In the novel Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, Butler tells the story of an African-American woman named Dana who travels from 1976 California to 1800 Maryland. Dana goes back in time to save Rufus, her ancestor, whenever he faces life-threatening situations. During her trip to Maryland she gets a life experience of what it meant to be a slave in the past. In the novel we learn about two slaves, Sarah and Alice, who live on the Weylin plantation. Sarah, an older slave, is the plantation cook who seems to be adjusting to life as a slave. Alice, owned by Rufus, struggles to make their relationship work. Through the characters of Dana, Alice, and Sarah the reader is able to understand the emotional resilience of the psychological cost of slavery. A major psychological cost of slavery is the fear of slave owners, abuse, and losing everything. Many slaves lived in fear their entire lives, and some of them learned to accept fear. Sarah lives in constant fear throughout the story. The only person she has left is Carrie, her daughter who cannot speak. Sarah's husband died and three of her children were sold. Here we can see that Sarah accepted the life of slavery out of fear: “She had done the right thing, she had accepted a life of slavery because she was afraid.”(145) Many slaves in that time seemed to force themselves to accept their life. . They accepted and behaved with respect for their family and their own safety, even if the slaves were never always safe and still risked being separated from their family. Furthermore, the abuse that slaves suffer traumatizes them and therefore they fear being mistreated. Many of the slaves back then feared the slave owners because they were capable of anything…half of paper…mistress.”(260) Although Dana made him understand from the beginning, Rufus now knows what he wants. It seems that wants to have control over Dana just like he controls the other slaves. Dana doesn't want to take chances with him, so he does the unexpected and stabs Rufus. It's clear how much anger and pain can build up in a slave causing slaves to harm themselves or someone around them. Through the characters in Kindred the reader is able to determine the emotional cost of slavery the novel provides us with examples of what one's life was like slave. Many slaves would end their lives while others seemed to maintain their strength to keep their family safe. Whether or not the slaves were able to adapt to their life as slaves, one thing they all had in common was struggles that they faced on a daily basis.