Putting the Kin in Kindred
In Kindred, we see Dana go through a transformative experience. Notably, Dana endures this experience in both of her lives. During her time on the Weylin Plantation, Dana grows in various ways, learning more about the past and the present.
On the plantation, Dana learns about the difficult choices slaves have to make to stay alive and together. When Sarah refuses to run away from the Weylin plantation, Dana thinks of it as a silly decision. It turns out that this decision is vital for Carrie's survival. Towards the end of the novel, Carrie manages to escape despite her disability. Adjusting to the ways of life on the Weylin plantation was one of the challenges Dana faced in her constant switching between two worlds.
As the novel progressed, we began to see the connections formed between Dana and the inhabitants of the Weylin plantation. Specifically, we notice a different relationship between Dana and Rufus. Their relationship is complicated, and Dana devotes herself to keeping Rufus safe so her family can exist. However, this relationship evolves into something even more complicated when she is compelled to look after the slaves on the Weylin plantation, making her admire their tight family dynamic.
Family is an important aspect of the novel, and my takeaway from the plot is that it revolves around different family dynamics. Dana already struggles with her mini family at home with Kevin just because he is white and she is black. Adding to that struggle is Dana's commitment to harmony on the Weylin plantation and her exposure to different dynamics in the Weylin family. Dana then embarks on a mission to help Rufus understand the value of family and how important it is that they support each other.
In her time travel, Dana gains two different families: one located on the Weylin plantation and the other in the present day with Kevin. Family and a sense of belonging become complicated subjects for Dana, and when Dana and Kevin visit Maryland at the end of the novel, they hope to find some closure and information about Dana's relatives. Ultimately, I think Butler is emphasizing that you can find a "home away from home" with people you truly care about, as Dana found out in Kindred.
Hi Luca, I really enjoyed reading your post! I agree, Dana did change a lot and I think her depth expanded as the novel pushed onwards. The emotional attachments she made to her friends from the past, along with her view of the creation of her birthline greatly added to her character. These family ties seem to be a large part of why she is so biased towards Rufus and his actions. It is interesting watching Dana and Rufus, along with Dana and Alice, develop their relationship.
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DeleteI think it's pretty interesting how Butler portrays Dana's experiences in the past as somehow more fulfilling than those in the 70s. She grows to have this sense of belonging, surrounded by more people she cherishes. We don't usually think of that era of our country's history like in this way, since it's tainted by corrupt and prejudiced systems, but communities were more tightly-knit back then. In the modern world, most people you come across on a daily basis are strangers, which is a pretty different dynamic from that of the rural American 1800s. I just think it's thought-provoking that Butler would represent Dana's outlook of the antebellum South in a way that is anything but negative, but it speaks on the idea that we will never know what it was truly like.
ReplyDeleteI think even though Dana's strange connection to Rufus occassionally ostracizes her from the rest of the enslaved people on the plantation, the more she stays and influences their lives, the more she does come to find a new family and a newfound admiration for the perseverance and resilience of this tightly woven group on the plantation. This group can only help itself, so in a way they do become one another's family, functioning in unison and each capitalizing off of one another's skills (e.g. Dana's literacy and Nigel's strength) to endure life on the plantation and to find some escape through kinship.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting how there's almost two separate "families" that Dana finds- the slaves on the plantation, who she feels a kinship and closeness with because of their racial identity, and Rufus, who is literally her family. I think it would be super interesting to explore the complicated familial aspects of her relationship with Rufus- she goes from an almost motherly figure to more of a friend and confidante, and etc.
ReplyDeleteDanas closeness to the other slaves on the plantation is overlooked through the book. They were probably the only reason Dana was able to stay for months on end. If she was shunned by the others slaves it would've been much much harder for her to stay ok. Great post, it just goes to show how important family can be.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Luca, that family dynamics are at the center of "Kindred". We've talked in class about how Dana began to think of the Weylin Plantation as her home more so than the apartment she recently moved into, but she definitely also began to think of the people on the Weylin Plantation as part of her family alongside Kevin. I think this solidifies Octavia Butler's point that slavery is a system that becomes ingrained in people and even normalized when it's not challenged over a long period of time.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis of Dana’s transformative experience captures her impact on understanding family and survival really well! Dana’s perspective on Sarah’s choice not to escape displays the complicated sacrifices made by slaves. The evolving dynamics between Dana and Rufus deepen the story, reflecting on historical ties and personal identity. This adds a layer of commentary on historical accountability and its impact on racial dynamics today. I also noticed that Butler seems to use Dana's journeys to bridge the past and present.
ReplyDeleteThe family dynamics are definitely what pushes Dana and the plot forward. Dana is obliged to help both Rufus and the slaves as she feel a connection to the slaves but also to Rufus as hes one of her ancestors as well. So this really puts the dynamics you explained at the Welyin Plantation into a much more interesting lens as she also strives to have a home life with Kevin.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting perspective on the nature of these "time travel" episodes--while at the start, Dana is so eager to not count these as part of her "real life" (more like a terrible dream or hallucination), eventually she does develop deep and meaningful relationships with the people living on the Weylin plantation (and, to some extent, with Rufus himself and maybe even his mother). It's horrifying, on one level, when she returns after a brief respite in 1976 and reflects on the oddity of this once-alien plantation *feeling* like "home" to her (and we know that home can be ambivalent, dangerous, and even horrifying in some situations, so it doesn't ONLY imply good and safe qualities), but on the other hand, she DOES have more of a family in the 1800s than in the 1970s. Both her and Kevin's parents are no longer living, we learn that both of their families are distancing from them because they don't approve of the interracial marriage, and we only see one meaningful relationship with Dana's cousin (the one who is convinced that Kevin has been physically abusing her, since Dana can't explain her wounds).
ReplyDeleteAnd as you note, this sense of "home" is further compounded by the very complicated information that not only Alice and Rufus, but likely MANY of the people living on that plantation are her ancestors. We never get a full count of how many of the enslaved people are offspring of Tom Weylin (i.e. Rufus's half-siblings, whether he acknowledges this fact or not), but it sounds like a LOT of them. So it's important to remember that Dana is literally surrounded by family even in the midst of her horror. And the novel compels her to affirm and to some extent embrace BOTH sides of that family, (rapist) white and black.
Hi Luca, I think you made an interesting point in Dana finding her home away from home. Despite the difficulties of the time she found people she liked and grew fond of, she even formed close relationships with the people who had power over her (like Margret and Rufus Weylin). I also find it interesting that after spending time in the 1800s Dana and Kevin both found themselves to be strangers to not only their home but to their time. In a lot of ways the homes and lives they built in the 1800s became their primary focus replacing their true home. I think that trade of where they belong is representative of how people can often easily adjust to trauma and times of turbulence (Dana often talks about how easy it was to fall back into the time period). Overall, Great Post!
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