What is Dana's struggle with Rufus?
Why does Dana hate Rufus?
What does Dana represent?
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How is Rufus related to Dana in Kindred?
A white, red-headed slave owner in Antebellum Maryland, and Dana's ancestor.
How does Dana know Rufus is her ancestor?
He says his last name is Weylin and confirms that he has a young black friend, a free woman, named Alice Greenwood. When Dana hears these names, she realizes that Rufus is her ancestor.
What does Dana and Rufus relationship symbolize?
Rufus' touch symbolically represents the power that Rufus had as Dana's master and the lingering effect that living under the white master's thumb had on enslaved people and their children. Dana is alive, with her soul and relationship with her husband Kevin intact, but she could not return from the past whole.
Who is related to Dana in Kindred?
Hagar. Dana's direct ancestor, and the daughter of Rufus and Alice. Hagar is a baby when the novel ends.
What does Rufus want Dana to call him why?
Rufus quickly tells Dana that she'll have to start acting like a slave and call white people master if she wants to avoid getting in trouble. But she's not willing to do it.
How are Alice and Dana related?
Alice is Dana's ancestor, and the two women look alike.
What does Dana losing her arm symbolize?
I think many of us can agree that Dana's lost arm is a symbol of her still being stuck in the past while continuing to live her life in the present. Dana is clearly not the same person she was before the time traveling.
How did kindred lose her arm?
Answer and Explanation: Dana's loses her arm in traveling back to the future because Rufus has a hold of her wrist.
What does Rufus mean this time when he says that Dana and Alice are the same person?
Anyway, all that means we're two halves of the same woman….” (Butler 228). This scene shows that Rufus sees the two of them the same way, and that if Dana had been born in the same time and had been less educated she might have been in the same situation that Alice was currently in.
What event inspires Dana to run away from Rufus?
But in the end, Alice goes to Rufus. A few days later, Alice hands Dana some papers she found in Rufus' bag. The papers are Dana's letters to Kevin, meaning that Rufus never mailed them. Dana decides to run away from the plantation when she finds out.
What race is Dana in Kindred?
black womanThe protagonist and narrator of the novel, Dana is a black woman from 1979 California who gets pulled back in time to Antebellum Maryland to save the life of her white ancestor, Rufus Weylin. Dana is a strong, resourceful, intelligent woman, as well as a writer like her white husband Kevin.
Why was Dana whipped in Kindred?
Answer and Explanation: Tom Weylin whips Dana after he catches her reading. He forbade her from reading after he came across her looking at a book in his library.
How does the relationship between Dana and Rufus develop How does it change?
In Octavia E. Butler's Kindred, Dana and Rufus's relationship is intricate in the following ways: Dana is more of a guardian to Rufus, Rufus and Dana become companions, and he finally starts acting like a slave owner while she starts acting like a slave that Rufus owns.
What event inspires Dana to run away from Rufus?
But in the end, Alice goes to Rufus. A few days later, Alice hands Dana some papers she found in Rufus' bag. The papers are Dana's letters to Kevin, meaning that Rufus never mailed them. Dana decides to run away from the plantation when she finds out.
What is the relationship between Rufus and Alice in Kindred?
In contrast, Rufus and Alice are the ultimate example of an unhealthy interracial couple. Rufus is obsessed with “possessing” Alice as both a slave and the object of his affection, while Alice regards Rufus, her master, with a mix of fear, loathing, pity, and hints of affection.
The relationship between dana and rufus is one that
The relationship between Dana and Rufus is one that many Americans of the 19th and 20th century would view as unbelievable. How could Rufus, a white slave owner, fall in love with a black woman in the 19th century when he is supposed to uphold a house of slaves and beat and abuse them? The relationship brings you through a rollercoaster ride, where you many times are confused on what to think ...
The Relationship between Rufus, Dana, and Alice in Kindred
Something both Dana and Alice would have in common more than just looks and skin color would be the subjects of the Weylin men’s tempers. For example, when Dana is caught by Tom reading in the cookhouse in front of Nigel “didn’t I tell you I didn’t want you reading!” (106) Tom justifies the whipping for disobedience on more than just reading “I treated you good and you pay me back ...
