Click if you liked Kindred, or if you didn't. Also if you're in between
This is the only post on this book we are making so I'm gonna talk now about a couple different reasons why I liked this book.
Dana was such a human character with human relationships and dropping her in the antebellum south provided so many opportunities to drive home how powerless she felt as an African-American woman. The intimate whipping scenes were disturbing, and give a slightly different perspective than reading it from a history book - the author uses fictional characters to show us a more nuanced sense of fear through Dana's eyes¹. Some other moments that come to mind are when Dana is forced to convince Alice to have sex with Rufus, communicating the intense feeling of powerlessness and dread slaves felt since there was absolutely no solution to the situation, only three different "poisons" to pick, and when Dana returns to an aging Tom Weylin with arrogance at first, before silencing herself and realizing that Tom didn't need physical strength himself to restrain Dana, as "He could get help from his neighbors, from the patrollers, probably even from whatever police officials the area had. He could do anything he wanted to to me, and I had no enforceable rights. None at all" (201).
The relationship between Rufus and Dana was also intricate and interesting to watch. One of the biggest things on my mind as it unfolded was that Zhaohan would hate this book. Or at least Dana's feelings about Rufus. He would hate how illogical Dana's decisions were regarding Rufus, trusting him and desperately wanting to see him as human despite his horrid actions throughout basically his entire adulthood. I feel like we've had this exact discussion over different movies or books, and as always I would defend the Dana in this situation, the character who through their mistakes shows their humanity and deepest values, making the relationship a lot less robotic and more relatable². He would find nothing apealling about mistakes, which is the point where our arguments would usually end. But, I still love imperfect characters. A character that doesn't make mistakes isn't strong, they're just boring. You need to have weaknesses and then overcome them to show me that you're strong, which Dana did by overcoming her feelings in the most direct way, by killing Rufus, admitting he wasn't redeemable and finding it in herself to do something about it.
I enjoyed reading Kindred and thought it was a great example of how fiction can be history. Thanks for reading³.
¹ HAF MOMENT!!
² Obviously there's nothing relatable about Rufus' feelings as a slave owner and rapist. I mean things like Dana's desire for him to be changeable; a decent human being by her standards, and Rufus' desire to not be a decent human being while still keeping her on his side.
I do think it would be very hard to resist the urge to humanize Rufus, or really anyone you spend a lot of time in proximity with and treats you semi-decently sometimes. (I mean, that's why Stockholm Syndrome exists) I definitely sympathize with Dana, but I don't necessarily agree that it makes her more likable. It does leave a rather sour taste in my mouth how ready she seems to overlook not just his mistreatment of her, but his mistreatment of Alice.
ReplyDeleteI think if Dana did not feel a sense of duty to change the horrific nature of 1800s slavery and her familial connection to Rufus, she would feel far more disgusted by Rufus' actions. But, she would be more willing to act upon them and show Rufus how unacceptable he is behaving. However, I think she is so obsessed with making a positive impact that she is willing to almost overlook these things if it means adding to her goal of turning him good (she needs to win him over and be kind to him to do this).
DeleteIn response to Zhaohan's argument, I say that humans are naturally flawed characters. This in particular is why I like Dana – she has imperfections, which make her human and more real. I also like that Dana comes from the 20th century rather than the 19th. This way, we can see how slavery shapes and changes her just to survive. It shows how traumatizing slavery is, and the effects that it still has on people.
ReplyDeleteI think I agree with your view of Dana, though at times she was incredibly frustrating. However, I think that's absolutely part of the point of the book, that she did make bad and wrong decisions not only because there were no good decisions for black people back then, but also because she was a human being who was similar in mindset to us, the readers. I think that while we as readers can analyze this book from a wide lens and try to pinpoint what she did wrong or right, she acted more level-headed and resilient than probably many people would have, and part of the point of the setting is to show how the stress and fear during slavery just cognitively wears people down.
ReplyDeleteI liked this book for the most part. It was a much more straightforward narrative and yet, to me, it had all the nuance that we saw in the other readings for this course. This book brings you back in time to a nonexistent point in time. I think it does a phenomenal job humanizing an experience we have been desensitized to through our teachings and putting everything into a new light.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your take. The book seems simultaneously realistic and unrealistic in places, which could attract some hate. To give an example, the time travel mechanic feels a little frustrating. Dana seems to fade in and out of the past for seemingly random intervals. However, I believe that it pushes the story along and really helps us see the impact of slavery on the present. Nothing can be perfect in Kindred, which makes this book really compelling and interesting to think about.
ReplyDeleteIn some respects, I'd say that it's Dana's "flaw" as a character--her repeated willingness to make excuses for Rufus--is also an aspect of her most appealing and seemingly innate character trait, her impulse to HELP a person in need whenever she can, regardless of who they are. We see this in "The River" when she has no idea what's happening or where (or when) she is, but she sees a child in danger and she runs to save his life. This same pattern emerges throughout the book, with every visit to the past, and we doubt whether she'd even be able to go through with her threat to let Rufus die next time he calls her. (It might still work as a threat, if he believes that she could willfully walk away from him in danger, but the reader might doubt whether she could actually do so in the event.)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the subtleties of the morals for Dana throughout the book is one of the most compelling aspects. I also liked the book as not only a historical look at the atrocities of slavery, but the implications of future ideologies and past realities overlapping (not to mention the extra layer of time travel physics craziness). In a way, a lot of modern debates and societal efforts are the result of future, perhaps idealistic ideologies and past systems of oppression overlapping.
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