The Rope

This reading comes full circle, as we learn how Dana loses her arm- the first thing we learn about her from the Prologue. 

Though short, "The Rope" takes numerous twists and turns through both tragedy and triumph, and leaves the reader wondering who is the victor. Has Dana let Rufus get to her so severely that she has no choice but to kill him? Does Rufus surrender to his own grief? Has Alice been overwhelmed by her misfortune? Let's take a deeper dive. 

Alice returns to Rufus on an ant hill and is joined by a speechless Rufus. Upon following Rufus to the nearby barn, she see's Alice, who is dead, having hung herself. Rufus reveals that Alice tried to run away with her kids, and he "sells" them. Though it is revealed they are really with Rufus's Aunt, Alice reaches her breaking point. She is not only angry, but grieving the loss of control over both her kids, but her own relationship with Rufus. Though Alice eventually kills herself, it is evident, that Rufus has ultimately killed her- driven her so insane that she simply cannot bear him or her circumstance anymore. Sarah remarks, "Even if he didn't put the rope on her, he drove her to it" (249). 

Rufus eventually gets his kids back, and they begin calling him "Daddy" instead of "Master", which makes Dana genuinely smile. She knows Rufus owes it to Alice and his kids to officially free them, which he does. And just as Rufus begins a journey to building a relationship with his kids, he makes remarks that frighten Dana. He tells her, "You're so much like her, I can hardly stand it" (257). Dana can understand what will ensue if she doesn't take matters into her own hands, and she immediately runs into the attic. She clutches her knife as Rufus makes advances, and stabs him twice before he dies. 

Though Dana's homicide may seem like she has let Rufus infiltrate her, she is simply standing up for herself and protecting herself. She had a sinking feeling this was going to happen at some point, and she attacked when she had to. Dana is the epitome of bravery in these closing chapters. She not only stands up for herself, but also Alice, Hagar, Joe, Nigel, Carrie, Kevin, and everyone else who has fallen victim to Rufus's ruthlessness, rashness, and violence. It is pretty clear- Dana has won. 

Kindred The Fight 155-188

 

The second half of The Fight was a fairly traumatic read. Dana experiences a million emotions and events that are unfathomable. The first part of the reading dives straight into the relations between Alice and Rufus. We see complications arise with Rufus especially during the conversations about this particular relationship. Rufus displays his potential to be cruel and selfish when he explains to Dana that he would wait for Alice to recover before anything more happened. They go back and forth on the matter and Rufus replies, ““Don’t look at me like that,”... “I wouldn’t bother her. It would be like hurting a baby.” Later it would be like hurting a woman. I suspected that wouldn’t bother him at all”(Butler 153). Rufus shows a shred of humanity by suggesting that he will not approach Alice in any manner until she is healthy, yet that is immediately stripped of him when he implies that once she is healed she has no say in what happens to her. I find Rufus’s behavior towards Alice particularly disturbing because it is all done in the name of love, when in reality it is a compulsive need for him to be in control. If Rufus truly loved Alice the way he claims to, both of their lives would look very very different. 

Throughout the chapter we also feel an intense feeling of fear in all aspects of the storyline. Dana not only experiences fear for herself, but also for others as she continues to display her empathetic and kind nature. Towards the end of The Fight though we see Dana’s patience wearing thin as she contemplates killing Rufus if she has to in order to survive because he has turned violent on her. I think we have finally reached the point in the story where Dana is faced with a choice to continue supporting her cruel white ancestor and his endeavors or attempt to save his soul and teach him that his actions have severe consequences for others. 

kindred pg. 52-107

  In the beginning of chapter 4, Dana takes us back to when she first met Kevin. Dana writes about how they met in an auto parts warehouse when she was trying to make more money. After many conversations and shared stories, Kevin asks her out.

