler’s Kindred and Gish Jen’s Typical American focus on how an outsider makes themselves familiar with the unknowns. Butler’s Kindred takes a science fiction approach by making the protagonist, Dana, a time traveler. Dana has dizzy spells that cause her to faint and when she awakes, she is sent to the past where she is matched with a young boy named Rufus whom she must rescue from external circumstances to ensure her existence. Kindred comes into contrast with Jen’s Typical American, where the protagonist Ralph emigrates from China to achieve the American dream without becoming a “typical American.” Without an understanding for the culture and the lacking of an American name, Ralph knew that he was Chinese. Although he did not want to be a “typical American,” Ralph’s first steps towards Americanization was when the Secretary of Foreign Student Affairs gave him the name “Ralph,” “’Ralph,’ she said finally. She wrote it down. R-A-L-P-H. ‘Do you like it?’ ‘Sure!’ He beamed!” (Jen 11). Americanization is defined as the process an immigrant goes though when they begin to adapt American cultures and values to their lives. This is important to Ralph’s story because although the initial plan for him was to study Electrical Engineering and return to China, his time in America shifts not only his ideals but also his plans for the future. The focus of this paper will be on how Dana in “Kindred” survives the past by using her knowledge of the future and how Ralph adapts to his future while attempting not forget his past. Dana and Ralph share similar experiences on how their future is affected by their past. Throughout this paper, their individual strengths and weaknesses will be described along with how it each benefited or hindered their survival in the unknown. As an audience, Dana Franklin from Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred

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