In Kindred, Butler has done a wonderful job of creating nuanced characters, both white and black, who are extremely difficult to typecast or to put in a box. In particular, her success in producing ambivalence in the reader is evidenced on our conflicting views concerning Kevin.
Kevin is complicated; the environment of the antebellum South doesn't turn into a white supremacist, but when he does have moments that make us wonder. One of the examples that I underlined while reading was when Kevin muses about how the 1800s would be "a great time to live in," and how it would be fascinating to "go West and watch the building of the country," a sentiment which Dana finds to be totally naive. Butler also purposefully draws connections between Kevin/Kevin and Dana's relationship in 1976 to Kevin/Kevin and Dana's relationship in the 1800s. He becomes offended when she won't type for him, he wants her to move in with him and become dependent (think about what would happen if she DID move in with him and then refused to type), and he is physcially compared to both the patroller and to Tom Weylin. But on the other hand, Kevin doesn't completely align himself with the white planters. We find out in last night's reading that Kevin was helping slaves escape to freedom, and he had distanced himself from the Southern whites enough to be run off the plantation after the Denmark Vesey scare.
I think the key to understanding Kevin is inferring his attitude towards race. Somebody at some point (I forget who, perhaps Tom Weylin) said that Kevin "doesn't seem to know the difference between black and white." While on the surface level, I think that statement is to be read in the context of Kevin's 21st century racial conceptions being vastly different than those of the early 19th century, it also serves as a commentary on Kevin's racial conceptions, period. That is to say, Kevin gives off the air of being kind of color-blind; he's not a racist, but he fails to acknowledge that there are differences in the experiences of people of different races. We get this idea again when Kevin fails to understand why his family might have a problem with marrying Dana. He just doesn't get it.
I hypothesize that the apparent changes we see in Kevin once he reaches the antebellum South aren't changes at all -- his more concerning attitudes have always been there, but it took an extreme environment to bring them out; they weren't evident in 1976. Part of what Butler is doing with the character of Kevin is exposing that there are issues with attempting to simply "not see color." I would imagine that in 1976, a decade after the Civil Rights Movement, this sort of oversimplification as a "solution" was more common than it is now, and Butler is attempting to detract from it.
I think part of the reason Kevin is more accepting to living the 1800's (as well as being white) is that he hadn't had a chance to get homesick yet and see all the types of horrible things that transpired in that time. Eventually he understood that although things weren't quite as bad as he expected, they were bad none the less and wanted them to help slaves escape. I totally agree with Kevin not being racist but more clueless.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really interesting idea that Butler is criticizing the "solution" of being color blind. Kevin doesn't see or understand the stereotypes of black people, but he also doesn't really understand their problems in life, in the 1970s or 1800s. However, like you said, I think the more extreme racial environment of the past makes him realize that this group of people needs help. I personally was very relieved to read that he had been helping slaves escape, and had suffered from it. To me that means that his eyes have been opened, and he hasn't become accustomed to 19th century racism, but has begun to understand the extreme issues with it. I have hope now that he will be able to treat Dana better and live as a more productive member of 1976 society than he was before.
ReplyDeleteI like the point you made about Kevin's apparent color-blindness. We talked about it being a huge problem and it being one of his biggest flaws, but it's allowed him to kind of transform while he's stuck in the South, where no one really is color blind. I agree that he probably had these ideals in him and it was the environment he was trapped in that forced them out. He was a pretty clueless character but he's changed now, and I'm glad that he isn't making any more "a great time to live in" comments.
ReplyDeleteI've thought about that too and I agree that the more concerning sides of Kevin's attitude have likely always existed and have simply been pulled out by the extreme environment of the 19th century--and perhaps put into a "concerning" light by context of the 19th century itself. The weight of Kevin's wanting to explore West etc. are ideas that explode on Dana when he says them, but they would likely have a whole different feeling if he said the same thing living in the 21st century. And I think Kevin doesn't see the danger of himself changing as much as Dana does; it's easier for him to know/believe that within a 5 year stay he will be helping slaves escape and will come back with a relatively unchanged mindset. Therefore, he isn't as careful with what he says as he otherwise would be.
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