Discussion Topic

Dana's family history in Kindred

Summary:

Dana's family history in Kindred reveals complex ties between her ancestors and the Weylin plantation. Dana, an African American woman, discovers that she is related to both slaves and slave owners. Her journey through time, facilitated by supernatural forces, exposes the harsh realities of slavery and the intertwined destinies of her family, ultimately shaping her understanding of her identity and heritage.

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Where are Dana's family records in Kindred?

Dana's family records are in "a large Bible in an ornately carved, wooden chest".  The records were begun by Hagar Weylin sometime in the mid-1800s.  Hagar was the daughter of Rufus Weylin, the son of a white plantation owner, and Alice Greenwood, a free black woman.  Dana reveals that her uncle still has the Bible, and that it contains the only information about Alice's life that still remains in the present day.

In the Bible, Hagar carefully recorded the date of her marriage to a man named Oliver Blake, and listed the names of "her seven children, their marriages, some grandchildren".  After awhile, the record was taken up and continued by someone else (Chapter 1).

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What information is given about Dana's family in Kindred?

Time travel is used in Kindred in order to address themes of family and race. When Dana travels through time, she both takes her family (her husband, Kevin) with her and appears in the past in the presence of her ancestors.

Dana quickly learns that her ancestors are both white plantation owners (Rufus Weylin) and slaves (Alice Greenwood) in nineteenth-century Maryland. Alice is forced to have children by Rufus, giving birth to Hagar Weylin and creating the line that will eventually lead to Dana's birth. Dana notices the similarities between herself and Alice, realizing that Alice's life could have easily been her own if she'd been born in the nineteenth century instead of the twentieth.

We also meet Rufus Weylin's parents, Tom Weylin and Margaret Weylin. Tom is a cruel man, quick to violence toward anyone who angers him. Dana comments that Tom "sounded like a man who worked at inspiring fear" ("The Fire," part 2). Margaret's actions are unpredictable, swinging between kindness toward those around her when she's under the influence of opium and abuse when she is not. She beats Dana the first time she meets her, assuming that Dana has "killed" Rufus when, in actuality, Dana has saved him from drowning ("The River"). This is just the first incident in a pattern of Margaret lashing out in anger against the slaves on the plantation.

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Who are Dana's parents in Kindred?

You must be speaking of the section in the book where Dana is recalling her family Bible.  She does not mention her parents by name anywhere in the book but she does mention her grandmother, Hagar Weylin Blake.  She was married to Oliver Blake and her children and grandchildren are also listed in the Bible.  In fact, you can find this information in the chapter entitled "The Fire."  This occurs on Dana's second trip to the Weylin plantation.  She and Rufus are eating and Dana begins asking him questions about his family history, as well as questions about people who live on the plantation. 

"Hagar had filled pages of it with her careful script.  There was a record of her marriage to Oliver Blake, and a list of her seven children, their marriages, some grandchildren... Then someone else had taken up the listing.  So many relatives that I had never known, would never know." (pg. 28)

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Who are Dana's ancestors in Kindred?

Kindred tells readers the story of how Dana's unique ability to travel backward in time allowed her to guarantee her own future existence. When Kindred begins, readers are introduced to Dana, who has just somehow had her arm crushed by a wall that her arm seems to have existed inside of. Over the course of the rest of the book, we learn just how that happened to her arm, and it is a direct result of her time traveling back in time to make sure Rufus and Alice survive long enough to conceive Hagar.

Dana quickly learns that her time-traveling ability is not under her conscious control. Dana is taken back to the 1800s every time Rufus Weylin's life is in danger. It turns out that Rufus is Dana's ancestor. Dana knew that she had a distant ancestor named Rufus, but she didn't know that Rufus was a white man and a complete jerk.

As Dana gets to know Rufus, she realizes that he has his sexual desires fixed upon Alice. Dana figures out that the Alice that Rufus has eyes for is also her ancestor. Unfortunately, Alice wants nothing to do with Rufus, so Dana is forced to convince Alice to have sex with Rufus in order to give birth to Hagar. Hagar's line leads to Dana; therefore, Dana must make sure that Rufus and Alice conceive a child to guarantee her own future existence.

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