Conforming to Roles

“See how easily slaves are made?” Dana’s nagging fears have validity. In class today, we discussed the roles that the characters play even in the absence of any real development and the role of time travel to the narrative and its message. Although I agree that we got a bit too caught up in the time travel, I must admit that the first question that came to my mind when it was pointed out that the time travel wasn’t an essential ‘plot point’ was “Then why did Butler include it? Why not simply tell the story and make us confront the horrors of slavery head-on, without any avenue for escape, no matter how uncomfortable that makes us?” After all, history is often times uncomfortable and we must accept that we cannot change it. But by redefining “Kindred” as a “recuperative slave narrative,” I began to see a different perspective. The time travel element serves to pull together both the disparate times of the 1810s and 1976 and also the worlds of Dana and the reader, collapsing them into one entity and imposing them on one another so as to make it clear how much in common they have. Through this superimposition, we can see that the roles of Dana and Kevin create an allegorical parallel to modern societal roles, ones the readers are more familiar with and from which they feel less distanced.

                Dana’s fears of becoming a slave continue to nag her as she sees herself fulfilling the role of a slave more and more, becoming complacent and cooperative against her instincts of pride, dignity and self-worth. Kevin, on the other hand, starts to change to fill the role of a man of the 1810s, if not a slaveholder. His attitude towards Dana before the time travel was loving but condescending; his mannerisms and demands made it evident that the two of them were not coexisting as equals. When the two of them return to 1976, Kevin is brusque and harsh. Yet Dana continues to forgive him, continues to make excuses for him, just because she feels so blessed to have escaped the brutality of the 1810s. She has not left her subordinate, inferior role behind; rather, she is bringing it with her into her time. So, too, does the reader make assumptions that the ‘modern times’ are more progressive. We’re more likely to gloss over the racism and cruelty of modernity when it has been compared with inhumane beatings, rape, and casual manslaughter. But if “Kindred” is seen as a slave narrative for a current time, then it becomes clear that these two times have more in common than we would like to think. As Dana forgives Kevin, and also Rufus, she starts to conform more and more to the role that she is trying to escape. It is up to the readers to avoid falling into the same trap.