The Relationship Between Dana and Rufus in Kindred | Kibin
Kindred Essay Dana and Rufus might look like friends from the outside, but Dana’s feelings for him are quite different from what we think of them. To begin with Dana sees Rufus as a child needing or relying upon her protection. For instance, when Dana saved him from drowning in the river. S...
How does Dana influence Rufus and his attitudes toward slavery ... - eNotes
Dana, a time traveler from the late twentieth century, has hopes to change history when she meets Rufus Weylin. As an African American woman with modern ideas about racial equality (and the unique ...
Kindred Flashcards | Quizlet
Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like When is dana first pulled back in time?, How old is Rufus when Dana first rescued him?, How old is Rufus when Dana rescues him the 2nd time? and more.
Blurred Lines: History as Fiction: Dana and Rufus's Relationship - Blogger
So when Rufus tried to rape Dana, the whole parent-child relationship didn't seem to fit. In fact, as the book progressed, the dynamic between Rufus and Dana changed in such a way that Dana wasn't really sure what to make of Rufus.
What does Rufus tell Dana?
Dana cares for Alice through her recovery, and Rufus tells Dana that he's going to "have" Alice, one way or another. He simply wants Dana to convince Alice that if she comes willingly, she won't be beaten. At this point, Rufus has lost any redeeming qualities he might have had, but Dana perseveres in looking for opportunities to save him and help him understand the truth.
Why does Dana use literature?
At one point, Dana uses literature to try to build a relationship with Rufus. He confides in her that his teacher thinks he is stupid, and Dana tries to encourage him. She even agrees to tutor him for a while, undoubtedly hoping to influence his thought processes and the way he views the world through education.
What does Dana claim about Kevin?
Dana claims that her marriage to Kevin is sound, and that as a couple they have not been harmed by their travels to the South. Still, while they are there and when she talks to him about her experiences there, she finds that a wall springs up between them. Kevin cannot understand everything Dana tries to tell him about her life in the South as a slave, but Dana accepts his limited understanding. Although she knows that he is an imperfect husband and person, she is committed to him as the man she has chosen to live her life with. Dana’s identity as a writer is just as important to her as her identity as a wife. She finds that while there are things she can’t share with Kevin, there is nothing she can’t write about.
What is Dana's story about?
A young black woman writer living in the end of the twentieth century, she finds herself plunged into the antebellum South of the nineteenth century, an alien world in which she must struggle to establish an identity and to maintain her freedom. Dana must also battle her conscience.
Does Kevin understand Dana?
Kevin cannot understand everything Dana tries to tell him about her life in the South as a slave, but Dana accepts his limited understanding. Although she knows that he is an imperfect husband and person, she is committed to him as the man she has chosen to live her life with.
What is Dana's struggle with Rufus?
Dana also struggles with Rufus's character. On one hand, she sees glimpses of goodness in him, and she holds out hope that she will eventually influence Rufus, helping him to be a better person. Yet Rufus is the only one with power, and he has always been so spoiled and coddled that he is ultimately a hopelessly selfish man. This type of relationship is represented historically, with slaves often trying to find glimpses of goodness and therefore hope in their owners. Frederick Douglass comments in his autobiography that his owner, Mrs. Auld, treated him with a "kind heart" and was thankful for her initial efforts in teaching him to read.
Why does Dana hate Rufus?
Dana has every reason to hate Rufus. He is cruel, abusive, and vindictive. Yet Dana realizes that her own destiny is inextricably bound to his because he is her ancestor. Without going too much into timeline theories, it stands to reason that if Dana kills Rufus (or allows him to be killed) before he has children, she wipes herself out of existence. Many slaves found themselves in similar situations of impossibility with no hope of escape. Even if they organized a rebellion and killed their slave owners (which was done from time to time), they knew that a retribution would follow and they (and their families) would be killed.
What does Dana represent?
Dana symbolically represents the life of many slaves, whose feelings weren't easily definable and who endured impossible situations to survive day after day.
