The Levels of Free Will

I'll be honest, when I began Kindred it felt like a very serious and threatening version of Quantum Leap. But as I invested myself deeper into the novel I found more to connect to than the content of a 45 minute TV show. What I find most striking about Kindred is the way the author tackles free will. Unlike many time-travel stories, Dana has no choice of when or where she travels to. This provides a situation where Dana has to not only adapt to but accept the fact that she is at the mercy of an uncontrollable force; fear. Rufus's fear controls when she is torn from 1976 and thrown back to the early 1800's. More than that though, to touch on our discussion earlier today, she lacks free will in her effect on the future. She is still the same and therefore everything she does must result in who she is. She cannot change anything about her present or past because they have already happened and in some ways are the same. Dana is stuck in a sort of infinite time parallel where both of her presents (1976 and the 18-teens) are connected through her. Her reality of free will is crumbling with each new jump in time and she is merely a pawn in some bigger dynamic. Dana’s duty is to keep Rufus safe so that her lineage will continue to exist, but this comes at the cost of conscious decision. Each leap is a leap to a separate home.