Rufus and Dana

As I mentioned before in my previous blog post, there is a lot to say about the characters in the novel. Different opinions can be made towards a lot of the characters such as Rufus and Dana. Considering where and when they were raised, it definitely makes readers think and decide whether their actions are justified or not.

Let's start with Rufus. While Rufus has good intentions and wants his slaves to be treated as best as possible, he is still as monstrous as his father Tom. This can especially be seen in his relationship with Alice. Even though Alice clearly dislikes Rufus, especially for what happened to Isaac, he forces Dana to make Alice condone him, and let him rape and beat her. By doing so, it lessens his own feelings of guilt. Dana often questions why she still forgives Rufus after everything he does, and this attributes to Rufus' lack of change in behavior. Rather than trying to change himself, Rufus only shows genuine regret for what he's done, making Dana feel bad for him. He only cares about himself, and only his own happiness. When he didn't send Dana's letters to Kevin, Rufus argued that he didn't want Dana to ever leave him alone at the plantation. This particular scene  exemplifies how immaturely Rufus thinks. His selfish and brutal actions, only worsen as he becomes an adult and an alcoholic.

Dana, the protagonist and narrator of the novel, must also struggle with many complex issues. As an alien in the antebellum South, her mannerisms cause her to be called strange and a "white nigger" by many of the other slaves. As she lives on the plantation, she begins to develop strong relationships with the slaves on the Weylin plantation. Dana soon sees how so many of these slaves each have their own histories and tragedies. She also begins to like Rufus, despite how cruel he is to the slaves and to Alice. Here, she is faced with such morally conscientious issues. Of course Dana is forced beyond her will to travel back in time in order to save Rufus' life. At the same time, she often wonders whether it is worth saving the life of a man who is committing so many cruelties. For someone who is selling off slaves and raping a woman, she feels that killing Rufus would solve the slaves' problems. This doesn't seem as easy as she thinks it is. Not only do her own affections for Rufus conflict with her decision to kill Rufus, even if she did kill Rufus for the sake of the slaves, they could easily be sold off and separated.

Maybe Butler intentionally invented such complicated characters in order to show how there is no black and white in history. As wrong as slavery was, there was no obvious solution towards it, and it took years before it was finally eradicated. Even when slavery was eliminated, it laid the grounds for hundreds of years of racial prejudice against blacks, especially in the South. Time has a lasting impact on people and on history, and Dana realizes that as she stays longer and longer in the South.