In the book Kindred, there are many characters that are interesting. One reason this is true, is because the book forwards through time very fast and we see many characters go from infantile to grown adult. One character that changed throughout the story was Rufus Weylin. His development was incredibly interesting because the story somewhat revolves around what he does or what is happening to him. We see him as a very young child to a twenty five year old adult. In this story, Rufus is the most interesting because he develops from a young impressionable child, to a selfish man influenced highly by the antebellum South and other things. First off, when we get the first glimpse into Rufus the boy he is burning his drapery to get attention …show more content…
His ultimate step into becoming a plantation owner was with his father passing, and now he was far from the person that said he would never sell a slave. His authority is really noticeable when he says, “You walk away from me, Dana, you’ll be back in the fields in an hour!...Don’t you ever walk away from me again!” At this point his threats aren’t him whining like when he was a child, he meant it. Rufus’ character develops a lot near the end of the book as we realize his feelings toward Dana all to clearly. In the middle of the night he approaches Alice and Dana and says, “You really are only one woman. Did you know that?” Rufus had Alice for his physical needs and Dana for his emotional. We start to see that Dana wasn’t just his friend; he needed to have her, no matter what. His jealously became clear when he sold the slave Sam for just speaking to Dana. He said, “He wanted you…he wanted you.” He then says to Dana, “Your so much like her, I can hardly stand it.” Rufus’ relationship with Dana had gone from friendship and understanding to Rufus wanting more and he aimed to have it. When we see that Rufus was allowing his son to call him daddy finally it was reminder of his humanity. We see that in some ways he was still good, and not racked with intense emotions. However, his humane side diminishes slowly with his irrational wants, desires and need for affection. Rufus’ character is interesting because of his development
It took him a while, but eventually he learned the meaning of his grandfather's advice. He was doing the acts that his grandfather meant, when he referred to "the good fight." However, there was one major difference issue that he didn't understand. In trying to impress the high-standing white members of his community, he allowed them to take advantage of his ambition. He wanted to impress them because he felt that they were the ones who mattered, and only their respect and admiration counted. This was the difference. His grandfather's advice was meant to have the "younguns" put on a mask when with the whites. Their opinion did matter, because it was them who controlled society and them who determined the quality of life in the black community. But the agreeing and sucking up that was done had to be artificial. His inner-self must be preserved, otherwise he would be nothing more than a slave to the whites. The "good fight" is the battle to maintain his own dignity, and also earn the praise of the whites. This is the only way to maintain one's self-respect and survive (or maybe even advance) in a white-dominated society.
Dana and many of the other slaves had to constantly be aware of their surroundings. They always had to deal with the threat of being sexually harassed or violated. In the beginning of novel, Dana has to fight off a white patroller from raping her. After a visit on patrol, a white patroller came back to collect what he thought he was owed,“I guess you’ll do
When Dana and Keven are both in 1819, Kevin takes a job tutoring Rufus and Dana helps the house slaves. When they sit in the woods one day, Kevin points out how little there is to see, angering Dana. She mentions Robert's whipping, saying “Weylin had two other slaves strip Robert down and tie him to a tree...And [they] all just stood there. Did nothing.” Kevin says there is nothing she can do “that won't get [her] whipped or killed.” Dana confesses that she started teaching Nigel how to read. Dana realizes that because of the threat of punishment or death, she and Kevin have to submit and accept the cruelty around them.
Likewise, Jeanette uses personification throughout the book when she claims, "Then the flames leaped up, reaching my face," (Walls 9). When Walls personifies the fire as leaping up and reaching her face describes how the fire had burnt her face and quickly became out of control causing her physical harm. But the reader can also sense imagery where she writes, "I felt a blaze of heat on my right side," (Walls 9). The visual imagery of when Jeanette sets herself on fire may also give the reader thoughts of why a three-year-old is cooking hot dogs for herself on a stove. This also shows that maybe the purpose was to show that Jeanette's parents were not caring enough and brings out the unhealthy living situations she was living in which continues on when living in Welch. Jeanette, growing up in these
Dana, the narrator of Kindred the idea of what it means to be a monster comes up upon the violent treatment on the part slave owners. Dana believes there is a reasonable explanation of why Mr. Weylin acted the way he
These examples give the novel complexity and is ultimately why John Steinbeck received a nobel prize for the creation of it. Characterization is used throughout the novel to give insight on the characters thoughts. Cyrus Trask was viewed to be a very distant parent through indirect characterization. The reader may have picked this up through the acts of his children fighting for affection. Another example of characterization would be shown through Cal Trask. Cal was known to be the most dynamic character. Both direct and indirect characterization were used to illustrate Cal’s thoughts and actions. Allusion is another figurative device used in this novel. The novel is discretely based around the Book of Genesis. Cain and Abel is the main story that this novel is based off of. Their relationship of jealousy shines through both Adam and Charles and Aron and Cal. In Aron and Cal’s relationship, the similarity to Cain and Abel starts to lose its shine. Cal grows a conscience and becomes more dynamic and eventually defeating the odds of himself turning into a true Cain. These different figurative devices used in this novel speak to the readers in a way to grab their attention long enough to
Haven’t you ever felt like giving up? That’s how Dana and Frederick Douglass felt when they were slaves. Dana is the main character in the novel, Kindred, which is about Dana going back in the past of the antebellum South. Frederick Douglass is a real African-American slave, and he wrote his book, A Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, about his journey as one. In the novels Kindred and, A Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, the theme of surviving and it being more difficult than imagined is explored through the main characters Dana and Frederick Douglass. In order to survive, both Dana and Frederick Douglass have to learn how to be a field slave, be broken by their overseers, and fight
In Kindred, Octavia Butler uses characters and events to symbolize parts of larger themes of racism and white privilege in the story. Kevin is a symbol of the complicated relationship that white America has with black Americans.
