A Comparison of Butler's Life and RelativesWhat lies in the mind of an author when he begins the long task of writing a fiction novel? This question can be answered if you study the author's life and then compare it with the work itself. The life of Octavia E. Butler and her novel Kindred have notable comparisons. This essay will highlight important events in Butler's life and how they relate to the mentioned novel. Octavia Estelle Butler was born on June 22, 1947 in Pasadena, California (Voices From 1). She began her life with many difficulties as an only child and with the death of her father when she was very young (Voices from 1). She grew up in a place with a wide variety of racial backgrounds, yet Butler never felt like she was living in a world of segregation (Notable Black 144). She describes the situation best when she states, "I never…lived in a segregated neighborhood or went to a segregated school; the whole community was an economic ghetto" (Notable Black 144). Lack of money sometimes creates a humble atmosphere and this must have been the case with Pasadena throughout his childhood. Up to this point it seems that Butler had a very unhappy childhood, but the life she was living was shaping her to become the great author she is today. Trials can become positive experiences to grow and mature and this was certainly his case. As an only child, Butler spent most of her time surrounded by a crowd of adults, presumably acquaintances of her mother (Notable Black 144). Therefore, she grew up as a “very solitary individual” (Notable Black 144). She also had dyslexia, which made it very difficult for her to keep up with the rest of the children her age (Notable Black 144)....... middle of paper ......utler, Octavia And Brother. Boston: Beacon Press, 1979. Doerksen, Teri Ann. Peering into the Darkness: Race and Color in the Fantastic. Ed. Elisabetta Anna Leonardo. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997. Gates, Jr., Henry Louis, and Dorothy Allison. Reading Black, Reading Feminist: A Critical Anthology. Ed. Henry Louis Gates. New York: Meridian Book, 1990. Jackson, Jerome H. "Science Fiction Stories of Octavia E. Butler." The Crisis 101.3(1994): 4-5,10.Smith, Jessie Carney, Ed. Notable Black American Women. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. Stevenson, Rosemary. Black Women in America: A Historical Encyclopedia. Ed. Darlene Clark Hine, Elsa Barkley Brown, Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. Brooklyn, NY: Carlson Pub., 1993. “Voices from the Divide – Women Writers of Color.” July 31, 1998. October 14, 1998. http://english.cla.umn.edu/Ilkd/vfg/Authors/OctaviaButler.