Meaning Of Kinship Through Dana And Rufus: Character Analysis

Lauryn Fleshman

Mr. Morgan

English I - G

13 March 2023

The Meaning of Kinship Through Dana and Rufus

In the novel Kindred, Butler uses tone to highlight Dana and Rufus’s combatant views, often revolving around slavery, and their often one-sided relationship, where Rufus possesses the majority of the power. At the beginning of the novel, Dana is transported to the early 1800s in Maryland, where a young white boy named Rufus is struggling in a river. Dana wades in, drags him to the shore, and saves him from his unconscious state. Tom Weylin, Rufus’s father, arrives and points a gun at Dana after which she reappears in her apartment in 1976. This continues to happen time and time again, where Dana gets transported to the 1800s and saves Rufus,

This means that Dana and Rufus are distant ancestors. As Dana continues to save Rufus, she gets to know him a little better, especially when it comes to their differing beliefs. Throughout Kindred, Butler uses a specific tone to highlight Dana and Rufus’s opposing views, mainly about slavery and their inequitable relationship. Rufus threatens Dana with something she needs while also keeping slavery alive on the plantation. Ultimately, this shows how relatives, in this case, Dana and Rufus, often have different views, but still find ways to forgive each other for their actions.

In this particular scene, Butler uses tone to spotlight the one-sidedness in Dana and Rufus’s relationship, where Rufus has a lot of power over Dana and she still can’t seem to trust him. After returning to the plantation in the 1800s, Rufus and Dana begin to talk about Kevin and his whereabouts. Rufus wants Dana to destroy a map because he fears that Dana will use it to escape the plantation. Rufus isn’t quite ready for Dana to leave so he threatens her: “He threatened to keep me away from my husband if I did not submit to his whim and destroy a paper that might help me get free.” (Butler 142) If you are being “threatened” by anyone then the situation isn’t

The way that Butler phrases this sentence implies that Dana is the “loyal subject” and Rufus is the “king,” hence the word “submit,” which is often used for royalty. This medieval tone further spotlights Rufus’s power. The phrases “keep me away” and “might help me get free” are very different lines that both suggest that Dana wants to be free and Rufus wants to prevent that from happening. Ultimately, Rufus has a lot of power at this moment, meanwhile, Dana has a very different perspective, that Rufus doesn’t agree with. As they continue to argue, Dana thinks, “I had hoped it was over; I needed so much to trust him. I didn’t dare stay with him if I couldn’t trust him.” (Butler 142) The line, “I had hoped it was over” refers to the blackmail that Rufus tried to use on Dana when he ordered her to burn the map. This highlights their already confusing relationship. The fact that this has happened multiple times in the novel emphasizes the power Rufus has over Dana. Blackmail isn’t something you should do to your family. Dana needs to “trust” Rufus because they are related. She also wants to be able to stay on the Weylin Plantation without having to be afraid of Rufus and what he might do. This is shown