One
of the most interesting things about Kindred
was how quickly Dana adjusted to being a slave. Even though both Kevin and Dana
agreed that they would only act like slave-master and slave in order to fit in
on the Weylin plantation, both of them started to develop into the roles they
were playing, and it happened shockingly fast. Almost immediately when Dana is
first pulled into the past, she is attacked by a white man, and has to fight
him off with her knife. At first, she is reluctant and can’t make herself use
the knife, but she quickly realizes that the environment in 1819 is much more
hostile than that of 1976, and that such liberties as not trying to permanently
injure her attacker could not be taken. Indeed, this trend of her continuing to
adopt the behaviors of a black person in the south in the 19th century
continues throughout the book, and by the end, she seems at first glance almost
indistinguishable from her fellow slaves.
However, there is one major
characteristic that Dana lacks: the “survival of the fittest” mentality that is
required in order to deal with slavery (of course, some amount of cooperation
and support is needed, but one has to have the strength to do what is best for
oneself, or one won’t be able to escape the shackles of slavery). When she
first comes back to 1976, for example, she knows that she needs to get more
supplies in case she is pulled back again, but she is afraid that if she is
pulled back while in her car, it will be left driverless and would be dangerous
to passerby. Later, when Kevin suggests that she kill Rufus, she refuses, saying
that even though it would stop her from having to go back in time, the slaves
on the Weylin plantation could be sold and separated. This idea of restricting
oneself from doing something because it could possibly harm someone else is
something that I don’t believe most of the slaves would consider. After years
of hard work and brutality, they would jump at any opportunity to free
themselves. Indeed, they often don’t even consider the impacts of their actions
on themselves. When Alice wanted to try to escape with her children, for
example, it took Dana a long time to convince her that it was too dangerous,
and Alice didn’t even think about the possibility that if Rufus found her gone,
he might have gotten angry and tried to rape Dana instead. Similarly, when Dana
tried to escape, it was a slave who noticed and tipped Tom Weylin off. The
slave knew that any opportunity to get some increased treatment was valuable,
even at the expense of another slave. Granted, he was yelled at by the slave
women, but it’s clear that years of hard work had driven this “survival of the
fittest” mentality into him.
I think it is for this
reason that Dana said at the end of the book that she wouldn’t have survived as
a slave – she just didn’t have the resolve and the ruthlessness to deal with
it. Personally, though, I see this more as a positive than a negative. Even
though it might have completed her transition into slavery, I think it is important
that she managed to retain at least some of her selflessness, and it made her a
much more sympathetic character.
It was interesting as well that Dana didn't remain simply a static character throughout the story. She did grow tougher and more ruthless as she spent more time in the past, culminating in her act of murder. I agree that she really couldn't have survived in that period for very long, but I think the novel did a good job exploring the kind of impact that that kind of an environment can have on its inhabitants.
ReplyDeleteThis "failure" to be as ruthless and self-serving as she might have been is maybe prefigured in the early moment where Dana can't quite bring herself to gouge the slave-patroller's eyes when he attacks her: she attributes her "squeamishness" to "another century," but pretty quickly adjusts to the idea of herself as someone who can defend herself with force when necessary.
ReplyDeleteBut her social empathy, her sense of compassion for and connection with the other slaves on the plantation, is something she can't quite get over. And there's maybe some 20th-century naivete here: as you note, she's totally shocked to learn that this other slave, whom she doesn't even know, has ratted her out when she tries to escape.
Butler also depicts a community and family feeling among the slaves on the Weylin plantation, though. Sara (I think it is) makes clear that the others are giving the "rat" plenty of grief, sure that she'll never try anything like this again. We see these impulses toward family and community cooperation, but once again, the institution of slavery distorts and perverts these impulses, and self-interest competes with community-mindedness. Dana experiences a (weird, supernatural) version of this dilemma when she has to decide how much to abet Rufus's rape of Dana.
While it's true that Alice is pretty self serving, I interpreted this as a kind of emotional stunt that the rest of the slaves don't necessarily share. They seem to really care about and take care of each other. Granted, that could be my 21st century empathy shading my reading
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how Dana adapted to life in the antebellum south in the 1800s. When she first transports back to the past, she has this modern mentality, one which does not comprehend the "survival of the fittest" mentality. When we observe her in her world, the 1900s, shes seems perfectly content with her position in the World. As we watch her develop throughout the novel, we see her grasp the concept of survival of the fittest. This culminates to her killing her own ancestor, an act which we would have associated with her in the beginning of the novel. I thought it is interesting how Butler weaves this idea of environment playing a major role in how people acted. This is only just one example
ReplyDeleteI think it requires the modern perspective that Dana has in order to even consider these aspects. The other slaves probably haven't considered these situations because they were never exposed to this type of thinking, they lack the scope needed to make the judgements that Dana does.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really good post - there's an interesting contrast in Kindred in the different ways that slavery changes Dana. On the one hand, she does become more ruthless and willing to do what she needs to to protect herself. On the other hand, I disagree with the idea that Dana is the only one aware of the larger community good, while the other slaves will do whatever it takes to protect themselves, no matter the larger cost. Dana always has some sense that she'll be able to get out of bad situations if she really needs to, by going back to 1976. As a result, she can take actions to preserve herself that other slaves wouldn't dare to, because she knows she can avoid most of the consequences. For example, you hold up her killing Rufus as proof that she's finally become as self-preserving as the other slaves. She's also the only one who has that option to kill Rufus rather than let him rape her - if, say, Alice tried that she would probably be killed too, or at least be sold to a worse master. In some ways, Dana doesn't have to act for the community good as much as the rest of the slaves do.
ReplyDeleteI do think that this lack of ruthlessness is a good quality for Dana--as long as she doesn't get comfortable with staying as a slave. She does seem to be able to assimilate quicker, but that's different from accepting her position. And as we see in the end, she does muster up the courage/finality to kill Rufus. It makes her a more sympathetic character to see she didn't just kill Rufus straight off, but gave him a chance.
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