Usually, the reader is a “Kevin.” At first, Kevin does not believe Dana’s time traveling story just as readers tend to discard fiction novels as a made up otherland. Going back to the beginning of the year when we read Bierce, most of the class questioned the veracity of Peyton’s escape and wrote it off as imagination. But, just how Kevin is forced to drop his disbelief about Dana by time traveling with her, the reader is forced to drop their disbelieves in order to learn from the text. We can write off Kindred as a science-fiction novel and focus on the time travel aspect, but we will not gain anything from the text if we do so (maybe some more theories on whether it is possible or not). We must drop our doubts of time travel and think, “Ok, Dana can time travel. So, what insight do we gain in going back in history and how does that influence our present?” This is when it is important that the novel is written in Dana’s perspective. As a reader we begin as Kevin, but the first person narration stylistically forces us to enter into Dana’s view point, which is how we learn about her situation and thus the themes of the novel, such as identity, race and the fragility of relationships.
Today we did our mid-year evaluation. I think one of the goals of the class is working towards is for us to move from “Kevin” to “Dana” readers. We are learning how to see the truth in fiction, even when its filled with lies as well, and how that truth exposes something in our reality. I think Kindred is a great reflection of where I am-although I still have some aspects of Kevin, I am willing to let that go and enter into Dana’s perspective only.
However, I do still think Dana can die in the 1800’s once Rufus and Alice procreate in the past.
I'm really glad you made this point because I think a lot of the time, readers forget that in fiction you're supposed to forget any sense of plausibility and fully immerse yourself into the novel. If your'e constantly questioning the likelihood of particular aspects in the book, you'll never be able to see the importance or message the author is trying to convey. I think fiction is simply about being able to let your sense of reality disappear momentarily while accepting the author's reality.
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