Terminated

In class we spent a while talking about time-travel and it's place in the novel. I felt the same way and began to get engrossed in the conversation. I'm accepting the major plot twist of Dana actually being a terminator sent back in time to crush a leader of the human resistance. It seems to be a possibility at the very least. Or, perhaps she has been sent back in time by the human resistance to guard Rufus, a key leader in the movement against skynet.

Of course, I kid. What struck me in class on Thursday was the realization that we spent so much time talking about time-travel and yet ignored the horrors of slavery that existed on the pages before us.

In a very real sense, the ideas of time-travel allow us to ignore the very hard subject of actual slavery that is presented. Yet, we must consider the novel as essentially a tale of slavery with elements of science-fiction. Although the plot is built up by the elements of time-travel, what we are dealing with in the 1800's is not "science fiction." It is what occurred during the time in America. Slavery existed and is a factual part of the American history. Although time-travel might be a softer subject, I don't believe that we should focus on it reading Kindred. Instead, we should consider it as essentially a novel of mixing cultural values when people from a different time and place meet and become forced to experience the time.

The one thing that truly bothered me in the novel was a saying of Dana, "'People don't learn everything about the times that came before them...Why should they?'" This acceptance of ignorance strikes me as something truly shocking. Although I would assuredly agree that individuals don't know everything about the history that has come before them, this callous acceptance of shrugging off the past is upsetting. This knowledge is the collective history of all of mankind, what unites us and bonds us together. Ironically, Dana and Kevin abstain from mentioning to Rufus that in about fifty years, America will fight a war and finally emancipate the slaves. History, although perhaps not a measure of pride, consistently unites us together as it has formed our present and provides ample guidelines for the future. Just as Dana was relatively unaware of history, she is also unaware of her family history and genealogy. By learning more, she will begin to formulate and revise her own identity and the ideas of her origins.