Dana's Influence on Rufus
In Kindred, we as readers get to witness the transformation of multiple
characters, including Rufus, Dana, and Kevin. These transformations are unique
in that they are shaped by the time period of the character themselves and from
the time period of the characters that they are interacting with. The most
interesting character development to me was by far Rufus’ development. We see
the boy grow up from his early childhood from an innocent boy to a morally ambiguous
man.
The story opens
with Dana meeting a very young Rufus and saving him from drowning. Rufus sees
her, but their interaction is very limited, and it is mainly a moment of shock
for all involved. It is when Dana meets Rufus for the second time that the two
start forming a connection and talking to each other. Rufus continuously calls
her the n-word, and she consistently reprimands him. Although he is dumbfounded
by the idea that it is not alright to call a black person by that slur, he still
listens to Dana’s arguments and thinks of her as a person. Unlike his parents,
he grows up having a black figure as an influence in his life and spends his
childhood in the acquaintance of black children, such as Nigel and Alice. Nowhere
in the story of his early life is it indicated that thinks of his black
acquaintances as someone he owns but rather friends.
Therefore,
when he grows up, he still sees Dana as a maternal figure of sorts and tries to
model his relationship after hers. Rufus grew up knowing that Dana and Kevin
were a married couple, and he wants a similar relationship with Alice. This is
in stark contrast to the behaviors of Weylin, his father, who simply slept with
slaves for economic profit. Slaves were interchangeable in the minds of Weylin
and most other slave owners, but Dana’s influence on Rufus made him see slaves
as people of their own. However, the context of the time period also has its
effects on Rufus – while he sees the slaves as individual people, he still
thinks of himself as higher than them and subjects them to torturous treatment.
In fact, one might argue that he is actually worse than the typical slave
owner, as his punishments are personalized since he forms connections with his
slaves. In the end, he ends up thinking of Dana, a woman who he has grown up
admiring as a maternal figure.
The
story of Rufus poses the classic nature vs. nurture argument: is Dana’s
influence on him throughout his life enough to change the effects of the
environment he is growing up in? My answer to that is we don’t know. While Dana
shows up in crucial moments of Rufus’ life, it is only for brief time periods.
The fact of the matter is that Rufus spends most of his life watching his
father and learning how to become a plantation owner. Dana is definitely has a
major impact on his life, which is evident in the connections he forms with his
slaves and his desire to be with Alive. Unfortunately, the strange combination
of Dana’s 20th century influence and Rufus’ 19th century environment
cause him to become his own breed of slave owner: a sadistic man who forms
connections with his slaves only to exploit them in the end.
Great analysis on how Dana's influence changes Rufus from what he would have ended up as without her, which is probably someone quite similar to his father. Dana does as much as she can, considering her situation and Rufus' continuing time in the slave era. I wonder, if Rufus was brought into Dana's timeline instead, how much he would be able to adjust. I'm sure his youth spent in the slave era as a slave owner's son would definitely leave some influence on him, but how much could he actually change if all the influence, including that of his environment, was consistent with Dana's views?
ReplyDeleteI think that in a world without Dana, Rufus would be an entirely different person, but I don't know if he would be any worse or better as a person. I think that he would most likely be a bit harsher on the slaves, but wouldn't be nearly as manipulative. However, Rufus being raised by his father with a system already setup for him to be a man in power, it was an impossible task to turn him into a great man. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a tough question to answer, but in the end, I don't think that Dana has influenced his environment much. He was already friends with Alice when Dana talked to him for the first time, and when Alice became a slave, it seems like he started to get to know the other slaves more. His father has influenced him a lot, like you said, in becoming a slave owner. Rufus obviously doesn't see the slaves in the same way his father did (economic profit, like you said again), and I think that's more because he has feelings for Alice.
ReplyDeleteGreat job! I think that this entire thread is so complicated, and sad as well. Dana tried to be a positive influence on Rufus, and irrationally believed in some goodness that she'd once seen in him as a boy. While I agree like Dana did have, to some extent, a sort of positive maternal effect. But was it really positive, or did she just end up confusing and twisting him more? Also, I think both Dana and Rufus' environment is the 'nurture' aspect, and perhaps his nature was the naive but kinder boy we once knew who was completely twisted by the end.
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