When approaching this blog entry, I had the goal, or ambition, to look deeper into the subject of why Dana went back in time in Kindred. However, they led to me sitting on my bed for 15 minutes, unable to reach an answer as to why Dana had her time travels. Maybe it was to save Rufus, however after thorough conversation in class about that idea, it doesn't seem to make sense. Maybe she went back to save herself. Maybe it was just down right crappy luck. All the thoughts and possibilities running through my head left me stressed out over the meaning on the entire book, when I finally came to the thought, that maybe there was no answer.
Octavia Butler must have known she was going to leave her readers questioning. It lead me to the thought that maybe even Butler didn't know why Dana went back in time. Maybe thats the beauty behind this book, even this class. There may not always be a deeper meaning to a story. Questions, thoughts, and frustrations have all hit readers hard with any fictional novel. I believe Butler used her storytelling through science fiction to show that sometimes, literature is meant to spark questions, thoughts, and frustrations with no exact outlet. Does there always have to be an answer or easy solution?
I could sit on my bed for the rest of the night and try to figure out why the hell Dana went back in time and never find the right answer, which is probably exactly what Octavia Butler wanted.
No comments:
Post a Comment