Th Memory of Slavery

I believe that Kindred, best depicts the significance of slavery as memory. In today’s world, we all like to think that we are past slavery, that it is distant. But Kindred showed how slavery as memory is something that is still something that is in all of our minds. As much as we would like to put slavery behind us, we are living in a country that is covered with the blood and sweat of slaves. Dana, the main character in Kindred, fully recognizes this fact when she travels back in time.

Dana viewed herself as a strong independent woman who would not be held down by anyone. However, she soon found out that the memory of slavery is not too far-gone when she travels back in time to the Antebellum South. We talked a lot in class about the memory of African American history and how it is broken because there is the history is Africa and then the history in America. But another type of memory broken seems to also exist between slavery and emancipation. Kindred exploits the memory of slavery within the modern world. In the beginning of the novel, it almost seems as if Dana (and definitely Kevin) does not want to recognize the memory of slavery. This is obvious when they first go back and attempt to live their lives like they would in the modern world. But as much as they both try, they cannot erase the memory of slavery.

The grip that the memory of slavery has on both of them is even more evident, when Dana’s injuries carry over into the modern world. Especially when she loses her arm, the reader realizes that the memory, as much as she tries, will not go away. She will always be affected by the memory of slavery. And likewise, are entire modern civilization will always be affected by the memory of slavery.