Time Gets the Better of People (Or Not)

*I'm going out on a limb with this. I hope you like it.

Time travel is a major theme in both Kindred and The Butterfly Effect. However, the effects of time travel are vastly different in each of the stories, as they each display a different theory of time travel. In Kindred, the supernatural force takes on a predestined aspect, forming a “loop” in time. No matter how Dana reacts to a situation, it has an unalterable effect on the future. Since she acts to save Rufus from drowning, getting beaten, etc, she inevitably ensures her survival. These acts guarantee her birth so that she can travel back in time to perform them again. Thus, an unending, circular pattern emerges, a loop that is impossible to break. Ultimately, the time travel controls Dana, forcing her to adhere to the ante-bellum South with no hope of changing it.
The theory presented in The Butterfly Effect is vastly different and far more complicated. Unlike Dana, Evan has the power to manipulate time and thereby reality. With each trip to the past, he changes one detail, which causes a landslide of events divergent from the original timeline. This completely distorts reality for both Evan and the audience, as each journey adds another reality to the larger reality of his time travels. The result is a large collection of multiple realities, including the original in which Kayleigh commits suicide. However, one question remains: do the original timelines continue, even after Evan makes a change? Evan’s blackouts provide some insight on the matter. Each time he blackouts, his future self returns to make a drastic change. Yet, at the end of young Evan’s blackout, history continues as though uninterrupted. But since Evan never returns to any of the other realities he creates, no one can ever know for sure.
Despite the differences in each theory, one thing holds true in both accounts. No one has complete control over reality. Dana hopes to influence Rufus’s moral development by her good example, even though the time loop never creates the illusion that she has this power. Evan’s ability to change reality creates the false sense that he has dominion over reality, yet his efforts lead to severe brain damage and ultimately death. Thus, these two stories teach that reality is a force beyond human comprehension.