Kindred: Character analysis

Throughout Kindred, the characters have developed in many ways, in which a lot of their characteristics either weakened or strengthened. As Dana, the protagonist of the story, interacts with each character, a lot of their personalities have shown a lot more in the novel, and helped identify the type of character we are dealing with. As I read through the Fight, it became obvious to me that Alice is a foil character, while Tom Weylin and Rufus are dynamic and round characters.

A foil character can be described as someone who is the opposite of the main character, or in Alice's case, a foil character can also be someone like the main character. In Kindred, both Dana and Alice share similar circumstances, in which both are born free, but became slaves on the Weylin plantation. In the Fight, both Dana and Alice were captured by Tom Weylin and Rufus after attempting to escape their property in order to be with their loved ones. Another type of character would be a dynamic character, which is defined as a character that goes through change in the story. Although Tom Weylin seems like he is stagnant throughout Kindred, he can be considered as a dynamic character due to his sudden change in the Fight. Tom Weylin may seem like an evil person all throughout the book, he did show a different side in the Fight when he indirectly helped Dana reunite with her husband, Kevin. This change was shown when he kept a promise made by someone else, which he fulfilled Rufus's promise of sending the letter to Kevin for Dana. Lastly, a round character is someone who has more than one facet to their personality, which matches to Rufus's description. In the Fight, Rufus can be seen as someone who is tough, but also someone who truly has a soft heart for both Alice and Dana. After Dana finally got Alice to cooperate with Rufus, Rufus became more talkative and happy towards Alice, which is a lot different from his usual, "abusive" personality. Rufus's rounded personality was also shown towards the end of the Fight, after Dana was caught escaping the plantation. Although Rufus tried to keep a stern personality to punish Dana, he cared and stayed with her, wiping the blood off her face until she gained consciousness.

Dana's roles in Kindred

As Dana travel back in time in Kindred, the roles she has to fulfill, whether they are done unconsciously or consciously, gradually add up due to the fact she is far more knowledgeable compared to the people during this time period. Throughout the book, Dana play many roles including a slave (even though she is a free woman), a cook, a counselor, but most importantly a healer and a friend of Alice.

When Dana travels back in time, she found herself in a forest where she sees Rufus in a near death experience (shocker), fighting a black man, who we shortly found out was Alice's husband, Isaac. Dana then noticed that Alice was raped by Rufus, hence why Isaac wants to kill Rufus. After Dana convinced Isaac not to kill Rufus, Alice and Isaac took off, while Dana waits for Rufus to gain consciousness. After five days, Isaac and Alice were found and separated, and Alice was bought by Rufus, which makes her a slave. Alice is in horrible condition, with many wounds due to the fact she was attacked by dogs and beaten brutally. Because of this Dana has to play a role of a healer because at that time slaves were not allowed to be treated by a doctor. Dana cleaned her wounds and bandaged her, and basically took care of her until she started walking again. I don't think Dana is aware of how she is playing this role of a doctor/ a healer. Due to the fact Alice is dying, and cannot be treated by a doctor, Dana knows that she is the only one smart enough to actually save Alice, so in a way she felt responsible to do this. However, she can also be playing this role consciously because she knows that if she does not save Alice, then she will never be alive in the future.

Since Alice belongs to Rufus now, Dana and Alice interacts with each other a lot more now. After Alice's health improved, Rufus asked Dana to help him to convince Alice to sleep with him. Although Dana rejected him at first, she eventually gave in and decided to talk to Alice. Although Dana seemed like a traitor to Alice, I do believe that she was also being a friend to Alice because she was watching out for her well being. If Alice did not agree to sleep with Rufus, Rufus would have whipped her until she agreed, or Alice could have ran away, but would have gotten caught just to be brutally punished. Dana did not tell Alice what to do, but she showed Alice that this was a better option than resisting. I do believe that Dana was playing this role consciously, Dana knew that she had to get Alice to agree to Rufus's term not only for Alice's well being, but also for Dana's own well being. If Alice does not sleep with Rufus, Rufus will make both of their lives miserable, and most importantly, if Rufus and Alice does not conceive a child, Dana would have never been born in the future.

How Slavery Affected African-American Families

African American families were affected by slavery in various ways. Belonging to another person brought restrictions and grievance, which can be portrayed in marriage. Although marriage in 1976 was legal, Dana and Kevin's decisions to get married still made people uncomfortable, and was not supported by their loved ones. But when Dana travels back in time, where interracial marriage was neither legal or accepted,  it became a whole different story due to the fact their safety was jeopardized, especially in Dana's situation.

According to the article, enslaved people could not legally get married in any states due to the fact they are considered properties, and not legal people who are allowed to get involved in legal actions such as a marriage (second paragraph). This fact was seen in Kindred when Dana told Rufus that she was married to Kevin, a white man, which of course was disapproved by Rufus when he told Dana a Kevin that "niggers can't marry white people (pg.60 of Kindred). Because marriage was illegal in this time period, Kevin and Dana had to pretend in front of other people, such as Tom Weylin and Margaret Weylin that Kevin is the owner of Dana instead of her husband, which goes back to the fact that slavery brings restrictions and grievance to enslaved families.

