In Kindred by Octavia Butler, the main character Dana is thrust from her South Carolina 1976 world into the 19th century plantation owned by Thomas Weylin. She is sent there to protect Rufus Weylin and Alice Greenwood from dying to ensure her own survival because they are her ancestors. However, though she is sent back many times, she still tries to maintain the qualities and boundaries of her 1976 version in the 19th century environment she is forced to live in. Throughout the novel, we see that these qualities and boundaries are repeatedly beaten and broken down, until in the end, Dana does truly seem like a part of the Weylin plantation.
When she time travels for the first few times, she challenges a lot of the white authority she encounters. When Rufus calls her the N word, she lectures him not to use that word and tells him he should, “do me [her, Dana] the courtesy of calling me what I want to be called” (Butler 25). Though these acts of defiance preserve her dignity, they also lead to her getting punished severely. When she finds refuge in Alice’s house and a white man approaches her, demanding who she is, she believes that talking back with command will make him back off and respect her. However, on the contrary, the man gets mad and becomes physically violent here. It is interesting that though her 1976 boundaries are what got her into this situation, it is also the thing that gets her out of it. Instead of taking the man’s physical attacks, she forces herself to hit him, which ultimately saves herself.
However, her 1976 boundaries start to break down the next time she goes back with Kevin. Here, they are forced to play master and slave, fitting themselves into roles that they swear to only be pretending to play. Dana starts calling people yes ma’am and yes sir, becomes a lot more submissive and works with slaves. Though she doesn’t register it, Dana starts to move in with the time, caring about the rest of the slaves as genuine people she wants to help. It is during this trip I think that she starts to become a part of the time period.
This is seen in her final few trips, where she really starts to fit in. She had remarked that the plantation almost felt more like home than her actual 1976 one did. When caring for Margaret and Rufus Weylin, she plays the “mammy” role. She starts getting hated, liked, respected, showing that other characters view her as a part of their time.
Though many times she tells herself she will be going back to 1976, that she doesn’t belong on the plantation, it becomes clear that Dana ultimately gets slotted into the 19th century time period whether she realizes it or likes it.
Hi Renee, interesting blog on Dana's gradual transition to the past! I think a detail you could consider adding is the confusion and discomfort Dana experiences when she realizes her change. I think she's even surprised by how much the excruciating physical threat and emotional abuse screwed up her psyche. She never willingly fitted into the past, but the safest choice was to comply with the atrocities of slavery.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee, I think that Dana's absorption into 1800s society gets at nature vs nurture. Especially with how Dana attempts to influence Rufus but failing to while Dana almost becomes indistinguishable from other slaves. I think the moment Dana starts receiving actual punishments is when she starts losing distance from the slave period that she had before.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee, I definitely think it's true that Dana's way of thinking and reacting to the people of the 19th century evolves throughout Kindred. She has to adjust her understanding of her place in society, whether she likes it or not. I think it's not really her choice, as if she tried to keep her 1976 standards, she would be severely punished and maybe even killed. I think it's certainly interesting to see where her character chooses to preserve others / herself or not. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHey Renee! Great post. It does seem like every time Dana gets sucked into the past she becomes more and more a part of it, specifically the plantain where other characters come to rely on it. I think the moment you picked as the breaking point is a really good one, she did start to seem completely integrated and adjusted to life around that point. I think her final return home, where she loses part of her arm, really demonstrates how some of her has become permanently part of the 1800s, or at the very least, not with 1976.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee!! I really enjoyed reading your post. I find it interesting that at the start of the book, Dana spoke up more, and then throughout the novel, when she started to fit into the area more, she started to act more reserved and like a slave. Even if she doesn't want to, she needs to do this to survive. I really liked how you pointed out that she started to act more like a slave when she came back with Kevin, because I think that you are spot on in your statement. Good job!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's really interesting how Dana has a hard time understanding that people in the 19th century would be by no means amicable to her. When she tries talking back to the white man in Alice's house, does she not expect that showing confidence as a black woman on a slave plantation will warrant slaveowners or drivers to just use violence to shut her up? And coupled with her hesitancy to defend herself, it really doesn't seem like Dana initially thinks about American slavery correctly.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee! I think Dana's transition really shows the power that the system had on people, and that while she was free she still wasn't safe from that influence. Even after she escapes and kills her connection to the past, she's still left with a permanent reminder through the loss of her arm. Great post!
ReplyDeleteIt's important to be clear that Dana and Kevin in 1976 live in *Southern California* (Los Angeles), not South Carolina. California doesn't even exist in 1818, and I think it's a deliberate choice on Butler's part to have the contemporary setting be a state that was not involved in the Civil War. It's important that Dana has to travel geographically as well as chronologically in order to encounter her ancestors.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee! This was an interesting blog post. I think you did a great job when you pointed out it was Dana's 1976 boundaries are what got her into this situation yet(ironically) it's also the thing that gets her out of it. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHello Renee, I do wonder how much she realizes she is doing this. How much she changes her boundaries. I do think she does realize at curtain points, but day to day, she starts to not care. Her relationship with Rufus is particularly interesting this way. First she asks not to call her slurs, but then at the end, the only 'rule' is not to rape her. Does she realize when these rules are being changed? I do think to some degree as when Rufus hit Dana she mentions how he crossed a line, but I don't think all of the violations are as clear as that.
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