Kindred
"Kindred" by Jackie Kay is a humerus story that looks at the commonly used theme of death. Kay discusses this in a lighter manner to look at death from a different perspective than it traditionally is. Kay uses literary devices such as setting, tone, word choice and characterization to lighten the view of a usually dark and gloomy subject.
Kay uses characterization very early in the story to describe society's stereotypical view of death and the dead. She then develops the character of Martha to contrast with the traditional view of death :
"Being dead is not at all like I imagined when i was a kid. I imagined the dead would be pale and quiet, and that if they walked at all, they'd walk like zombies, in shuffling slippers, and if they talked at all, they'd whisper and have gravelly raspy voices."
The word choice of 'pale' and 'shuffling' emphasizes the stereotypical view of the dead as a zombie or horrid creature : Kay's characterization of the dead having 'gravely rasping voices' creates an image of a ghoul or undead which represent the traditional view in society :
"I tell it like it is ; i say, you;'re already disintegrated, mate, and you're a bit whiffy, darling."
The characterization and dialogue of the narrator, Martha, both contrast with society's stereotypical portrayal of the dead. the use of the words 'mate' and 'darling' create a very informal, chatty tone which give Martha a strange sense of life and show her upbeat nature towards death. Kay uses this throughout the story to explore the theme of death in a much more positive and nontraditional manner that death is normally associated with.
Kay make use of setting throughout the story to show the true view of Elsewhere and how its beauty contradicts the stereotypical setting of darkness. Kay does this by using Martha to describe Elsewhere :
"It's quite a classy joint because there's an air of sophistication to the place."
The word choice of 'classy' and 'sophistication' contrast with what normally is associated with death, as it describes the dead as being sophisticated as apposed to the zombie - like stereotype :
"We have such a strong sense of colour, we dead : the magnificence of light, the breath - taking glorious pink sunsets, the sweet comfort of the dark, the fragile soft dawn."
Kay's use of imagery is particularly effective in creating a vivid contrast between society's traditional image of death and the true image of Elsewhere. 'sense of colour' portrays Elsewhere as a bright, colourful place instead of the dark and gloomy setting that death is thought to be. 'magnificence of light' creates an almost angelic image to show how different death is to its stereotypical image.
Kay uses word choice throughout the story to create the informal and chatty tone that contradicts the traditional serious and sad tone that is associated with death :
"I remember a pop star turning up one day and expecting us all to be dead impressed and thinking that somehwo there would be a RIP room or something."
The phrase 'dead impressed' adds to the informal and chatty tone to show how comfortable Martha is with death, which contrasts with the stereotypical sadness that is associated with the dead. Kay uses the pun 'RIP room' to show how everyone in Elsewhere is equal :
"And now that I'm dead, I'm