Summary:
In this part of the story, Dana recounts how she met Kevin. Dana was doing menial jobs assigned by a temp office to make ends meet. When she took a job at an auto parts warehouse, she met Kevin who was working full time. Kevin had just sold a novel and heard that Dana was also a writer. When Dana didn't have enough money for lunch, he bought it for her. They bonded and became a couple despite the teasing of them being an interracial couple.
Dana starts to get dizzy as Kevin holds on to her, making him go back to the old South with her. Dana soon sees why she was called back, Rufus fell out of a tree and broke his leg. Rufus is accompanied by a black boy named Nigel who runs back to the house for help. When Rufus asks who Kevin is, she tells him that he is her husband. He is immediately shocked that they are together since Kevin is white. Dana decides to reveal to him that they come from a future time and place which he doesn't believe until they give him proof. Now Dana has to pretend that Kevin owns her.
Tom Weylin gets Rufus and has a private conversation with Kevin, after which Rufus begs his father to allow the couple to stay with him. Mr. Weylin agrees. There is a slave with Mr. Weylin who appears to be Nigel's father. He warns Dana that Mr. Weylin can be a mean man as well as his son. When they get home, Rufus' mother, Margaret, rushes over and coos over him. She then sends Dana to the kitchen to get supper ready despite Rufus' pleas not to send her. This is where Dana meets Carrie, the mute daughter of the cook whose name is Sarah, Sarah and Luke. Over supper Dana makes up a story about her history which no one seems to believe because of her educated speech. They say that Mr. Weylin worries about Dana because she might come from a free state and give them ideas about freedom.
Carrie gives Dana bread and ham which Dana takes thankfully but hesitantly because of the sanitation. Sarah starts to tell Dana that her husband is dead and Carrie is the only one of her four children Weylin didn't sell. Kevin comes for Dana, and they talk. She is scared that she will get dizzy without Kevin there and that Kevin would get used to playing the role of white slave owner. Weylin has hired Kevin to teach Rufus while he recuperates from his leg wound. Dana is warned from Kevin that Mr. Weylin resents her education.
Reaction:
This is one of the best chapters yet! It is filled with action and suspense. I mean what did Nigel's father mean by Rufus is as bad as his father? Rufus seems like such a nice boy and treats everyone with respect despite the fact he calls Dana the n-word. I was hoping Rufus wouldn't turn out like his father, but perhaps he sadly will.
Also, it will be interesting to see how Kevin fits into his role as slave master. I hope he is kinder than most slave owners certainly and that as teacher to Rufus, he will straighten him out. I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Kindred: The Fire (Parts 4-6)
Summary:
Dana tells Alice that she is a friend. Alice introduces her to her mother, who is lying on the ground, unconscious. When asked where she came from by the mother after becoming conscious, Dana begins to fabricate a story. She says that she is a free slave from New York without any papers who is trying to get to her husband. The only truth she tells is that Rufus is the only one who knows her. Alice's mother believes her and tells Dana the man that was captured was her husband. He was not allowed a pass from Mr. Weylin because he wants her husband to be with another woman so that he can also own their babies.
Just as Dana goes outside to pick up a dropped blanket, a man takes her, believing that she is Alice's mother. She realizes the man is a patroller and tries to fight back. Dana runs back to the house, but the door is barricaded so she runs into the forest. He tries to rape her, but Dana gets away just as the dizziness sets back in.
Dana awakens and her vision is blurry. A man is standing on top of her. Thinking that it is the patroller, she fights him only to realize that it is her husband, Kevin. Kevin tells her that she was gone for three to five minutes when she knows she has been gone for hours.
She gets up the next morning to find a canvas bag next to her filled with clothes, shoes, and a switchblade. Kevin made it for her because he wants her to be prepared the next time she goes. He listens to her story and is again amazed. After, they head over to the library to find a slave's papers to prove that she is free when she returns. Kevin notes that Dana might have more control over going home. If Rufus has the ability to call her for fear of death, Dana's fear of death calls her home.
Reaction:
In the beginning, Alice's mother puts a lot of trust in Rufus, which was probably extremely uncommon in those days. Rufus must have done something worth trusting him or he is actually a really good person. He really contrasts with his father who doles out punishment most severely on slaves and animals. This actually reminds me of a story from my American Literature class. I do not remember who the author was, but I think it was Frederick Douglass who said that slavery was not only bad for the slave but for the slave owner as well. This was because slavery corrupted the slave owner. He told the story of how when he was younger, he was allowed to play with the white boys of the house, but as he grew older, he wasn't allowed to anymore. The boys did not see why they had to stop playing with him and could not understand it. It was only until they were taught that they were "higher", did they understand. I really hope this does not happen to Rufus when he grows up.
