Strength and Weakness in Kindred
"'Look, your ancestors survived that era survived it with fewer advantages than you have. You’re no less than they are.'
'In a way I am.'
'What way?'
'Strength. Endurance. To survive, my ancestors had to put up with more than I ever could. Much more.'" (Butler 51)
"'I told you when all this started that I didn’t have their endurance. I still don’t. Some of them will go on struggling to survive, no matter what. I’m not like that.'" (Butler 246)
These two exchanges, one near the beginning and one near the end of the book, stuck with me. Aside from being great examples of some of the disconnect between Kevin and Dana, it raising interesting questions and perspectives on what strength is in Kindred, how it looks, and the different standards of the times (an interesting blog post made on a similar topic by Ryland: Butler and the 1619 Project). As stated in that post, the current-day notion many people have of strength is notably removed from what served as strength in a time like slavery. Many modern people like to think they would have done something differently than how the people in that time did, would have spoken up or resisted - whether white like Kevin, or black like Dana.
But to Dana, she recognizes her more modern-influenced tendency towards resistance and fighting back as a weakness. As the quoted exchanges above show, Dana sees herself as unable to put up with and endure the same things her ancestors had to in order to survive. When talking about her encounter with the patroller to Kevin, she says
"I would have used your knife against that patroller last night if I’d had it. I would have killed him. That would have ended the immediate danger to me and I probably wouldn’t have come home. But if that patroller’s friends had caught me, they would have killed me. And if they hadn’t caught me, they would probably have gone after Alice’s mother. They . . . they may have anyway. So either I would have died, or I would have caused another innocent person to die." (Butler 51)
This has pretty much been the line Dana has drawn in the sand since the beginning - if someone tries to rape her, she will fight back and aim to kill, including (or especially) with Rufus. Dana sees this line as a sign of weakness, but one she will stand by,
And she does stand by it - after Rufus tries to approach and treat her how he would Alice, Dana has a knife, and uses it. I think this moment is extremely fascinating because to Dana, this moment is a representation of her inherent weakness, while to the reader, this moment is one of strength from Dana. In class, we talked about her hesitation to kill Rufus as a falter, a stumble, in Dana. If she had ended up forgiving him, I'm certain we would have seen it as Dana succumbing to her struggle with her and Rufus' complicated relationship.
And I don't think Butler is really trying to push the idea that Dana was weak for killing Rufus, but provoke thought on the matter of what strength looks like to different people and in different times. To Kevin, finally having Dana back in 1976 hopefully for good feels like a win, a success. Dana's finally free from the insane and horrific situation sprung on her. But to the slaves who lived on the Weylin plantation back in the 1800s, to Nigel who had walked in on the scene of Rufus' dead body on top of Dana, this means that the slaves get sold away, families separated, possibly ending up in even worse situations than they had been. To them, was Dana being strong, or weak like she sees herself?
the end. i don't know where to go from here, what are your thoughts?
Great post! I really like your points about what Dana's killing of Rufus said about her character -- different types of strength. I also wonder whether this was conceived as strength or not for the other slaves. for example, Alice didn't kill Rufus -- or couldn't, because the plantation would fall apart -- but took her own life.
ReplyDeleteWow!! This is a great post!!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, I think the slaves think that Dana killing Rufus was a show of weakness, not strength. The slaves knew about Rufus' special treatment to Dana, and several slaves were already distrusting and judgmental towards her. The other slaves might have seen Rufus' advances as evening the playing field – finally she is being treated like everyone else! Yet she was incapable of letting go of her anger, and ends up killing Rufus and separating families.
This brings up a question for me: Should Dana have let Rufus rape her? This is a moral question. If she lets herself be raped, she is keeping families together. However, Rufus should not be allowed to simply people whenever he feels like it (though he can).
