Kevin Character analysis
Kevin character analysis
In Kindred Kevin is Dana's spouse and is a middle aged white writer. Kevin, like Dana gets sent to the past to experience the tragedies of slavery. To the reader on the surface, Kevin could come across as both insignificant to the development of the story, and somewhat useless and ignorant, however with further investigation there are a lot of layers to Kevin's character that are hard too unpack upon first glance. Butler does a great job using Kevin quietly as a way to make the reader to stare at the harsh realities of slavery and racial inequality, and ultimately Butler uses Kevin as a student learning through the 1619 project.
Towards the end of Dana's second visit to the 19th century she finds herself trying to fight off a patroller who thinks that she is Alice's mom. After shaking the patroller off, she finds herself mistaking Kevin as the Patroller. This moment is where Butler begins to flirt with the idea of Kevin going rogue. The symbolization of Kevin flickering with a patroller is Butler's way of projecting the idea that although it is 1976 you are still not safe of the discrimination. Throughout the story the reader sees multiple parallels between Kevin and other white men of the 19th century that continue to enforce this idea. For example when Dana talked about how Kevins eyes seem harsh, and when Dana first met Tom Weylin she also mentioned how his eyes were very cold and harsh. Butler subtly paralleling Kevin to Tom Weylin is a postmodernist way of telling the reader the argument for the 1619 project by using Kevin as a student, and these "parallels" are alternative futures if he continued to stay ignorant.
When Kevin first travels to the 19th century, he is really intrigued to see the past, and more specifically the myths and legends of America, as he mentions how he wanted to go see the construction of the west, and see all the stuff he saw on T.V when he was little. Butler cleverly uses Kevin time traveling to the past as a way of showing the reader the process of a student learning about the 1619 project. Kevin originally like most people, believed that America was great and that there were no flaws in the upbringing of his home country. However, he finds out how misguided he was when he lives with Dana in the past, seeing how badly the slaves are treated and how wrong his pre conceived notion of America was. This brings Kevin to the decision that he wants to be able to make a difference. Kevin then begins to make a small change by assisting with the underground railroad, and helping slaves escape to the north.
Kevin throughout all of Kindred is Butler's postmodernist way of educating the reader on the importance of the 1619 project. Kevin is portrayed as a student learning through the system of the 1619 project and is forced to face the horrors of slavery and the discrimination of 19th century America. Kevin stares the past that he once believed to be full of glory and honor and lives with the cold reality for 5 years. By the time Kevin comes back to 1976 he is no longer the same person and is literally scarred from the past. When finishing the book among the many realizations, Kevin's development is one of the more subtle realizations, however once unpacked, Kevin's growth is monumental.
You went all in on the idea of Kevin as a student learning about the 1619 project. That's definitely a meaningful way to analyze it. Although neither Kevin or Dana spend any time in 1619, they do get a hands-on learning experience of 1800s institutionalized slavery. Both Kevin and Dana return to the present scarred, physically and mentally, and will never truly recover from their experience time traveling. It occurred to me that this could be used to argue that the 1619 project is a harmful way of teaching kids about American history (not my actual opinion, but an interesting question to unpack and debate about). Of course, it's essential to not censor history in any form, and it's important to face uncomfortable truths. That might be something this book is getting at with Dana's inexplicable time travelling to the past-- that you can't ignore history.
ReplyDeleteHi Leor,
ReplyDeleteI thought your ideas about the 1619 project were particularly interesting. As he adapts to the 19th century environment, he realizes that "real" history is not nearly as romanticized as in history textbooks. I also think Kevin's transformation is significant to the goal of the 1619 project, at times completely undermining arguments about the 1776 project.
Great post, Leor! I never considered the role of the 1619 project within this book, and I like how you parallel Kevin's ignorance to that of a student's and use that to demonstrate the promotion of the 1619 project. I also like how you point out how Kevin, after "being educated" by facing the horrors of slavery and discrimination, then goes to try and make a difference by helping slaves escape; it demonstrates how true knowledge of historical accounts can push people towards helping others.
ReplyDeleteFantastic post leor 🗣️🗣️🎉. I found your comparison between Kevin's journey throughout the book and the 1619 project very insightful. He originally comes into this story with idealized visions of the past, like those presented in the 1776 project, but instead leaves with a much more complete view, in line with the 1619 project. He is able to see the world as it truly was, not as it was actually told, and thus is educated while also finding ways to help with the underground railroad, pushing to make a change in the world from his new viewpoints.
ReplyDeleteKevin's school of thought turning from the 1776 "project" to the 1619 project is a very interesting comparison you made. He is forced to experience the 1800s for what they actually were, instead of just reading or watching about the various myths and stories about that era. As you say in your blog post, Kevin literally becomes scarred from the past, which is very postmodernist.
ReplyDeleteWe should be clear that the 1619 Project did not exist when Butler wrote this book, and would not exist for almost 50 years, but the analogy makes a lot of sense to me: one thread of this novel concerns Kevin being educated on the nature of slavery. It's not as if he's completely ignorant or dismissive--he's not a 1776'er exactly, and I'm sure as a good liberal white man in 1976 he would be able to speak at length denouncing the horrors of slavery. But there's that "yes, but . . ." aspect to him that will be familiar to many readers: "Slavery was certainly a shameful time in our nation's history, BUT . . . " He might be inclined to view it as located in the past, something we've "moved beyond" as a nation--and indeed, he's a lot more enthusiastic about those July 4, 1976, fireworks than Dana is. And this is even AFTER he's spent five years in the past. While Dana is forced to stare both Alice AND Rufus in the eye and acknowledge that they are both her KIN, both essential to her family line, Kevin doesn't have that same personal/familial connection. He can retain a certain kind of distance, even after being immersed in the historical context for longer than she was. In the end, when they travel to Maryland, he's again the one trying to reassure her that it's all in the past. Dana seems more aware of the people staring at them (presumably a few 1976 Marylanders who have some issues with an interracial couple) than Kevin is. As usual, he's a bit oblivious.
ReplyDeleteI think it is significant that Kevin is able to experience the past without internalizing the racist views of the time. This shows that a project like the 1619 project (as butler argues with kevin) would not deepen racial tensions in young modern students. I think you make an excellent point linking the two, and it is in these ways that Kevins small developments seem intentional and well thought out.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how you relate the 1619 project to Kevin and how he is sort of a student of it. This time traveling thing kind of sets Kevin's mind straight, revealing truths about slavery that he didn't know about and fixing some of his misguided beliefs of slavery. Through confronting the cruel realities of slavery, he is acting like a student of the 1619 project. His growth and development how important it is to have historical awareness and it shows that we need to learn from the darker aspects of the past.
ReplyDelete