The Effects of Assimilation: Dana and Kevin in Kindred
Octavia Butler's Kindred hinges on one central premise: what if modern people from 1976 were to be dropped into the harsh, slavery-filled world of 1815 Maryland. It deals with some fundamental questions about human nature vs nurture, and about acting vs assimilation, and further complicates this by utilizing an unreliable narrator who is not simply an observer or bystander but a participant actively being changed by the story.
The difference between the effects of the 1815 environment on Dana, a black woman, and Kevin, a white man is immediately put in the reader's mind. Kevin, near the start of the book, is often directly compared to the various white antagonists, such as the patroller, through nothing other than racial appearance - the first sign of Dana's unreliability as a narrator (Butler 43-44). Kevin is also, more rightfully, portrayed as more ignorant - such as when Dana is talking to him about the horrors of the game the children are playing and the whipping on the plantation (Butler 99-100). However, as the story progresses, and particularly after Kevin is left in the past world for five years, he obtains much more experience with the atrocities of the past world. Upon return, he is noticeably disconnected from the 1976 world. He struggles with modern machines like a typewriter and electric sharpener (Butler 193-194). Symbolically, he looks at a photo of him in the past, and he is visibly startled by the modern occurrence of a jet's sonic boom (Butler 195). Throughout all of this, he is extremely, emotionally angry at his separation from the Kevin that never left 1976. Notably, it's perceived by Dana as reminiscent of Tom Weylin, "[s]omething closed and ugly" (Butler 194). However, we have to keep in mind the unreliable nature of Dana's narration. Kevin's anger may in fact stem from an internal desire to prove that he is unchanged by his stint in the past world. As briefly noted by Dana, Kevin "sounded angry, almost defensive about what he had done" in the past world, where he acted in his role but resisted assimilation through valiant actions of aid. His anger back in the 1976 world is seen by Dana as actions of a dangerous white person, but ironically in reality is simply out of his motivation to show that he isn't one. It's a manifestation of his internal resistance against assimilation, and the constant reminders that his acting has left semi-permanent changes to him as a person - his return to infancy with technology - are blows to his 1976 character as the polar opposite of a cruel slaveholder.
Dana's experience in the past world is assuredly worse than Kevin's. The sheer cruelty of the surrounding environment leaves marks both mental and physical - and with the culmination of the story a permanent, jarring reminder of her experience and what she has gone through and lost is represented with the supernatural loss of her arm. Her previous injuries - scars, bruises, lost teeth - can be explained by mundane and much more believable stories, and are seen as such by the various outsiders in 1976 - domestic abuse and self harm are seemingly impenetrable explanations for her injuries - except for the undeniably paranormal nature of her arm being fused into a wall. And although scars and bruises fade and there is some degree of acclimation to lost teeth, losing an arm is another magnitude of injurious that easily crosses into permanently and irreversibly life changing. Symbolism aside, her experience in the past world reflects the struggle of acting vs assimilation just like with Kevin, but much more viscerally and brutally. Her experience, mental trauma and physical scars, will not go away like Kevin's ineptitude with technology. Kevin's experience may have been horrifying - we may never know his perspective - but he could never have been a true participant in the atrocities of slavery like Dana went through. Dana's unreliability as a narrator stems from realistic complexity in her character - her relationship with Rufus, her trauma with whippings and beatings at the hands of white men - are a dominant force in the perception of the racial barrier between Dana and Kevin, and as such the true perspectives of both require a deeper analysis of the unreliability stemming from the nature of Dana as a member of the past world and not simply a visitor.
The married couples go through different effects in Kindred as they are transported back to the 19th century. Kevin, a white man, is often less scarred by the event as in the time, prejudice laid low and the only psychological effect being his part disconnection from the 1976 him. Dana, however, is led to go down a much more personal route where she is the victim of the story and herself. Having to actually experience the real nature of the 19th century South, Dana's change is much more profound after the story ends.
ReplyDeleteButler clearly shows how ignorant Kevin is during the first half of the book, who day dreams about exploring the West. He doesn't seem to think that slavery is as bad as it was made it out to be in the 1970s. Butler making Kevin go through those 5 years is a very significant part of his character, as he has to actually face what really happened in the 1800s.
ReplyDeleteThe moment where Dana (once again) sees a flash of Tom Weylin in Kevin might be seen as a reflection of her own perception and how it has been shaped by the past, as much as it reflects anything objective about Kevin. Because indeed we know Kevin did NOT become a "Tom Weylin" when given the opportunity--he not only doesn't seem to have embraced any of the privileges that the 1800s society would have granted him as a white man, he seems to have actively put himself at risk in order to push against slavery and to advocate for abolition. So it's maybe not as if Kevin is "becoming" a Weylin, but that Dana is starting to struggle to distinguish one white man (and his anger) from another. It's as if SHE, having lived under the explicit racist oppression of the slavery era, has had her own perceptions of white men (including her husband) altered by the experience. It maybe is partly a reflection of her complex unreliability as a narrator--the role-playing has warped her perception.
ReplyDeleteNice post Jonathan. I found the contrast between acting and assimilating very interesting. Even acting for such a long period of time can turn into assimilation and affect Dana and Kevin just as much. Resistance to assimilation can be especially hard when assimilating is necessary to exist in an America where slavery is prevalent.
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