Strength and Weakness in Kindred
"'Look, your ancestors survived that era survived it with fewer advantages than you have. You’re no less than they are.' 'In a way I am.' 'What way?' 'Strength. Endurance. To survive, my ancestors had to put up with more than I ever could. Much more.'" (Butler 51) "'I told you when all this started that I didn’t have their endurance. I still don’t. Some of them will go on struggling to survive, no matter what. I’m not like that.'" (Butler 246) These two exchanges, one near the beginning and one near the end of the book, stuck with me. Aside from being great examples of some of the disconnect between Kevin and Dana, it raising interesting questions and perspectives on what strength is in Kindred, how it looks, and the different standards of the times (an interesting blog post made on a similar topic by Ryland: Butler and the 1619 Project ). As stated in that post, the current-day notion many people have of strength is notably