In class we discussed the things Dana gets to carry with her when she moves from one time and place to another. One of the first things we mentioned was her bag with clothes and a knife, then we went on to add to that list her knowledge. In my opinion her culture is one of the most important things she maintains when traveling between the two drastically different time periods.
The discrimination she has experienced as a black woman in the 1970s added into the way race is discussed in her workplace form the ideals she maintains when she visits Rufus. In her life, her interracial marriage with her husband is considered controversial, or at the least uncommon. In her workplace terms that refer to racial relations and the slavery. Dana realizes that these words, while not meant in a literal manner, are unacceptable and when she travels to visit Rufus, she seems them used in a literal and very real manner. She tries to change the way Rufus views society and societal norms through her own perspective. This desire to inflict your own views onto another person is a rational idea, especially since your views stem from you wholeheartedly believing that you are right. This task, however, is much more difficult than it may seem at first. Dana is trying to impress upon a child ideals and values which, while applicable in the 1970s, are unfounded in the early 1800s. Everything she bases her opinion on does not hold true in the antebellum south. Rufus cannot understand why he is not allowed to use the word nigger because for him, it is simply what the slaves are called. As a child I don’t think he realizes the effect of that word. She also tries to impress upon him the importance of treating slaves in a dignified manner. This is an incredibly daunting task since he never sees anyone else with these same values. His parents treat slaves with disdain and the only person telling him to to break this tradition, is a salve herself.
Her culture is also incredibly important to her because it is what keeps her from conforming to this new society into which she is thrown. When traveling back in forth, it can be dangerous to take things back and forth with you. This is Dana’s biggest fear as she worries that Kevin, who is already slightly conforming to the society of the antebellum south, will change too much.
Very interesting post. I wonder, however, if Dana consistently does "carry her culture" while in the antebellum South. After all, she is allowing herself to essentially be enslaved. Other than putting Rufus in his place every so often when he is out of line, she does little to stand up against the other members of the Weylin plantation. And by allowing her "culture" to take the back seat while acting as a slave at the Weylin house, she eventually seems to lose track of it altogether. She admits several times that she began to see her thoughts shift and lose track of her true identity. So I guess the question is does Dana consistently carry her culture all the way through? I know she tries to at the beginning, but we cannot ignore the fact that Dana is clearing changing "culturally" throughout the story.
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