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Popular Culture Review
she recalls “feeling relief at seeing the house, feeling that I had come home.”^*
We are whatever time or place becomes a part of us. Despite the extremity of its
violence and pain, the Maryland plantation and those upon it had become central
to Dana’s reality, and therefore to her identity.
The ability to share past experiences and hopes for the future gives meaning
to an otherwise solitary and lonely existence. Important in revisiting the past in
works of science fiction is the discovery of shared experiences with all humans
throughout time. When Kivrin arrives in 1348, her attitude is naive. Like Dana,
the time to which she travels demands more of her physically and emotionally
than she has ever had to give. The part of herself that 1348 brought out and
developed is the part she will inevitably have to leave behind when she returns
to 2052. Similarly, Dana depends on Kevin because he is her “anchor” and her
“kindred spirit.”^^ He alone has shared in the experiences of both 20th-century
and 19th-century life. Now that the Maryland plantation has imposed itself upon
her sense of self, without Kevin’s presence securing her place, Dana would feel
isolated in modem Los Angeles.
We remember in order to learn lessons; we distance ourselves to move on.
“Memory’s vices,” writes Daniel Schacter, “are also its virtues.”^^ Dana and
Kivrin had traumatic experiences in the past. When Dana killed Rufus, she was
immediately pulled back to 1976 even though Rufus continued to grip her arm.
When she arrived in the present, her arm was cmshed within the wall. She had
to tear her arm from her body in order to free herself In a highly symbolic act,
Dana is now free from the grip of the past, but she is scarred by it as well.
Similarly, as humans we are free from the trauma of history, yet we continue to
be affected by its consequences.
Kivrin’s escape from the past is similar to Dana’s. Mr. Dunworthy rescues
Kivrin, but she stmggles to process life in 2052. As Mr. Dunworthy acquaints
her with the ills afflicting the present moment, Kivrin’s heart remains with the
friends she has lost. That Kivrin will have no one in the present to share the
intensity of her experiences will isolate her; however, she does have fellow
historians who will listen to her recorder and try to engage with her emotionally.
These events will become memories which will help her better understand
humanity in its narrative in time.
Kindred and Doomsday Book teach that understanding ourselves, learning
significant lessons, and healing historical wounds, requires a purposeful
confrontation with history. Stories of time travel are beneficial for their use of a
present perspective to concentrate on human issues throughout time. Humans
sustain cultural and personal memory of the past, but Dana and Kivrin delved
beyond ordinary recollection. Their journeys foiled the natural order of human
experiences in time to reveal the dynamic ways in which identity is created. The
events of their narratives were extraordinary, yet their identities were formed
through the same processes humans have undergone throughout history. They
survived by organizing internal narratives within categories of past, future, and
self Significantly, Kivrin and Dana discovered profound bonds and similarities