Kindred: Prologue

Summary:
The prologue opens up, shrouded in mystery. Dana Franklin, a young black woman, has woken up in the hospital without an arm and a year of her life gone without giving us (the reader) a reason. The police ask her questions as to how she lost it and Dana explains that it was an accident and not her husband, Kevin.
Dana drifts off into sleep yet again only to be woken up by her husband. Dana explains that the doctors had to amputate her arm above the elbow and asks if Kevin has gotten in trouble. Kevin thankfully says that he has not.
When she asks what he told the police Kevin responds with "The truth." Dana turns hysterical stating that she will be locked up in a mental hospital if they knew the truth.
Analysis:
Already, the reader can see something bad and unexplained has happened to Dana and that both Kevin and Dana have no idea what went on. The enigma of her missing arm sets the scene for the next chapter. This is most likely going to start to explain the story of how she lost her arm.
Reaction:
Butler sets the scene wanting her readers to be immediately taken in with the sentence: "I lost an arm on my last trip home." Butler tries to shock and excite the reader and reel them in to the novel with the first line. Admittedly, she does a great job. However, my only criticism is of the archetype of waking up in a hospital after something has gone wrong and then going back in time and then having a flashback. I feel like this happens a lot in literature. For example in Catcher in The Rye, Holden Caulfield wakes up in a mental hospital after having a mental breakdown. Other than that, I found it quite fascinating.