There
is indeed a difference in perspective when one reads about history and when one experiences
history. Kevin and Dana, an interracial couple, are transported from the 1970s to the 1800s,
where slavery is alive and well in the South.
As a white man, Kevin struggles
to understand the cruelty and inhumanity he witnesses toward the slaves. Even though he and Dana
experienced racism in the 1970s, what he is exposed to on the Weylin plantation is horrifying.
He sees the strength in Dana as she deals with the other slaves and Rufus, the plantation
owner's son. Kevin helps in the effort to free the slaves, but is it enough? Not really. Is he
as strong as he once thought he was? Not really. Being a part of something he has only read
about has a deep emotional impact.
When Kevin returns to his own time, he
deals with a host of emotions: Anger at himself and Dana for going back in time and living
through a shameful and painful episode in history. Helplessness at what he could not change
and...
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