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Character Analysis Of Rufus In Octavia Butler's Obsessive Love

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What is Love? Obsessive love can be issued as stalking or overwhelming texts to situations as serious as homicidal or suicidal thoughts or actions; however, obsessive love is not love at all as psychotherapist Susan Forward puts it. Yet, on the other hand, many psychologists such as Freud believe that environmental factors cause a neurological disability that makes one convinced that he or she is truly in love with the victim; for example, people who have had rejecting parents or problems with the separation process in their childhoods can lead to this problem. These actions and behaviors are blatant to the character Rufus in Octavia Butler’s Kindred. This researcher will examine how Rufus uses some of these distraught actions and behaviors …show more content…

As we all know the outcome of Rufus’s actions and behaviors towards Alice it is vital to understand what he did so people today can recognize such situations to provide a safe haven for those in need of this type of help. One disturbing comment took place when Rufus mentioned this after taking a whoopin’ from Alice’s husband Isaac, “I would have taken better care of her than any field hand could. I wouldn’t have hurt her if she hadn’t just kept saying no” (pg 123). This is mind boggling to think that a human being can be capable and willing to believe that rape is acceptable just because they feel that they can take care of that person better than the person they love. Obsessive love is written all over this. That’s not to even clarify the action of him hurting Alice because all she could say is no. This was only the beginning of the wrath to come in the next decade. Yet, people knew about how he felt towards Alice and nobody stood up for her due to her skin color and her classification at the time to be “property.” Consequently, shouldn’t property—land, human being, whatever—be kept to the best of our abilities. We don’t treat brand new BMW’s like an off road vehicle because the car isn’t made for off-roading and we sure as hell do not rape a teacher because we feel like we can take better care of her than her husband; brutally

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