Kevin's Perspective

Dana finally came back. As I watch her sleep, I try to think about ways I can keep her safe. Since we both know that her time traveling is bound to happen, the best thing I can do is prepare her for her next journey. I tied a bag around her waist and made sure she has all the supplies needed to survive wherever she goes, including a map and a knife. I tried to convince Dana to go to the library so we can forge some free slave papers for the next time she travels, but she declined due to her worries of transporting while sitting in the car.

Just when things were settled, Dana became dizzy again, and before she vanishes, I quickly grabbed her, allowing me to travel back in time with her. When we gained consciousness, Dana and I witnessed a boy, a boy who Dana seems to be familiar with, lying on the ground, hurt. After assisting Rufus, the boy who had broken his leg, we were all taken to his home with his father, Mr. Weylin. Because Rufus is very fond of Dana, Mr. Weylin allowed the both of us to stay, even offering me a job to teach Rufus how to read and write.

After staying here for a few days now, I cannot endure to watch my wife be treated like a slave. For the last few days, Dana has been sleeping up in the attic with the servants, which makes me feel sick knowing that my wife is sleeping on the cold floor. I insisted that she sleeps in the room with me even if we both know that she can get in trouble for it. After further persuasions and informing her that Miss Margaret has been trying to sleep with me, Dana had finally agreed to sleep in my room.

The next few days has been the same. Later on, Dana and I had witnessed a few children playing a game, which involved auctioning each other at a slave fair. It is sickening to watch that, to know that slavery is easily accepted, and most importantly to know that this is what the children are looking forward to.

Marriage in 1815 vs. marriage in 1975

As I read along the chapters of Kindred, it has become obvious that marriage is a different subject depending on what time period you live in. In present time, Dana and Kevin are an interracial couple who seems to be content with their marriage. It is expected for their marriage to not be completely accepted during this time period(1975), which was mentioned in the chapter, The Fight, when it was said that Dana's uncle was hurt by Dana's decision to marry a white man. It also struck me that instead of getting a typical marriage in a church, it has been said in the chapter that Dana and Kevin married in Las Vegas. Personally, a Las Vegas wedding makes it seem they are eloping, due to the lack of support they have received from both sides of the family.

Meanwhile, in 1815, a marriage between a white man and a black women is not only discriminated, but it is illegal. Because of that, Dana and Kevin has to pretend like they are not married during this time period. This only portrays that not only is marriage discriminated in 1815, but a marriage is also treated as if the man owns the woman, similar to slavery. The influence of the circumstance Dana and Kevin are in, it seems like the equality that marriage is supposed to have slowly diminishes as they continue to live in this time period.

Kindred: The Fire

After Dana vanishes once again, she discovers that she had went back in time to meet Rufus, the red-haired little boy she saved from drowning. Both characters have realized that Dana reappears every time Rufus is in trouble. After putting the puzzles together, a new character was introduced that seems to bring importance to Dana's life. Alice, a free woman, who happens to be Rufus's friend, meets Dana while Dana encounters several white men on horses. It has been mentioned on this chapter that Dana resemblance Alice's mother, which makes me think of the possibility that Alice might be Dana's ancestors. If that is the case, Alice is an important factor in Dana's life because without Alice, Dana would not exist in the future.

Prologue and "the River"

Hi my name is Meg and I am a freshman in SUNY Plattsburgh majoring in Biology. I am from the Bronx, which is a lot different from here, so I am still trying to get used to the pace over here. On my free time, I love to shop and eat different types of healthy food. After losing 100 pounds in the past, I have became really interested in bettering my health, which I believe is the main reason why I want to be in the medical field someday. At the moment, I am working on changing my major to Nursing, and hopefully becoming a nurse anesthetist in the future.

The first page of the prologue introduces the narrator who seemed to have lost her arms due to an unknown reason. Eventually, another character named Kevin was introduced when it was revealed that he was arrested, but later on released. Though Kevin was accused of harming the main character, I highly doubt that he had caused the accident. I am assuming the cause of the accident is something unrealistic because on page 11, the main character had mentioned if the real reason was actually revealed, Kevin would have been locked up in a mental hospital. 

On the first chapter it was revealed that the main character's name is Dana. Dana started the chapter off by taking the readers back to her 26th birthday on June 9,1976. Dana did not have anything planned to celebrate her birthday, but move into a new house with her husband, Kevin. Dana all of a sudden got dizzy, and vanished. When she gained consciousness, she wakes up outdoors kneeling on the ground beneath trees. She then saw a red-haired child in the middle of the river, drowning, who she helped without any hesitations. When Dana pulls the child onto the shore, she noticed that he had already stopped breathing. The mother came, and screamed at Dana for "killing" her child, but Dana continued to give him mouth to mouth, which she managed to save, eventually. It was later revealed that the child's name is Rufus. Afterwards, Dana hears a voice of a man, and as soon as she turns around, she sees an angry man holding a rifle within close distance from her. Just when she thought she was going to be killed for saving Rufus's life, everything became blurry again, and she wakes up in her own living room.