Kindred is a fantasy fictional tale that incorporates time travels between 1976 California to the early 1800’s Maryland when slavery was used as labor for the tobacco plantations. Dana, the main character, is an African American woman from the present that time travels at various intervals to the past to interact with Rufus, a plantation owner and her ancestor. The relationship between Dana and Rufus alternates between friendly and terrifying much like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dana saves and protects Rufus many times during her travels so she can ensure the existence of her family. Rufus appears kind and compassionate on occasions, but he shares many sinister commonalities with other slave owners of this period. Though it seems that Rufus is caring and compassionate in Kindred he really is not, as he disguises cruelty as compassion. Rufus is very similar to slave owners by the he succumbs to the habits of traditional slave owners; he inflicts punishment to control his slaves, and uses manipulation tactics to prevent the slaves from escaping.
Some of Rufus ' actions were common practice for slave owners during the early 1800’s including rape and torture. Many slaves were forced to have regular sexual …show more content…
However, as Rufus grows up, he became like his father and other slave owners as he used punishment and manipulation methods to maintain power. This is extremely important because the reader should not feel that Rufus is a caring slave owner or that he is different from other slave owners and treated his slaves better The reader should not be angered or surprised by Rufus’ actions because, unfortunately, Rufus is a product of his environment. Slave owners and society in general, during this time period in history, were truly inhuman to slaves and never gave them the respect they deserved as human
Some of Rufus ' actions were common practice for slave owners during the early 1800’s including rape and torture. Many slaves were forced to have regular sexual …show more content…
However, as Rufus grows up, he became like his father and other slave owners as he used punishment and manipulation methods to maintain power. This is extremely important because the reader should not feel that Rufus is a caring slave owner or that he is different from other slave owners and treated his slaves better The reader should not be angered or surprised by Rufus’ actions because, unfortunately, Rufus is a product of his environment. Slave owners and society in general, during this time period in history, were truly inhuman to slaves and never gave them the respect they deserved as human