The Symbolism of Dana’s Arm Being Stuck in a Wall
One of the most, if not the most, interesting aspects of Kindred is Dana’s time travel phenomenon, a central element of the storyline throughout the book. This element remains largely unexplained by Butler, adding to its fictionality; although we understand Dana is summoned by Rufus when he’s on the brink of death and she goes back to her time when she feels life threatened, we don’t truly understand how or why these things happen. One scene I found particularly intriguing was when Dana puts this time travel phenomenon to an end by killing Rufus. The moment Rufus dies after Dana stabs him in the side and the back, she finds herself back in the 20th century, but her arm is merged with the wall, right where Rufus left his hand clamped to her arm. In order to free herself, she has to deliberately pull her arm out of the wall, rendering it broken and lost.
Out of all the confusingly unexplained elements within this book, this scene struck me as the most mysterious. There are just so many questions left unanswered; Butler is essentially forcing the reader to speculate. Butler does address this scene, stating that she “couldn’t let her come all the way back … couldn’t let her return to what she was … couldn’t let her come back whole” (267), but while this statement explains the author’s motive behind the scene, it still leaves some questions unanswered. How and why is her arm stuck in a wall? If Butler wanted to have Dana lose something after her journey to the past, why force her to deliberately pull her arm out rather than have it simply fade away, for example? And why some random wall in their house in general; what does the wall seem to symbolize? What does this all reveal about how the time travel phenomenon works as a whole?
My interpretation of this scene is drawn from my own personal reactions and other ideas spurred through class discussion. Much as Butler implies, Dana’s lost arm seems to symbolize that the past leaves permanent marks on the present, especially true in Dana’s case. Similarly, the idea of forcing Dana to deliberately pull her arm free of the wall seems to symbolize the painful process of letting go of a traumatic past. The fact that this arm is lost forever, however, shows the burden still placed on a person as a consequence to the significant trauma. The wall’s sturdy nature and its unrelenting grip on Dana’s arm reflects Rufus’ strong control, or perhaps in another sense strong reliance, over Dana throughout the story. The fact that the wall corresponds to where Rufus was gripping her arm last demonstrates the centrality of Rufus in this time travel phenomenon.
I agree with the conclusions you drew from this scene. Although in the novel, the scene is brief and there is not explanation, it holds significance to the story. As you mentioned, Dana losing her arm serves as a permanent reminder of the past she experienced. You also pointed out that it represented the difficult process of letting go of the horrific past of slavery, which is something I had not considered before but now makes sense. Overall good job and fantastic post!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your assessment as to why Dana's arm was lost and in what particular manner. Just generally it is symbolic as her pulling herself out of the past, and back into the present, changed forever, but it can also represent her mental state as well. She now knows more about her ancestors than she might have ever wanted to, and thus left a part of her hopes or idealized views behind, being stuck with a more harsh and tragic reality. Good post!
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with your conclusion that the arm left behind symbolizes the permanent effect of the past on the present, I can't help thinking that Butler could have done a lot more to characterize the significance of the arm. I remember after finishing the book that my table was talking about how strange it was that Butler didn't address the arm once during the Epilogue, which I believe diminishes its significance as a symbol of permanent consequence. I really like your interpretation of the wall representing Rufus' grip. Maybe Butler could have expanded on that idea if she wrote a better ending.
ReplyDeleteYour comments on the arm-in-wall and the idea of Rufus's continued control over Dana are insightful: especially near the end of the narrative, he increasingly refuses to let her "escape" to the twentieth century (obvious analogies to slavery here, as he seeks to control her movements), and even as he dies, the literal grip he has on her persists--as if he somehow "holds back" a part of her in the past.
ReplyDeleteAmong the various overlapping ways to interpret this metaphor, I think of the idea of time-traveling Dana as an analogy to the work of the historian, and in particular the historian of traumatic subjects like slavery or the Holocaust. Deep immersion in this kind of historical material can take a toll on a person, even traumatize them. Dana can't just figuratively "close the book," remind herself "it's all in the past," and simply resume her life. There's the sense not only that the modern world has been shaped by slavery, but that SHE has been forever changed simply by having been exposed to it so deeply.
I think this is a good analysis of the arm scene and what purpose it serves in the story. However, I'm still left with a few questions. Mainly 'Was there any reason for this scene to be shown to us in the beginning more than providing a hook for the story? Maybe not only to keep us wondering how the story will get to that point as hooks can do, but perhaps also to remind us as the story gets worse and worse that at some point this will also happen?' and 'Was it necessary for Butler to give us this final very clear scar for her to take home from this experience and not leave it at the many others she got over the course of her visits? Maybe this suggests that not only does she have to live with this permanent serious disability, but other people can clearly see it as well? That's sort of a half-baked idea but maybe there something there.' Cool post though.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the aspect that butler sort of leaves readers to speculate events in many parts of the boo. You can see another example of this with Kevin, where she ignores many unanswered questions of the development of Kevin. Like why he didn't become racist with so many hints left in previous chapters. Why would she leave those hints then? Additionally, I agree that the arm having to be pulled out of the wall has a much deeper significance.
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