Rufus

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   Since reading Kindred i have inquired a lot of information about the Slavery period.In class our teacher told us to pick a question from Here and answer it completely. I choose question number four. 

   The love Rufus had for Alice, although described as “destructive” (Butler 147, 180) was pure in its twisted way. Although it is quite sad to see how the time he lived in shaped his views on love. Rufus also had a love for Dana, describing her and Alice as being two halves of each other. The love Rufus had for both of them was as complex as the situations and time they faced. Rufus’ love had a profound effect on them but sadly, this effect was negative. He was selfish and domineering in his love, obviously a trait from the time but also from his upbringing. Alice lost her husband and was forced into being Rufus’ slave; she later has his children and would rebuke herself at becoming content with the situation, leading to her demise. Dana, on the other hand, had a more complex relationship with Rufus that later precipitated into his undoing. They had a severe love/hate, brotherly/sisterly bond that both tried hard not to dissolve. Ultimately, after Alice took her life after Rufus lied about selling their children, in a state of extreme grief, he attempts to rape her. He sought to rape her not out of cruelty but out of a need to control and keep her with him. This would ultimately lead to Dana killing him. 

Alice coped with her relationship with Rufus, and all the scorn she received from other slaves, by, in a sense, detaching herself from the situation. She didn’t love him, or even like him and that kept her in a safe place mentally. After the birth of Hagar, it seems that Alice had grown complacent in their relationship to some extent. She was unhappy with this and tried to escape once Dana went back to the future. I don’t necessarily agree with Alice’s motives and actions towards Rufus, but I also don’t disagree with them. I suppose that in her position after what he had done I would have felt the same. Her inability to conform to him and “be like” Dana or a “white nigger” (Butler 235) was her attempt at keeping any semblance of self. If she gave in, and became compliant, what would she be saying about all the other slaves and about herself as well? It comes down to personal representations of self for both Alice and Dana. Becoming submissive, giving in, isn’t an option. In doing so, they both would have lost a sense of themselves in the process.