Kindred
The study of history is invaluable in gaining an understanding of the events and forces, which shaped the psyche of entire nations, cultures, and races. The past, therefore, shapes the present and is likely to continue shaping the future as well, unless past issues that negatively affect the present are changed. Indeed, it is this understanding of human psychology that has led to the psychiatric profession using techniques of regression on patients. Regression is performed in the hope that revisiting the past will allow cleansing of complexes by facilitating a change in perspective through the deployment of present day understanding. Similarly, by creating a time passage between the present and the past, Butler's Kindred regresses twentieth century America to the days of slavery in antebellum Maryland, and thereby facilitates a change in perspective and deeper appreciation of the meaning of freedom.
Butler's intent to explore the finer nuances of freedom is evident in the very fact that she chose the American bicentennial year of freedom, 1976, as the time period for situating her twentieth century African-American protagonist. In a similar vein, her choice of an Eastern shore plantation in antebellum Maryland is possibly Butler's way of pointing out that slavery and oppression of the blacks was not restricted just to the South. Further, it is not coincidental that Butler has portrayed her central character, Dana, as a modern African-American woman who is self-assertive and refuses to adhere to family or societal expectations of either her race or gender. She rejects her aunt and uncle's advice to pursue a career in the respectable but stereotypical professions of teaching or nursing. Instead, she prefers to earn a living at mindless jobs while trying to build a career as a writer. Thus, Butler's protagonist is, by herself, a symbol of freedom and all that it represents as in the right to life, liberty, and happiness. In this particular instance, she depicts Dana as expressing a wish to be "free" from social and racial strictures on respectable occupations for a black woman.
Indeed, Dana's independence is apparent in her working for a blue-collar temporary placement agency to support herself financially while she tries to write. Further, in a brilliant sleight of hand, Butler has Dana referring to the temp agency as a "slave market." Thus, through using language as a device, Butler manages to make a strong comment about the fact that slavery continues to exist in twentieth century America, albeit in a different form, manifested in economic oppression of certain social classes:
was working out of a casual labor agency - we regulars called it a slave market. You sat and sat until the dispatcher sent you out on a job.... Getting sent out meant a minimum wage - minus Uncle Sam's share - for as many hours as you were needed. You swept floors...sorted potato chips (really!), cleaned toilets.... It was nearly always mindless work, and as far as most employers were concerned, it was done by mindless people. Nonpeople rented for a few hours, a few days.... I did the work, I went home, I ate, and then I slept for a few hours. Finally, I got up and wrote." (Butler, p. 52)
In one fell swoop, just by the careful choice of words, used in a matter-of-fact tone, Butler places in perspective that modern day society, too, chooses to treat certain classes of human beings as invisible people, undeserving of recognition and respect. Notice especially the incredulous emphasis placed on the job of sorting potato chips. It's almost as if Butler is implying that even potato chips succeed in gaining more attention than the person doing the sorting. Yet, in almost the same breath the mindless person is shown to have ambition enough to rest only for a few hours, then get up, and concentrate on her craft of writing. This indicates that Butler is trying to send society a message that it needs to work towards ensuring a threshold level of well-being for all its members in order that every individual has the freedom to pursue his or her dreams.
In fact, Kindred is full of such sleight-of-hand symbolisms. Take, for example, Dana's marriage to Kevin, a white man. Their union, in spite of the misgivings of both their families, is a rich metaphor for human integration the way it should be, free of racial, color or class barriers. Similarly, it is significant that Dana, a black woman, is the one summoned to rescue her white ancestor, Rufus, every time his life is in danger....
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now