Dana tells Alice that she is a friend. Alice introduces her to her mother, who is lying on the ground, unconscious. When asked where she came from by the mother after becoming conscious, Dana begins to fabricate a story. She says that she is a free slave from New York without any papers who is trying to get to her husband. The only truth she tells is that Rufus is the only one who knows her. Alice's mother believes her and tells Dana the man that was captured was her husband. He was not allowed a pass from Mr. Weylin because he wants her husband to be with another woman so that he can also own their babies.
Just as Dana goes outside to pick up a dropped blanket, a man takes her, believing that she is Alice's mother. She realizes the man is a patroller and tries to fight back. Dana runs back to the house, but the door is barricaded so she runs into the forest. He tries to rape her, but Dana gets away just as the dizziness sets back in.
Dana awakens and her vision is blurry. A man is standing on top of her. Thinking that it is the patroller, she fights him only to realize that it is her husband, Kevin. Kevin tells her that she was gone for three to five minutes when she knows she has been gone for hours.
She gets up the next morning to find a canvas bag next to her filled with clothes, shoes, and a switchblade. Kevin made it for her because he wants her to be prepared the next time she goes. He listens to her story and is again amazed. After, they head over to the library to find a slave's papers to prove that she is free when she returns. Kevin notes that Dana might have more control over going home. If Rufus has the ability to call her for fear of death, Dana's fear of death calls her home.
Reaction:
In the beginning, Alice's mother puts a lot of trust in Rufus, which was probably extremely uncommon in those days. Rufus must have done something worth trusting him or he is actually a really good person. He really contrasts with his father who doles out punishment most severely on slaves and animals. This actually reminds me of a story from my American Literature class. I do not remember who the author was, but I think it was Frederick Douglass who said that slavery was not only bad for the slave but for the slave owner as well. This was because slavery corrupted the slave owner. He told the story of how when he was younger, he was allowed to play with the white boys of the house, but as he grew older, he wasn't allowed to anymore. The boys did not see why they had to stop playing with him and could not understand it. It was only until they were taught that they were "higher", did they understand. I really hope this does not happen to Rufus when he grows up.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Kindred: The Fire (Parts 1- 3)
Summary:
Dana is trying to forget the incident with Rufus and his parents by taking a hot shower while her husband finishes unpacking. She is afraid the time traveling might happen again, so Kevin tries to calm her down with take out food. Just as she starts to relax, Dana finds herself in a room with a little boy.
The little boy has red hair and is about to set the draperies on fire. She takes the draperies which were on fire and throws them out the window, saving the boy's life yet again. Dana waits to be taken back to her house and when she isn't, she is surprised, but starts to make conversation with the boy. The boy's name is Rufus and a considerable amount of time has passed since she saw him last. Rufus vaguely recognizes her after Dana recants the story of how she saved him the last time. He tells her that his mother was angry because Dana was "some n****r she had never seen before." Dana in return gets understandably angry and tries to correct the boy by telling him to say "black."
Rufus then informs her of a previous act of arson he committed when he set the barn on fire in retaliation of his father selling his favorite horse. For that, Rufus received a very severe beating and shows Dana his scars. She realizes that Rufus must call her when he is in too much trouble to handle on his own. If he had actually set fire to the place, his father would give him a more severe beating. From Rufus, Dana finds out that she has not only traveled out of her room but into the past, back to Baltimore, Maryland in 1815 on the Weylin family farm. Dana is able to deduce that Rufus must be her ancestor because her grandmother's father was Rufus Weylin. She thinks that she must keep going back in time to save him in order to save her self. In order that Rufus' father, Tom, does not find her in the house, she goes to stay the night with her other ancestor, Alice Greene who is a free black.
As Dana makes her way to Alice's house, she comes across a group of white men. She realizes that blacks without papers are fair game so she hides in the woods. The white men go to a house near by where they bring out a black girl and man and severely whip the man. Dana holds her urge to vomit as she becomes aware that these were patrollers who maintain order. The white men go away, dragging the slave behind them. When they are gone, Dana calls out "Alice!" to the girl who turns around to see where the noise is coming from.
Reaction:
I just wonder what was running through Dana's head when Rufus said the n word! However, I think she should have realized that she was in the past before just because of the clothes and mannerisms like saying the n-word and Rufus being shocked that she was wearing trousers. That must have given her some clue as to the era.
This chapter reminded me of an episode on Family Guy where Stewie creates the universe and that the universe created Stewie to make it, creating a temporal causality loop. Wikipedia describes it as "a theoretical phenomenon, which is said to occur when a chain of cause-effect events is circular. For instance, if event A causes event B, and event B causes event C, and event C causes event A, then these events are said to be in a causality loop." Essentially, the universe makes her go back in time to save an ancestor who would die without her and without her ancestor she would die also. I just thought that it was really cool.
My favorite part of this chapter is when Rufus is telling the story of how he was beaten the first time.
"'He said I took money from his desk and I said I didn't.' Rufus shrugged 'He said I was calling him a liar, and he hit me."
"Several times."
"All I took was a dollar."
He just said that he didn't take a dollar and then later says that he really did take one. This made me giggle because this is what most little kids do and it just seemed so true!
