What Are The Similarities Between Kevin And Sheridan

The similarities in Rufus and Kevin’s actions reflect the never-ending cycle of oppression that continues on even as time goes by. Dana is constantly being oppressed due to her gender and is looked down on by Kevin and Rufus. Rufus and Kevin’s action reflect the idea that women were and are still inferior to men. In the antebellum south, Dana must deal with the segregation that comes with being an African American and a woman. Similarly in her present time, Dana is still being silenced due to her gender. The act of both men asking Dana to be a secretary, and only write down a man’s thoughts instead of her own represents the idea that men were thought to be smarter and women’s ideas should not be heard. Dana notices a similarity between Kevin
The act of Kevin, a white male, asking Dana to type only his words and thoughts is a representation of the oppression women were still facing in the 1970s. Kevin assumes Dana will want to type for him as she is a woman and enjoys writing her own stories. Dana still types for him the first time he asks perhaps doing a favor for her fiancé yet in the end she begins to refuse Kevin. Kevin begins to anger, another sign of the privilege he holds over Dana, and “The third time when I refused again, he was angry He said if I couldn’t do him a little favor when he asked, I could leave. So I went home” (109). Dana is kicked out of Kevin’s home for simply refusing to be subjected to a secretarial job, something she has never wanted. The act of being Kevin’s secretary would stop her from writing down her own stories, and instead she would only be writing a man’s thoughts. Dana was literally and figuratively being silenced. By only being able to write Kevin's thoughts she is figuratively not being able to express her own words. And after refusing to still be Kevin’s secretary he kicks her out, further silencing her own dreams. Although it is her present time, Butler draws the parallels between the two time periods. Despite the fact that time has passed and life for Dana should theoretically be better, a man is still oppressing her. However this scene does
The details in the book surrounding Dana being asked to do secretarial work support the claim that Dana is still being oppressed and silenced even in her modern day time. An idea that everything gets better as time goes on is refuted in this book. Dana is being guided into doing a job she hates. She will be writing down someone else’s thoughts and words as opposed to writing her own. Meanwhile in the 1800s Dana is being subjected to the job she hates, as she would be worse off if she refused the secretary job. Although Dana’s life seems easier in the present daytime, Butler uses the offer of writing for a man as a way to conclude that the cycle of oppression will never end. In the present daytime it is illegal for Dana to be outright discriminated against due to the color of her skin, yet she is still being censored. The cycle of oppression will continues to subject minorities to be burdened with the thought that their thoughts and opinions are not as important as someone else’s. This is represented by the fact that although the country has come along way from slavery, there are still people being silenced by the ‘superior’ people. Octavia Butler weaves a story of time travel that has an underlying current. Butler uses her story to fight against the obvious signs of