Symbolism of Dana's Arm
For my blog post I wanted to focus on a moment in Kindred that really stuck with me through its many ways of symbolism. Dana losing her arm at the end of the book left a powerful and unsettling impression and I was curious about it’s ties to a broader understanding of the effects of trauma. Octavia Butler uses this physical loss to show the marks of history that can't simply be ignored or shaken off. Dana returns to her own time, but she doesn’t return completely untouched by her experience. The violence of the past has fused with her and has manifested itself into an injury. It shows a deeper meaning that Dana’s emotional and psychological scars that slavery leaves an impression, even generations later. Dana’s arm being trapped in the wall of her home also symbolizes the connection she has between past and present. She is pulled (metaphorically and quite literally) between two worlds, and her arm is cut off at the exact point when those two worlds collide. I think this is trying...