After finishing Kindred, initially
I was fairly disappointed in the ending. Most people would’ve probably
predicted that Dana would lose her arm since we start off with that
scene in the novel. As for me, there were still many questions, mostly
about Dana’s time traveling, that were left unanswered. After the many
class discussions we’ve had, I realized that maybe the disappointing
ending was intentional, that Butler wanted us to leave unsatisfied in
order to remind us about something even more serious.
When
we were discussing in class about the interpretation of Dana’s loss of
her arm, many of them centered around the idea that this loss of her arm
represents the scarring effects of time. History has shaped who we are
individually. While Dana was physically shaped by history, Butler wants
the reader to know that something as bad as slavery has had lasting
ramifications, and affects all of us.
As I mentioned before, after reading Kindred,
I still had many questions left unanswered. Throughout most of this
novel, Dana simply accepts the fact that she is constantly time
traveling back to 1800s Maryland. We know that she travels back in time
whenever Rufus’ life is in danger, and that a few minutes in Dana’s
present time can mean a days or years in Rufus’ time. But, there are so
many other things I wanted to know. What explains the varying lengths of
time that passes as she is away? Why does Dana return to the present
only when her life is in danger? Butler may have wanted to use time
travel simply as a device. Since she leaves so many of these details out
of her novel, she may have felt that explaining the concept of Dana’s
time travel would distract readers from the bigger picture.
One
thing that will stuck in my mind, and is something I will never forget,
is about how important family ties are for slaves. Take Carrie, the
mute child of Sarah’s. A long time ago, Sarah’s two other sons were sold
by Weylin, and in fear of losing Carrie, Sarah willingly complies to
the hard labor given to her by her masters. As Carrie grows older on the
plantation, she marries Nigel, and has children with him. Prior to
Nigel’s marriage, he already had thoughts of running away and finding
freedom in the North. He even gets taught how to read by Dana in
preparation of this. When he has children with Carrie though, in fear of
having Carrie and their children sold off, Nigel is forced to control
his urges of running away, and work silently on the plantation. For a
long time, I knew that families were often separated by the auction. I
never realized that breaking these family ties could have such a large
impact on someone, and even keep them in line from running away or
revolting. In a world of a slave, family is the only thing that many had
for hope and support. Taking that away would’ve left slaves with
nothing.
For
me, while Butler doesn’t necessarily leave behind a solid novel, the
picture she describes about slavery is simply unforgettable. The
descriptions she puts into the whippings, the hard labor of the fields,
and the strong family ties many of the slaves have portray just how bad
slavery really was. As readers, we should focus more on her message of
slavery, and see that slavery has impacted our society.
Butler's novel spends a lot of time exploring the ways that slaveholders deliberately exploit the family ties among slaves--the perpetual threat of selling off family members, while also using the togetherness of a family as "insurance" to keep them all from risking escape. In a sick way, it serves the owners' interests for the slaves to think of the plantation as "home." (And Dana starts to realize this herself, as she spends more time in Maryland than Los Angeles.)
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the disappointing ending, my take on this is that history itself doesn't leave Butler much room to work with. The ending is traumatic and full of uncertainty and ambivalence, much like the historical subject itself.