Rufus: "Her Little Jackass"
The main focus of Kindred is Dana and Rufus, and the evolving yet also stagnant relationship they share throughout the novel. The story is told through Dana’s first person perspective, so as readers, we get to hear her inner monologue. However, we do not get the same viewpoint with Rufus, and we only see him through Dana’s eyes. While Rufus’s personality is objectively different from other white characters in the 18th century setting such as his father Tom Weylin, Dana’s characterization of Rufus is heavily affected by her unique familial ties with him, and it blurs the lines of Rufus’s true motivations and limits.
At the beginning of Kindred when Rufus is still a child, he’s a generally sympathetic character. The racist standards of the time are made apparent by his usage of the n word, however, he also listens to Dana when she tells him not to use it, shows interest and excitement towards Dana’s relationship with Kevin, and seems to have respect for her. With the added knowledge of Rufus’s father beating him, Dana has compassion for her young ancestor, and views him as a friend or a younger brother, calling him sometimes by the affectionate nickname “Rufe.”
However, as the time skips continue and Rufus grows up, it's clear that not only has he assimilated to the racist system and ideologies of the time, he also still holds on to the ideas Dana introduced him to, making him a volatile, unstable person who wreaks havoc in order to have his cake and eat it too. The first instance of this threatening behavior from Rufus is when he rapes Alice, and then buys her into slavery when she runs away with her husband. His behavior and actions are objectively treacherous, and show his lack of respect for Alice’s personal wishes and boundaries, similar to his plantation owner father. However, his motivations differ from those of his father, because he actually is in love with Alice, in a very twisted sense. After seeing Dana’s relationship with Kevin, he is aware of this possible love he can possess, and he is able to form real emotional attachments with black people on the plantation, which he partly learns from Dana. However, when Alice won’t accept his affections willingly, he manipulatively uses his role as a white person at the time to assert superiority and get what he wants, even though he has a better idea of the immorality of such an action due to Dana’s influence in his life. Rufus’s actions continue to dangerously escalate, and the mix of his father and Dana’s influence continue to blur. By the end of his character arc, Rufus has committed terrible atrocities, and is objectively a bad person.
However, despite Rufus’s continuous violations of her morals and trust, Dana still views him in a more forgiving light. That is not to say that she does not recognize and condemn Rufus’s horrible actions, but she still accepts him as her “ancestor, younger brother, and friend” (pg 260) at the end of the novel. Due to Dana’s relationship with Rufus since he was young, she treats him as more like a misbehaving child rather than a dangerous man. This more familial and lenient treatment Dana guves Rufus can be seen in her reaction to his rape of Alice, where she says to Sarah, “All because our little jackass here drank too much and decided to rape somebody!” (pg 150) Despite his terrible act, Dana reacts with a light chastisement, still associating him with her and almost affectionately calling him “[her] little jackass.” Though he becomes progressively more manipulative and cruel towards Dana and others on the plantation, his flashes of humanity and his unique relationship with Dana cause her to think of Rufus differently to other white people at the time, and makes her believe that Rufus treats her specially and with respect, which he disproves throughout the novel. Though he does have a closer relationship with Dana and forms the same attachment with her that he did with Alice, he still puts her through horrible ideals, such as sending her out to the fields to be beaten and whipped, slapping her, forcing her to stay at the plantation at gunpoint, and eventually, trying to rape her. Despite his actions, Dana calls him “Rufe” till the end, and only at the last moment does she finally give up her forgiving and compassionate attitude towards Rufus by plunging a knife into his side.
Great post! Dana still pictures Rufus as the little boy she's known for a mere days in her own time, and clings to the idea that she can change him for the better, however, when her thinking and the common thought of Rufus' time overlap and mix, the product is Rufus, a dangerous and destructive man. She excuses his barbaric behavior due to their familial ties, enabling his actions until he eventually turns them onto her. Here, she realizes how far she's allowed his disgusting actions to continue and finally puts an end to him.
