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Dana's Experiences On The Weylin Plantation

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Dana's experiences on the Weylin plantation provide a solid portrayal of the discrimination that slaves had to face. An example of this is when Dana is observing the lives of the kids on the Weylin plantation. As she watches the kids go about their daily work she remarks on how easily they have come to accept their status as slaves. Dana exclaims, “I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery” (Butler 101). This shows how slavery was able to continue for centuries in the United States. The children born into slavery knew no other way of life, and were often taught from a young age to accept their inferior status as people of color. This normalization of slavery made it easier for white people to justify their ownership …show more content…

When Dana and Kevin are discussing getting married, Kevin brings up that his sister would not accept the fact that he is marrying a black girl. Kevin states, “That she didn’t want to meet you, wouldn’t have you in her house—or me either if I married you” (110). Kevin's sister does not accept the fact that Kevin was going to marry a black girl and would go as far as to not let him in her house because of it. This is an example of how an issue that was present during slavery continues to pass on through generations that now affects Dana in her present life as well. The idea of a white person marrying a black was frowned upon during slavery, Kevin's sister is a prime example of how this stigma was still around in the nineteen …show more content…

Dana's journey into the past forces her to confront the harsh realities of slavery and the inhumane treatment of Black people. Through her interactions with Rufus and other characters, Dana grapples with questions of morality, empathy, and the basic principles of humanity. “I could recall walking along the narrow dirt road that ran past the Weylin house and seeing the house, shadowy in twilight, boxy and familiar . . . I could recall feeling relief at seeing the house, feeling that I had come home. And having to stop and correct myself, remind myself that I was in an alien, dangerous place”(190). This quote shows that once Dana travels back to the plantation, she has to constantly correct herself because of how the basic human activity was so different in each time period. The fact that Dana has to correct her normal behavior because of how inhumanly she was treated shows how Dana has to adjust between the two time

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