Dana is trying to forget the incident with Rufus and his parents by taking a hot shower while her husband finishes unpacking. She is afraid the time traveling might happen again, so Kevin tries to calm her down with take out food. Just as she starts to relax, Dana finds herself in a room with a little boy.
The little boy has red hair and is about to set the draperies on fire. She takes the draperies which were on fire and throws them out the window, saving the boy's life yet again. Dana waits to be taken back to her house and when she isn't, she is surprised, but starts to make conversation with the boy. The boy's name is Rufus and a considerable amount of time has passed since she saw him last. Rufus vaguely recognizes her after Dana recants the story of how she saved him the last time. He tells her that his mother was angry because Dana was "some n****r she had never seen before." Dana in return gets understandably angry and tries to correct the boy by telling him to say "black."
Rufus then informs her of a previous act of arson he committed when he set the barn on fire in retaliation of his father selling his favorite horse. For that, Rufus received a very severe beating and shows Dana his scars. She realizes that Rufus must call her when he is in too much trouble to handle on his own. If he had actually set fire to the place, his father would give him a more severe beating. From Rufus, Dana finds out that she has not only traveled out of her room but into the past, back to Baltimore, Maryland in 1815 on the Weylin family farm. Dana is able to deduce that Rufus must be her ancestor because her grandmother's father was Rufus Weylin. She thinks that she must keep going back in time to save him in order to save her self. In order that Rufus' father, Tom, does not find her in the house, she goes to stay the night with her other ancestor, Alice Greene who is a free black.
As Dana makes her way to Alice's house, she comes across a group of white men. She realizes that blacks without papers are fair game so she hides in the woods. The white men go to a house near by where they bring out a black girl and man and severely whip the man. Dana holds her urge to vomit as she becomes aware that these were patrollers who maintain order. The white men go away, dragging the slave behind them. When they are gone, Dana calls out "Alice!" to the girl who turns around to see where the noise is coming from.
Reaction:
I just wonder what was running through Dana's head when Rufus said the n word! However, I think she should have realized that she was in the past before just because of the clothes and mannerisms like saying the n-word and Rufus being shocked that she was wearing trousers. That must have given her some clue as to the era.
This chapter reminded me of an episode on Family Guy where Stewie creates the universe and that the universe created Stewie to make it, creating a temporal causality loop. Wikipedia describes it as "a theoretical phenomenon, which is said to occur when a chain of cause-effect events is circular. For instance, if event A causes event B, and event B causes event C, and event C causes event A, then these events are said to be in a causality loop." Essentially, the universe makes her go back in time to save an ancestor who would die without her and without her ancestor she would die also. I just thought that it was really cool.
My favorite part of this chapter is when Rufus is telling the story of how he was beaten the first time.
"'He said I took money from his desk and I said I didn't.' Rufus shrugged 'He said I was calling him a liar, and he hit me."
"Several times."
"All I took was a dollar."
He just said that he didn't take a dollar and then later says that he really did take one. This made me giggle because this is what most little kids do and it just seemed so true!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Bloodchild
So I decided to take a break from Kindred and read Bloodchild, one of Octavia's short works. Let me tell you... this story is crazy. It is about a race of huge centipedes called the Tlic and their birthing process. The Tlic basically reproduce by putting their larvae into hosts which are a source of food for the young. When the larvae hatch, they send out poison to their hosts to kill them and then they eat them. It is pretty messed up.
The usual hosts that the Tlic use are starting to grow defenses against the larvae which is when Humans enter the picture. The Tlic create a symbiotic relationship with the Humans making them willing hosts in exchange for not treating them like slaves and breaking up their families like they usually did. The government sets aside a patch of land for the Humans to live on while they still exploit them.
T'Gatoi, a government official, is very close with her human family that birthed her. Gan, a son of the family, is promised to be the birther of her eggs. Gan is understandably extremely scared of this after he hears a story about an extremely violent birth. He wants to kill himself instead of being a birther. If he does kill himself, his sister will have the responsibility of carrying the eggs, so he decides not to commit suicide.
This whole thing is just messed up. However, this bizarre story intrigued me and kept me reading until the end. Also, I think I will have nightmares.
The usual hosts that the Tlic use are starting to grow defenses against the larvae which is when Humans enter the picture. The Tlic create a symbiotic relationship with the Humans making them willing hosts in exchange for not treating them like slaves and breaking up their families like they usually did. The government sets aside a patch of land for the Humans to live on while they still exploit them.
T'Gatoi, a government official, is very close with her human family that birthed her. Gan, a son of the family, is promised to be the birther of her eggs. Gan is understandably extremely scared of this after he hears a story about an extremely violent birth. He wants to kill himself instead of being a birther. If he does kill himself, his sister will have the responsibility of carrying the eggs, so he decides not to commit suicide.
This whole thing is just messed up. However, this bizarre story intrigued me and kept me reading until the end. Also, I think I will have nightmares.
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