Dana is a Rufus-Apologist?
Many times throughout Kindred, we see Rufus commit terrible acts. He demands Alice to come to him at night, orders Dana around at times, and even gets angry with her to the point of violent action. All the while, Dana tries to see the good in Rufus. Even after the continuous difficulties, she still tries to excuse his behaviors. So why does Dana set Rufus apart from the other white people of the past that she encounters?
For one, we know that Rufus is Dana's ancestor. It may be that Dana wishes her ancestors did not have the same experiences that many people had in the stories we learn about the antebellum South. She may have subconsciously set this ideal for her ancestors, specifically Rufus. We know that Dana has seen Rufus since when he was young and naive. This young Rufus might have placed false hope in Dana that her white ancestor was not like the rest. Seeing a child who has yet to completely take in society gave Dana a sense of security with Rufus. But, during the periods when she was not with him (most of Rufus' life) society took control of Rufus. He fell to the ways of the time period. Throughout the book, though, Dana tries to see Rufus as still a little boy whom she can change to have a late 20th-century view on things, so she excuses his questionable actions.
Another theory is that the actions that the 1800s characters took are unchangeable. Kevin very much believed in the idea that they should not interfere much with the past because whatever is meant to happen will happen. This discussion could also work ideologically. Rufus will act the way he acts because it is the norm for someone in his position to do those things in this time period. Even though he is wrong, Dana can't do much to change him. It is clear that Dana did not believe in this theory. She continued to try to instill some of her 1976 beliefs in Rufus such as telling him to not say the n-word or keeping a boundary between them. Some of it might have stuck, but Rufus still acted like a white plantation owner. We can see Dana give up later on over getting Rufus to not act the way he does, which could be seen as her excusing him.
Yet, I think none of these reasons justify defending Rufus' actions. Luckily, Dana also makes this realization at the end of "The Rope," though it comes down to the final minutes. She contemplates giving in to Rufus' ask, considering how it wouldn't be too bad, but then she comes to her senses and forcefully says no (side note, it would've been wild if Dana told Rufus that she was his descendant right before she killed him. Like one second he's thinking WHAT YOU'RE MY GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER and the next second he's dead. Also, it's funny how she spent the whole book saving Rufus from dying, then ends up killing him herself. But I digress). Dana's character arc becomes complete after this scene when she accepts that Rufus is not that naive little boy anymore whom she can influence.
Yup, the relationship between Rufus and Dana is definitely complex and blurry. Their relationship is one of the most interesting aspects of Kindred to me, which is why I wrote about it for my blog post as well lmaoo. I think your point that Dana's influence on Rufus ended up not making a significant difference to his role as a plantation owner is a really good one, and I'm guessing that's one of the main points Butler's trying to make here. From Dana's perspective, we're able to see the unique personality of Rufus and their unexpected relationship, however, in the end, Rufus ends up as a classic white plantation owner in writing; selling enslaved people, punishing the ones that misbehave, and not setting them free. From an outside perspective, Rufus's plantation appears to operate just like the others by fitting into the racist hierarchical system, which shows how difficult it was to actually break out of the system of slavery, no matter who you were in the time period.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the novel, I think I was supposed to be left thinking that even though Dana tried her hardest with her 1976 morals to change a white plantation owner, she simply couldn't do it. Maybe Butler is trying to imply that slavery is so deeply rooted in the history of America that it will continue to have ramifications on Dana's time and ours forever.
DeleteI don't want to be too cynical or too harsh on Dana, since she's in an impossible situation, but I don't 100% buy that Dana finally killing Rufus was a result of her finally coming to terms with the fact that his actions are unjustifiable. I think he just crossed the line by assaulting her and not somebody else. Nothing he does in that seen is worse than anything he's done before, it's just the object of them that's changed.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically, the parallels to Alice and Rufus's treatment of her are undeniable in this last scene--we see Dana essentially applying the same logic and advice she earlier gives to Alice (don't resist, it will be less painful) to herself and her own situation. She literally tries to "talk herself into it" as she earlier talks Alice into it, and she only recovers her 1976 senses at the last moment. Even as she plunges the knife, in a very real sense the jury is still out on the final judgment of Rufus. She even sees this attack as further evidence of his "love" for Alice, as she understands that he is grieving and not fully in his right mind.
DeleteNice post! I completely agree in that Dana attempts to change a slave plantation owner in ways that are fully against his time and common thinking. Though she can influence his thought in some ways, such as white people and Black people marrying one another and not using the n word, it is far more complex to drop popular belief of the time. Ultimately, Dana realizes this ineffective tactic is futile, therefore giving up on trying to change Rufus. She then can see just how horrible he is and when he advances on her, she kills him to protect herself.
ReplyDeleteWow I didn't even realize that Rufus never found out they were related - that would have been a wild ride for him as he bled out/burned to death??? rethinking the past 15 years of his life. I agree though, Dana's excusing him constantly was really frustrating to read, but I guess it makes sense that the final breaking point was him causing the death of Alive (notably, her other ancestor), and then trying to assault her - if she had forgiven him again after that then I think readers would just hate Dana.
ReplyDeleteI completely forgot that Dana never told Rufus they were related, which I guess she did on purpose and was probably a good idea so that Rufus couldn't just threaten to kill Hagar to manipulate Dana. Also, I still don't think Dana fully came to her senses when it comes to Rufus' behavior, even when she kills him. I think it was more the fact that she was the one being assaulted instead of someone else that led to her killing him. But still, great post!
ReplyDeleteYeah Dana definitely tries to excuse Rufus's actions (or perhaps excuse herself for not taking action against him) a lot. One thing I kept thinking about throughout the novel is that not only is Rufus her ancestor, but so are Tom and Margaret Weylin. But (as far as I remember) she doesn't mention that, and she doesn't excuse their actions. The difference between her attitude towards them and Rufus, though, is that her bloodline depends on Rufus and Alice having Hagar, and, as you mentioned, when she first meets Rufus, he is a young kid who could potentially grow up to be a bit better than his parents, whose personalities and morals are pretty much cemented. Therefore, once Hagar is born and Rufus becomes pretty much beyond redemption and is about to attack Dana, she finally decides to not forgive him anymore. Dana's whole psychology and decision-making regarding Rufus is definitely interesting. Great post!
ReplyDeleteYour last point is really interesting in my opinion, the idea that the characters cannot be changed since they exist in the past - they are "set in stone" if you will. This makes everything that Dana tried to do seem so useless in the end, but in a way it also makes you feel bad for Rufus. This would mean that he never had a chance to change and was destined to become the horrible slave owner he becomes. Personally I don't believe this is the case, but it does make for an interesting theory.
ReplyDeleteThe Dana-Rufus relationship is so complicated on so many levels, although most slave-master relationships are regardless. Dana really wants to think that all her efforts weren't in vain, but at some point she had to let go. When Rufus goes berserk, she knows he's gone too far, even if she does hesitate. Nice post!
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