Learn Japanese without Kanji?

I’ve been doing Duolingo casually for over a year and I’m currently at the 2nd highest league because I keep up every single day. I hit lessons with Kanji in them about 5 days ago and I’m honestly tempted to quit. I’m unable to memorize complex symbols in kanji and my lessons have gone from mostly 100% to less than 50% even if I try to check each question. Is it possible to just turn off kanji on Duolingo until Ive mastered the basics or am I screwed. When I say my brain won’t retain kanji I legitimately mean I can’t remember what one single symbol means