Dana and the Middle Passage

A couple panel-presentations ago, the comparison between Dana and the Middle Passage was mentioned (I don’t really remember if it was from an article topic or if it just arose from discussion separately). I had never really thought of it before, but after some contemplation I have concluded that it does make sense. Whether the comparison was intended by Butler or not, it is a reasonable interpretation that actually helped me to clarify some of Dana’s traits. Looking at characters with a new perspective always has the potential to help.

The Middle Passage involved the trade of massive numbers of Africans into the Americas, and the treatment of the Africans was far from kind. They were rudely crammed into ships and not given sanitary conditions or space. In other words, they had no control. They had absolutely no voice in the process, starting all the way from their capture continuing through their long journey over the ocean and then in the Americas, until the end they had no say whatsoever. If they tried to do anything about their predicament, they would feel the harsh “no” to their opinion with a physical beating. Another aspect to the human trade system was that of personal disbelief. Taken out of their homes/home environment, soon-to-be slaves would be clueless as to what would happen to them next, and the fact that they could not change future events and that terrible things were happening to each of them played a role in this fear and utter disbelief. So while I am making a general assumption here, it is a safe one simply because of what the Africans had to endure.

Dana’s trips to the past overlap with both of these issues. Octavia Butler makes it clear that Dana has no control over her time traveling. Although not entirely explained why, it is left to the life choices of Rufus, because whenever he is in serious trouble she is sent through time to save him and then stay for some needed period. The unpredictability of her visits is the cause for her not to drive and to carry a bag with materials for survival, she doesn't know when she will be called. Once she is in the past, Dana can’t go back willingly, she has to wait until some other force/person threatens her life. Only on one occasion does she make a conscious choice that allows her to return to her normal time setting, and that is when she slits her wrists. This is just one possible interpretation, but this could analogous to a slave making the extremely risky decision to escape. Dana slitting her wrists and a slave trying to escape both stem from spite for a current life situation, and require lots of pain and risk. The second factor I mentioned in the Middle Passage was a questioning of why everything that happened to the Africans actually happened. Many times Dana thinks of why she has to go through Rufus’s life, and why she has to act the part of a slave. All she wants is the simple comfort of not having to time travel and enjoying life with Kevin at home. But it doesn't work out that way. Many times throughout the novel, after Rufus says something to Dana, Butler writes for Dana, “I said nothing.” This phrase constantly appears, and I think it implies Dana’s contemplation of why she has to deal with such problems. It also indicates a little fear she has of consequences that could occur if she doesn't agree with Rufus.

The significance of all this is that it amplifies the suffering Dana has to go through. Once hearing of the comparison, initially, the Middle Passage and Dana were linked in my mind because the journeys related to both headed towards a world of slavery.  Since the Middle Passage was obviously an atrocious part of history, to make the connection between it and Dana puts such a grave tone on her travels.