KEVIN
Throughout our discussions about Kindred in class, a hot topic we discussed often was Kevin. Kevin is one of the few white people in the novel, and the only one that isn't a slaveowner. So when Kevin was placed in the past of slavery, it was only natural that we would question whether or not Kevin would be able to withstand the priveleges of being a white man in a time period in which white men were put on a pedastal and given all the priveleges one can think of. His own wife can't help but question whether or not Kevin will return home the same man he once was. However, throughout the novel we see Kevin stay strong and he doesn't fold to the indulgences for the white man in the 1800s. However, he does have his flaws.
An example of Kevin holding strong is when he tells Dana that he had been helping slaves escape, even though it may cost him his life. This shows Kevin's commitment to the cause. However, Kevin struggles with interpersonal relationships with slaves and has trouble seeing them as real people. Throughout the novel we see him brush off things that the reader and Dana see as deeply troubling. An example of this is when the two come across the slave children having a mock auction. Dana is extremely shocked and horrified that this is even a thing, meanwhile Kevin is just like "oh yeah I saw them doing this earlier, weird right?" He also doesn't really understand why life on the plantation is so bad, as it could be a lot worse on other, more abusive plantations. He can't quite grasp the fact that even though one might be worse with physical abuse, the mental abuse that slaves take at the Weylin plantation hurts just as bad. He also has trouble understanding Dana's point of view in this whole situation. It's hard for him to grasp the complexity of the relationship between Dana and Rufus, as he often just wants her to kill him because he's a bad person. There are multiple layers to why killing Rufus is such a hard decision that Kevin can't quite understand.
However, his lack of intimacy with the situation at hand does have it's benefits to it. He can see the sitaution more subjectively rather than having emotions come into play. This allows him to see Rufus as he is, which is a terrible and manipulative person. He was right about Rufus wanting Dana, and wants Rufus killed. Whether this is out of true honest opinion or jealoiusy of Rufus, we don't know, but either way it might've given Dana the strength to finally kill Rufus when the time comes.
Kevin is also a bit controlling over Dana and we see his temper flare up. We see this when he returns to his home in the present time and he gets frustrated because he can't remember how any of the present technology works. He takes out his anger on Dana and flips out on her when she's just trying to help. He is jealous of Rufus, and he tried to force Dana to write his manuscripts for him.
I think Butler's depiction of Kevin is really interesting because he is sort of the white-savior of the novel. In comparison to Reed's depiction of the white-savior, Butler's makes the white-savior seem more complex. Reed shows the white savior as simply uneffective and one that will fold under any amount of pressure. Doctorow depicts the white savior as one who can be effective and committed, but won't truly understand. Butler follows this route more. Kevin is very effective and committed as he helps slaves escape. However, he does have his flaws and fails to see the slaves as human as someone like Dana, who is connected to them through her ancestral roots.
I got a little worried about the direction Kevin was heading in at the beginning of the novel. It kind of seemed like Butler was setting him up to grow acclimated to the morality of the time and turn on Dana. When he emerged after five years in the time and had stood his ground morally, I was pretty surprised. I agree, the fact that he didn't adapt makes it seem like Butler is much more optimistic about the white ally than Reed.
ReplyDeleteI also thought Kevin's role in the book was complicated. He certainly felt more naïve to me than Dana while in the past, and though he tries to do what he can (with helping the slaves), he still could never fully grasp the situation. I think it's interesting how you discuss the other white characters we've read throughout this class. I'd say Kevin falls just below Mother's Younger Brother in terms of commitment and understanding, but is well above Thor Wintergreen's complete naivety. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think you make a good and important point about the spirit or attitude with which Kevin talks about his efforts to aid escapees and to teach freedpeople to read and write: he doesn't present himself as a glorified "white savior" who is singlehandedly saving enslaved people left and right. He seems deeply traumatized by his experiences and what he's witnessed, and he is aware of and sobered by how miniscule his individual efforts are, in the grand scheme. He maybe "changes history" in small and significant ways, for those individuals he helps, but the large-scale history rolls on unchanged. He doesn't boast of his righteousness to Dana, and yet he assuages her (mostly unspoken) anxieties about how his time in this past might affect him. She is still struck by little details that remind her of Rufus (his accent, this time)--but he does a pretty good job of distinguishing himself from Rufus, in terms of how he conducts himself in the past.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what you said, except for the part where you said he "doesn't see slaves as real people." I don't think that his behavior is due to him having difficulty recognizing them as people, but instead because he doesn't what the conditions are like. He rarely interacts with the slaves at a personal level so he can't see the conditions either. Finally, he doesn't really share the racial background that Dana shares with them, so that might make it harder for him to relate to them. Overall, great post.
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