ReplyDeleteSeeing Rufus grow up so much in a relatively short time, I can see why Dana would still see Rufus as a child to some extent. After all, just a year ago or so to her, Rufus really was still a child. It's interesting how you mention Dana and Kevin as an influence on Rufus' love for Alice. If we assume Dana changed the past, and that this is the first time in the timeline where Dana goes back to the past, I have to wonder how Rufus and Alice got together if they hadn't met Dana and Kevin. Or maybe, an infinite number of Danas have been going back to the past an infinite number of times. Don't know if I'm making sense lol. Basically I'm still confused on the time travel aspect of the story, but I guess that's always confusing, so maybe it was a good thing that Butler never really explained it.
ReplyDeleteYou call out some of the most striking ways that we see Dana not taking a clear-eyed view of Rufus in many ways--clouded by her emotions and, quite reasonably, the sense that he is "family" and she wants to see the best in him. I hadn't fully grasped how troubling it is that she develops this affectionate "little brother" nickname "Rufe" for him--it's hard to see him as a threatening future slave owner and rapist if he's just "Rufe" the accident-prone little boy. And remember, in that early conversation when she schools him on her preferred form of address, he reminds HER that in his time she should call him "Master Rufus." By giving him this familiar nickname, she signals her unique status on the plantation--even Nigel can't call him "Rufe." And the "our little jackass" line is similarly damning--it definitely works to minimize his horrors and turn him into something more like a comedic figure, a troublesome kid who's always into some kind of mischief.
ReplyDeleteHi, I do think Dana basically infantilizes Rufus (something we still see privileged white males today), partly because Dana's seen him grow up but also because her own fate in a way does depend on him. She saw Rufus grow up really quick due to the time travelling aspect of the book, but this still does not justify her letting him abuse Alice in a way and in part, being complicit with it. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteNice post Clara! Dana does not let Rufus's actions change her view of him enough for sure. Dana still has very recent memories of Rufus from when he was still an impressionable child. She definitely carries over this mindset that Rufus is still just as impressionable and forgives him for so many things that she shouldn't. It also doesn't help that Rufus can be charming and fake good qualities to win people over, and on top of that the special treatment that Dana receives from Rufus makes her even more inclined to think he is better than he is.
ReplyDeleteYour description of Rufus as having his cake and eating it too is very accurate. The way he twists all his terrible actions as acts of love, his preferential treatment toward Dana, and his (unknowing) family connection allows him to keep being a jackass while Dana (as much as she hates it and him) will always see him as "her" jackass.
ReplyDelete*Also forgot to add that Dana calling Rufus a jackass itself is obviously a gross understatement.
DeleteDana's unwillingness to properly confront Rufus's obviously immoral and manipulative actions is definitely apparent throughout the novel. Her familial ties to Rufus made Dana turn a blind eye to Rufus's many disturbing actions, kind of like a mother who refuses to accept her son's misbehavior. It all culminates when Rufus finally crosses the line he wasn't supposed to cross -- Dana ends up stabbing Rufus and probably killing him, quite a dramatic ending to their relationship.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that Dana seems to be blinded by her connection to Rufus (both the biological connection but also the fact that she knew him as a small child), and consistently fails to associate his horrible acts with him as a person. The fact that the only time she decides to kill Rufus is when she herself is put in danger is especially strange, because if she was capable of doing so since the beginning, what was stopping her from killing him as soon as Hagar was born? It seems like she was doing all she could to try to leave Rufus alive, even after all of his horrible acts. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI had never really thought about the nickname Dana has for "Rufe" that way. I think it's interesting that she believes that her ability to call her that signals some kind of greater status she has with him. But I think the intended affect of that nickname, to make Rufe trust her and view her as a friend rather than a slave, backfired on her. Rufus seems to view this signal of familiarity as a sign that Dana truly cares for him, and is therefore open to his manipulation. He pushes all of her boundaries because he knows that she cares for him, partly because of that affectionate nickname she uses for him. Great post!
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