Kevin and Dana

Kevin and Dana are subject to the rules of the time periods they travel to, but the different opportunities they both have as a white man and a black woman are starkly different and highlight an important tension that exists throughout time.

Both Dana and Kevin are like actors when they go back in time. They have to play along with the other characters, but Dana’s role as a slave is much more real than Kevin’s as a slave-owner. Dana pretty much becomes a slave to the Weylins throughout her experiences at the house and is subject to both the judgment of the Weylins and eventually the field-hands who see her as an “Uncle Tom.” Kevin, on the other hand, is more of a tourist and his judgments are less scrutinizing than Dana’s. This is illustrated when Dana and Kevin see the slave children pretend to sell each other. Kevin just sees kids playing, while Dana sees the effects of a time period that indoctrinated children to accept their enslavement.

This tension can also be seen in Dana and Kevin’s relationship in 1976. Kevin wants Dana to type his manuscripts instead of working at a menial, manual labor job she referred to as the “slave market” (52). Kevin doesn’t understand that Dana wants the job for the independance. As an observer, Kevin cannot relate to the position Dana is in. He is trying to help Dana but ends up damaging their relationship.