In part 2 of the Fall, Dana is transported back to help Rufus, but this time Kevin comes with her. When they get to Rufus, they discover he has broken a leg. Although Rufus is in a lot of pain from his injury, he becomes more interested in what Kevin and Dana are doing together. Kevin tells Rufus that they are married. In disbelief, Rufus continues to ask questions about their relationship. Dana and Kevin explain to him that it is legal to get married where they are from. Still in shock about this concept, Rufus then asks them where they are from. Dana and Kevin hesitate because they realize they might have to tell him the truth. After a long debate about whether or not Dana and Kevin really are from the future, Rufus decides to believe them even though he does not understand. 

When Rufus’ father comes to pick him up, Dana gets nervous about the part she has to play. The slave that came with Rufus’ father warns Dana that his master is very very mean and that Rufus can be too. After receiving the warning, she observes Rufus and his father. She soon came to realize that Rufus is going to be very similar to his father. She starts to question her ability to help Rufus. She says, “The boy was literally growing up as I watched- growing up because I watched and because I helped to keep him safe. I was the worst possible guardian for him- a black to watch over him in a society that considered blacks subhuman, a woman to watch over him in a society that considered women perennial children. I would have all I could do to look after myself. But I would help him as best I could. And I would try to keep friendship with him, maybe plant a few ideas in his mind that would help both me and the people who would be his slaves in the years to come” (68). 

In parts 4 through 8, Dana is forced into living the life of one of the Weylin’s slaves. On the side of her chores, she starts to teach some of the other slaves how to read. She had to do it in private because the Weylins did not like it when their slaves were educated. One day, Weylin walks in on her reading and he beats her. This sends Dana back into a dizzy spell and passes out, but without Kevin. 

This ending of this chapter made me wonder if Dana will still be as willing to stay and help Rufus even though she is sacrificing her life to do so.

Kindred, pg 9-49

In Octavia Butler’s Kindred, the protagonist, Dana is first introduced in the prologue. The prologue opens with Dana having gone through a severe accident, resulting in losing her left arm. It is unclear how the injury occurred to the readers or the character, as they can hardly formulate how it happened. 

Chapter one begins with Dana recounting her first shift to the past and encounter with Rufus. Dana and her husband, Kevin, had just moved to their new house in Los Angles. As she was unpacking books, she felt nauseous and dizzy, and the room began to spin. Everything vanished, and she was immediately transported to early 1800’s Maryland. Once there, she had little time to take in her surroundings before she jumped into action to save a boy from drowning. The boy’s parents come to the scene as well, and Dana shifts back right as Rufus’s dad is holding a gun to Dana. Her sudden disappearance and reappearance have both Kevin and herself completely astonished. Extremely concerned, Kevin begins asking her many questions to try and understand what happened. Despite their overall confusion and panic, they figure out that Dana’s few minutes in Maryland were only a few seconds in her present time continuum. How and why she ended up in 1815 Maryland is still a complete mystery to both Dana and Kevin.  

In chapter two, The Fire, Dana struggles with forgetting the events that took place when she shifted back in time. Then suddenly, Dana has transported once again to the past, except it is apparent that a few years have passed for them despite her only shiting the first time a few hours before. On page 20, Dana notes that Rufus has aged since she saved him in the river. Dana states, “He was not Rufus. I could see that now. He had the same red hair and slight build,, but her was taller, clearly three or four years older” (Butler 20). Time has a bizarre effect in this novel, as the time she spends in Rufus’s era is significantly longer than how long she is gone from her actual reality. Her second shift places her in Rufus’s room as he lights his drapes on fire and is about to burn them down. She then realizes that her changes occur when Rufus is in immense danger or is frightened. 

Her second time in Rufus’s era provides her with much more information about the shifts. She learns that Rufus Weylin is her ancestor and she is somewhat a guardian for him, saving him from many dangerous situations. She also met Alice Greenwood, another ancestor of Dana’s, as Alice provides Dana with shelter from Rufus’s father. Dana is finally transported home after fighting off a white patroller trying to attack her. Dana goes back to her present time much more terrified than before due to all the events she witnessed and encountered. However, this new shift back in time prompted the characters to realize that not only is it Rufus’s peril that controls the shifts, but Dana’s as well.