Similarities between 1800s and 1976

One thing Butler does is that she makes 1976 as similar to the early 1800s as much as possible. She does this by having Dana have a white husband. Their marriage, being super progressive for 1976, is extremely strained by Kevin's white male patriarchal attitude as he asks Dana to type up his stories for him, a demeaning task, instead of letting her focus on her own work. Although this is not as intense as the institution of slavery, Kevin still feels entitled to have Dana do menial work for him because of her relation to him as a wife. Butler makes marriage seem like a slave-like institution that is exacerbated by Kevin's race.

Another thing that connects the two time periods is the reactions from both of Dana and Kevin's families. Dana's uncle was disappointed in Dana while Kevin's sister said she wouldn't allow Dana and Kevin to enter her house. These types of attitudes show how close-minded people were about interracial marriage in 1976 and how stigmatized love was between interracial couples. This stigma is similar to the type of things people thought during Rufus's time. This only brings the two time periods closer together as the progress that’s supposed to happen in 150 years from the early 1800s isn’t enough to completely dis-associate one era from another. This offers one explanation for how after a few months, Dana gets used to the antebellum south as there were similarities between the two lifestyles.

By showing the racism and patriarchy in both the 1800s and 1976, Butler was able to link the two eras by its similarities and show that there is still much more work to be done to further society from the antebellum era.