Definitely. There's always a multitude of different opinions when it comes to things like this. Although the other commenters seem to say that the slaves see Dana's murder of Rufus as a sign of weakness, I'd argue that it may still be the opposite. Some slaves, perhaps like Alice, may think they are weak for not being able to run from Rufus and survive on their own. Perhaps they think Dana is brave for finally being able to escape the clutch of Rufus. I don't know. I still think the slaves probably see that moment as a sign of weakness, but it's impossible to tell with certainty.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting question and I think that the answer reveals the horrors of the Antebellum south. After Dana kills Rufus, families are sold off and broken up. Butler shows that things can get even worse even for slaves. I think it is interesting how in no point in the story does Butler show any slave successfully escaping slavery. The constant environment of slavery weighs down anyone forced to take part in it including Dana. So when she is able to finally kill Rufus and escape I think she is justified in her actions.
ReplyDeleteI don't see Dana killing Rufus as a weak or strong move. I see it as Dana trying to survive. Dana was being approached by Rufus and didn't want to be treated like Alice was. Dana using her knife on Rufus is a reflection of the time she is from. Although there have been many slave revolts throughout the era of slavery, the slaves on the Weylin plantation would most likely never think to defend themselves no matter the physical assault they endured. In a weird way, Dana's actions could maybe be seen as 'selfish' because she didn't think of what the death of Rufus meant for the other slaves on the Weylin plantation.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think it is really interesting to think about how our mindsets formed by today's society may be a disadvantage during the time, even though we are much more educated. I like how you emphasized the quotes and set them apart from the rest of the post a bit: it gives them a lot of power.
ReplyDeleteThis post is filled with amazing insights. Slaves had great strength but also great endurance as they carried pain and trauma in every moment of their existence. One could either put up with it or die - and tragically, often people like Alice were pushed over the edge. It makes sense why Dana believes that her tolerance for injustice is much lower than those who grew up living slavery (regardless of how easily Dana is trained to accept it). Dana knows what it's like to be in a modern world with significantly more freedom, which makes it more difficult for her to hold back from rebelling.
ReplyDeleteFantastic use of quotes and compelling pieces of evidence to support your insights. I love the points you made and I think it's connected very much to how we talk about how many terrible things slaves had to go through during this time period. Despite hearing about, talking about, and even watching the numerous atrocities committed, we could never really truly experience what it's like unless we were there firsthand like Dana. As Dana says as someone from the future who's known about this history as a black woman herself, she can barely even sustain the hostile environment for the time she was there, a much lesser time frame in comparison to the generations upon generations of slaves living as property. "We can only imagine.." is a good way of framing our own perspective.
ReplyDeleteRufus' final moments provide a great ending scene for Dana's arc. That one action of using the knife shows the dramatic change that took place in her character throughout the book. She didn't get many pages in the book after that scene but I'm wondering how she would reflect on that moment herself if she thought about it more deeply, if she would see it as strength or weakness.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting topic and I like how you discussed Dana finally killing Rufus from all the different characters' perspectives. It seems like whether each character would perceive Dana as strong or weak in that moment is heavily influenced by how they would be affected by it (which makes sense, but also makes me wonder by what standards we judge Dana's strength).
ReplyDeleteWow, this is a really interesting concept that I haven't thought about before. It is true that Dana's urge to speak up and fight for what's right are sort of seen as weaknesses. Because of the time, it not only puts her in danger but it also puts the lives of others in danger. However, at the same time, Dana is able to teach some of the slaves to read and it is seen as a small win. While yes, Dana standing by her decision to kill Rufus should he try anything may have changed things for the others on the plantation. We have to think about how our perception of strength is different now because of the time period we live in today. it is clear that no matter what Dana had chose, something would've gone wrong.
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about Dana's struggle from this perspective before. Dana moving to kill Rufus was not a moment of strength but a moment of weakness -- a moment where she lost her self-control. This distinction can be made because most of the time, slaves are holding back their urge to hurt or fight back against their master. However, I do think that in some situations, fighting back can definitely be seen as a sign of strength -- for many slaves, killing their master would mean overcoming their fear of what would happen once he died. Since Dana has always had a way out, it doesn't apply as much to her situation. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThe stark differences between what the reader views as a strength and what the characters view as a strength are a clear sign that slavery was so complicated and a victory meant so many different things to people. At a time of constant oppression, being able to stand up for yourself could either be a victory, as you had the courage to do so, or it could be a weakness, as you let your emotions affect you and put you in even more danger. The situation varied greatly from person to person, and everyone was just trying to find their own way to keep themselves safe. Wonderful post!
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