Tucker Non-Fiction

  Kevin throughout the book is pushed to the background. We don’t get details about his 5 years in the past or much of his thoughts. This is because Kindred is a book about Dana, not Kevin. Butler uses this book to show the horrors of slavery and the book would have different points if it were about Kevin Still I find myself fascinated with Kevin. How the book initially treats him as someone who might be susceptible to influence, then saying how he helped slaves escape. On page 109 and 110  Dana and Kevin are talking about how their relatives might react to their marriage. Kevin says “The only close relative I’ve got left is my sister… She’ll Love you, believe me.” Out of all the relatives either Dana or Kevin mention, she is the only one who is believed to accept their marriage, but when Kevin calls she rebukes their marriage. Kevin’s theory is that she married someone who “would have made a good Nazi.” (page 110) This odd inclusion seems to be hinting at Kevin and his potent...

Jes Grew does not necessarily need to be music. In today’s world there are so many popular forms of entertainment that Jes Grew may be involved in many such forms of media. YouTube videos in particular are a form of individual creativity. In particular I am thinking of the early days of YouTube, where people were making weird skits in their bedroom and monetization was sparse. There was a famous YouTuber called LeafyIsHere. If you have not heard of him, he would make voice overs of CSGO videos making fun of as many people as possible. He had a 30 dollar mic and said what he thought. It was raw and although incredibly problematic, people watched. Mr. Beast even in his early days was similar to this “30 dollar mic” style. Making his start on YouTube by playing COD and estimating how much other YouTubers made off of their videos. Early YouTube was authentic and had very few rules (for better or worse.) Many people who made videos, did not do it for potential fame, or monetization, b...

  There are many things that El Doctorow uses to criticize America in different ways, but I just want to focus on Ford / J.P. Morgan. Two historical figures that Doctorow messes with constantly. These two people are symbols of America one way or another. We all have heard of Ford's innovation in the factory to revolutionize the way things are made to this day. J.P. Morgan may not be taught in our history classes to the same degree, but his name is on one of the most powerful companies in America. We all know these names and they are commonly lifted up in American mythology. El Doctorow takes these highly respected names and embarrasses them to the highest degree. With J.P. Morgan, he makes fun of how he might think of himself as a God. I particularly like the line “To Morgan, the disfigurement of his monstrous nose was the touch of God upon him, the assurance of mortality” (139-40). J.P. Morgan is so full of himself that he needs a huge big red nose to remind him that he is n...