Compare And Contrast Essay On Kindred

Like Father, Like Son Tom and Rufus are like two peas in a pod, and there is no denying the fact that Rufus is Tom’s son. In Octavia E. Butler’s novel “Kindred” these two characters are what most people would consider evil, yet the readers must be reminded at times that these were no ordinary times. Rufus will have picked up some of his father’s ideas of how to run the family plantation when he is old enough. Some of these ideas or thumb of rules would be installed into Rufus at such a young age. Tom would inevitably teach Rufus how to treat slaves, how to handle business, and what it meant to be a man in the Antebellum. In the South of the Antebellum things were very different, especially …show more content…
The girl that Rufus had his eyes on was Alice. It is said that Alice was once a free person until a moment of rage, and love made her a slave of the Weylins. Rufus falls in love with Alice, but Alice does not, and will not give the love Rufus desires. It is with a forceful hand that Rufus makes Alice stay; thus, forcing her to love him. He will keep Alice to himself in every way he can, even if that means making a once free-person now a slave. Rufus has done some terrible things to Alice including raping her. Rufus has been taught by his father that this is an acceptable thing to do. Another thing Rufus learned from his dear father, is that once you are bored with your mistress you are free to sell her or put her out in the fields. There may be hope for Rufus and that light of hope comes in the form of a modern day African-American woman named …show more content…
This change must happen in order to save the future ancestors of Dana. While she may be a free woman, Dana will find out the hard way about slavery. No books, movies or know-how would ever prepare Dana for the culture shock of her life. When Dana is transported back to 1976, she decides to pack more things, for when she is hurled back to the Antebellum. Dana discusses with her husband, Kevin about taking a map with her so she may find her way to Maryland. Kevin had mention to Dana, “I wish I had a road atlas for you. The roads in it wouldn’t exist in those days, but it might show you the easiest way through the country” (49). It will be a task that Dana must endure, a testimony of what it was like to live as a slave with no freedom, no free thoughts. Rufus must constantly be saved by Dana, for she knows Rufus must bring into existence a child. This child that Rufus will create with Alice is an ancestor of Dana. The struggle Dana faces each time she is teleported back to the South of the Antebellum is crucial to her, but is no easy feat. It is the hopes that Dana can try to change Rufus from not turning into his father. Like his father, Rufus will use violence if he does not get his way. Unlike Tom, Rufus longs to be loved and will not be denied his