Wolf also follows through with his purpose to explain the richness of human history. By interconnecting some of the same people to various essays he helped the readers to draw the lines between the characters and make connections. For one, just
After Theodoric had taken the clothes off, mouse was gone and the lady wakes up, Theodricra uses rug to the cover himsel in full shame and terror Munro, 1). Theodoric starts by trying to explain to the lady why he was covering himself in a rug, and half clothed (Munro, 1). Theodore stsrts by saying maybe he had gotten malaria and and that he was feeling chilly, later to give in and explain that it was the mouse (Munro, 1). After all the ackwardness and shame from Theodoric, the lady did not seem to care one way or another about Theodoric being half naked (Munro, 1).
Octavia Butler displays her brilliance as a writer by creating multiple, complex characters in the novel Kindred, characters who epitomize real people with hardships, passions, and transformations that reflect the strict regulations placed upon the Southern society in the early nineteenth century. Dana faces many hardships from the moment Butler shifts her back one-hundred and sixty-one years to a time of slavery where she is stripped of her freedom. Rufus’s passion for Alice transitions into a fog, where he is unable to distinguish between love and control. On the other hand, Butler gives Tom Weylin a depth that reflects his actions and directly relates them to his experiences. Together all three characters’ ideas come to a screaming halt, when they are placed alongside each other and without a choice lives in a time of slavery.
He is stating that the whites have abused the blacks and now there is a turn in the tide and disobedience is upon them. The requirement for liberation is both earnest and vital. To me it appears like he agrees with Nat however then he doesn't. He accepts that it’s their issue for the disobedience on account of the way the blacks were dealt with. Yet, in the meantime he is stating that they are capable and managed the defiance and could do it once more. He says God made blacks to serve them. So I truly don't know where this gentleman stands. He seems like a wolf in sheep's clothing and he simply needs his voice to be heard as I would see it. I truly don't realize what to think about him. I simply don't care for the gentleman by and
He is oblivious to almost everything that goes on around him but in a way, he plays a very large role. Just as Virgil in Dante’s Inferno, Gregory accompanies Wirt through the unknown. His childish personality is what keeps Wirt from getting lost in the unknown (alliterator). Gregory is considered a flat character. Although he saves Wirt from the beast and plays a vital role in escaping the unknown, his character never changes.
On occasions he would fight other Slave owners who didn’t agree with his tactics or opinions on how to manage Slaves. Does a good owner treat his slaves a certain way just for the satisfaction of mocking a neighbor? This is why, Mr. Garner was wrong in the way he treated his slaves. He didn’t treat his slaves humanely because it was right, he did it for the objective of provoking his associates into thinking he is a better man.
Over the course of the novel, Rufus becomes less idealistic as he learns of corruption and greed when he meets with Mr. Floode and the “Professor.” Mr. Floode exemplifies the willful ignorance of people working at the oil company. “--Our pipelines are vandalized daily, losing us millions... and millions for the country as well. These people don’t understand what they do to themselves…” Rufus then has to explain to Mr. Floode that, “There are countless villages going up in smoke daily… I don’t blame them for wanting to get some benefit out of the pipelines that have brought them nothing but suffering to their lives…” (103). Rufus’ humble roots also compel Rufus to correct Mr. Floode and to try to portray the gravity of the situation in the delta. This scene is a key part of Rufus’ character development because the reader can tell that Rufus has thickened his skin. He is trying to fight for what he believes in by correcting an extremely powerful executive, Mr. Floode. As the novel progresses, Rufus grows from a shy rookie reporter to a reporter so confident in his abilities that he is willing to confront the head of the militia. “Are you calling me a liar, reporter? --No, Professor. I am not. I don’t know you well enough to do that.” (230) The