Rufus and the Women in his Life
In Octavia Butler’s Kindred, Rufus has complicated relationships with the women in his life, specifically his mother, Alice, and Dana. Throughout the book each woman influences him and has some part in shaping the person he is by the end.
From the start, Rufus’ mother, Margaret Weylin, plays a large role in shaping how Rufus sees and treats the people around him. The first time Dana tries to save Rufus from drowning, Margaret’s reaction is to beat Dana and scream at her for killing Rufus (Butler 14). Similarly, when Rufus falls from a tree and breaks his leg, Dana is pulled back in time to help nurse him to health. As she does so, Margaret orders her around and treats her with hostility and contempt (Butler 70). Rufus, although more accepting of Dana, still absorbs many of his mother’s behaviors. Following her example and society’s, Rufus learns to treat both women and slaves as objects who should cater to his desires.
Whether or not Rufus truly loves Alice, or simply desires her like he would an object, the way Rufus treats Alice reflects what he learned from his mother. When Rufus asks Dana to help him rape Alice, he shows how willing he is to use violence and threats to get what he wants (Butler 163). This behavior parallels the kind he practiced with his mother: when he didn’t get what he wanted, he stopped being nice. His actions also demonstrate his belief that Alice should willingly, if not happily, surrender any last shred of autonomy so that his wants can be fulfilled. Much like his mother’s treatment of slaves and his own treatment of his mother, Rufus exercises his power and privilege (rather than love) in his relationship with Alice.
Dana's influence on Rufus is the most unusual because she comes from a different time period with a different set of norms. Unlike Margaret Weylin, Dana treats Rufus more as an equal and refuses to put him on a pedestal. Early on in the book she begins to challenge the things Rufus accepts as normal. For example, she questions Rufus’ use of the N-word and forces him to consider whether he would want to work for Tom Weylin if he was Black (Butler 25, 31). As he gets older and she stays the same age, Dana’s influence on Rufus shifts from that of a mother figure to one of a peer. The closer they are in age, the less Dana is able to influence Rufus and the way he treats his slaves and the more he becomes embedded in a culture of violence and entitlement. He goes back and forth between being vulnerable with Dana and being violent towards her. In the end, however, the violence wins out.
Great post Bonnie! We can definitely see the influence the environment on Rufus and how it impacts his behavior, relying on his social status and abusing his power over his slaves. Rufus' behavior is definitely partly influenced by his mother, and even though Dana tries to influence him, the environment of the early 1900s ends up effecting him more, leading him to being increasingly violent as he grows older.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I detest about Rufus is how he pretends that he's doing "what's best" for everyone even when he rapes Alice, or sells Sara (?). He offers an easy way for things to go and a hard way, but in the end his will is law on the plantation, and everyone has to follow his will or face his wrath.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I agree that the women in this novel had a major impact on Rufus and how he treated others and how he addressed various situations. However, I also think it's worth comparing to the influences of Tom (Rufus' father). Overall this was a very insightful post!
ReplyDeleteI like the observation about how Dana initially is a kind of "mother figure" to Rufus, but as he ages and she does not, she becomes more of a "peer." But not QUITE a peer, because of the systemic racism of slavery--he increasingly comes to view her as property, more in line with how he views Alice, to the point where he sees them as interchangeable, even to the point of attempting to rape Dana in a misguided attempt to express some deranged kind of possessive "love." There's a uniquely disturbing dynamic in this relationship, which compounds the already disturbing sexual dynamics on the plantation (as practiced by Tom Weylin), as Dana is able to morph from a trusted "mother" to an object of sexual violence in his eyes. It makes sense that, as Dana starts to "compete" more with Alice, that Margaret's feelings about Dana start to soften--she is no longer competing with her for Rufus's affections, now that Dana is HER personal "servant."
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Your points on Margaret Weylin's influence on Rufus and its subsequent effects on Rufus's relationships with Alice and Dana really show how Margaret has strengthened Rufus's slave master persona and the 1815 views he grew up learning. In truth, Dana and Alice do not have a truly significant impact on Rufus's character (no lasting impact) but on his actions (momentary impact). I believe Dana and Alice have these ephemeral impacts on Rufus instead of a lasting influence like Margaret because of their race as black people and their status as slaves, discouraging Rufus from truly taking their advice and opinions to heart (due to consciously or subconsciously viewing them as inferior).
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post Bonnie! I agree that Rufus has a very warped perspective of women coming from when he was young, and he emulates the same behavior he used with his mother with the other women in his life. I would even go farther to say that his father played a role in this as well, as his treatment of Alice and Dana as objects was inspired (and encouraged) by Tom Weylin as a show of power.
ReplyDeleteThroughout reeading the novel I paid no mind to Margarets role other than her interactions with Dana but now that I have read your post I see the ways in which she influenced him. Although his father is a terribly influence on him, Margaret seemed to have taught him most about objectivfying slaves. I really like how you pointed out his willingness to resort to violence when interacting with Alice and Dana and how he walks a fine line between violences and vulnerablity with Dana. Really great post!
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you began with pointing out the type of relationship that he had with his mother because I think it was a huge impact in the way he dealt with the women in his life. His mother set a kind of expectation for him that he could get anything that he wanted in life, and would use force or violence if it wasn't immediately given.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't considered Margaret Weylin's impact on Rufus prior to reading this post, but I definitely agree with your assessment. I think this perspective adds a new layer to the nature vs. nurture debate facilitated throughout the novel. Is Rufus simply the product of Margaret and Tom Weylin who raised him to accept and propagate racism/violence/narcissism or is he an inherently bad person who would display racist and sexist tendencies regardless of his upbringing?
ReplyDeleteBonnie, this a very fascinating analysis on how the women in Kindred play a role in Rufus's character developments, whether through influencing his perspective on love and relationships, providing as a punching bag for Rufus to to push his delusional agendas, or enabling Rufus to continue his actions without any punishment. I do agree that at the end, Rufus's violence overtakes his compassion or empathy for any of the other characters, even Dana, who he sees as his savior.
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