One aspect of Kindred
that I find really interesting is Dana's relationship with Rufus. Rufus is a
very interesting character - even as he grows up, he still seems to behave like
a child in many ways. Dana tries to get him to act in a more mature manner,
with limited success.
Rufus's relationships with both Alice and Dana show a very
immature attitude towards love, whether romantic or platonic. Of course, a good
deal of this is related to race − Rufus has been brought up his entire life to
believe that he has the right to do whatever he wants to black people like
Alice and Dana. Still, Rufus doesn't seem to understand how love is supposed to
work. Granted, he hasn't had many good examples − neither of his parents seem
to be able to have a remotely healthy relationship with anyone − but that still doesn't excuse him for acting the way he
does toward Dana and especially Alice. Rufus seems to think he can threaten
them into loving him, not understanding that that's not how love works.
Rufus reminds me of a little kid who doesn't understand why
he can't get what he wants 24/7. A lot of this comes from his terror of being
abandoned, since "what he wants" is usually for Dana or Alice to stay
with him forever and love him. He's like a toddler who cries every time his
parents leave the room, except he's a grown man with a gun. Rufus hasn't
learned to see the objects of his "love" as actual people
Throughout the book, Butler tries to make the point that
Rufus isn't a bad person because of some inherent part of his nature that makes
him a possessive rapist. Rather, for his entire life his selfish, harmful
desires have been validated by everything and everyone around him. His society
tells him that as a white man in the planter class, he absolutely has the right
to rape Alice or to order Dana around.
Rufus and Dana's relationship throughout the book is an interesting one to watch develop as the novel goes on. I find it interesting that you said he still seems to behave like a child in many ways even as years have passed. It is almost as if Dana and Rufus are both growing up physically, but their relationship doesn't grow with them. As you get older, your relationship with parents or even older siblings evolves. I see Dana as a parental figure to Rufus; and to me it seems as though they are both not willing to let their relationship develop into anything more/anything different than when Rufus was young.
ReplyDeleteAs brutal as he is, Rufus is a product of his time. But so are Dana and Alice -- Dana's present makes it extremely hard for her to become accustomed to the reality of the slave era and her place in it, and Alice's present is partly the reason why she eventually caves into Rufus' desires. So are we, and that's why we can barely fathom that during his time, there were millions of men like Rufus, and somehow, he would probably have been considered one of the better ones. The inkling of his humanity as a child and the sympathy we have for his daddy issues makes us lament that perhaps, had he been born in a different time, maybe he would have had a chance.
ReplyDeleteThis explanation of Rufus's behavior definitely hits home with me. He's absolutely so immature and niave in so many ways. It kind of makes me think the Morehouse Parish story from Mr. Sutton's history class. He really is like a child in that he is unable to restrain his elemental passions, making him totally un-respectable. And I think they really are "elemental passions" because he doesn't seem to have a sense of any higher meaning of love. It's just very depressing to me that in that society there was no real chance for him to "grow up."
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