There's something about Rufus that's--I don't want to say sympathetic because he's been doing terrible thing after terrible thing, but... like Mr. Mitchell was working hard to say tactfully in class, he's not as easy to hate as he could be. I think that this is due to the fact that he's exactly like a child, even though he's biologically been an adult for more than half the book. He throws temper tantrums, he wants his Mommy back and fears his Daddy and gets really attached to people. He still goes by Rufe. His whole role in the story is to be the incompetent fool that Dana keeps having to save and trying to educate: a very child-like role.
And we forgive children for a lot of things that we don't let adults get away with. Kids are allowed to be selfish and whiny and unpleasant. In World Since, we've been watching this movie, Kramer vs. Kramer, about two parents getting divorced. Their five year old can be really inconsiderate to his dad, who tries his best to take care of him after the mom leaves. But we don't blame the kid, we're just like, "aw, he's having a hard time and he doesn't know any better." So the same feeling tends to sort of apply to Rufus, at least in Dana's eyes, maybe not to all readers. He's had a pretty hard life (though not as hard as most of the characters in this book) and he acts like he's ignorant, so she's inclined to forgive him.
Sarah's an interesting character. I like the perspective Butler takes on her evolution into an Uncle Tom like character-- that it's unfortunate but understandable. "Uncle Tom" has come to refer to slaves that were too loyal to white plantation owners (and really to anyone who participates in their own group's maltreatment). It's a reference to the book Uncle Tom's Cabin, which, though an anti-slavery novel, is now famous for its problematic depiction of content slaves (many of which then became famous slave stereotypes). And actually maybe a better term to use would be "Mammy-like character", because the female domestic slave's name was Mammy in Uncle Tom's Cabin. When Rufus calls her "Aunt Sarah", Dana is a little bit disturbed and thinks, "Aunt Sarah? Well, that was better than Mammy Sarah".
Sarah's not content as a slave, but she's opposed to escape attempts, at least after Luke is sold off for "just (going) ahead and (doing) what he wanted to"(138). I just like how Dana is at first disappointed in her for having this point of view and then comes to understand it.
We always hate peers that buy into messed up, oppressive systems at our expense. For example, in schools there can be some vitriol toward try-hards, brown-nosers, suck-ups. I assume that this bad-blood, at least in some circumstances, comes out of a feeling that those people are out-competing normal kids by working harder than they should be or caring too much about the boring stuff adults like. And it's easy to buy into this mentality. Like, who likes scabs? I don't like scabs in the abstract. But if you were actually put, firsthand, into a scab's situation, you'd probably have some sympathy. Scabs are in a tough place. My mom's union is actually considering a strike and she's worried about it because not getting paid enough is bad, but not as bad as being fired. Even though she wants them to succeed, she's not sure if she'd strike with them or not. Safety is appealing, and honestly, whether you're a striking worker, a rebellious pre-teen, or a slave, if you don't actually have a chance of changing the corrupt system holding you down, it could be smart to try to just make the best of your situation. Now the thing is that some slaves did escape, so trying wasn't pointless. But I can see why Sarah would feel that way, and after escaping and being brought back, so can Dana.
And Rufus does seem to show a twisted sort a love. The way that he gets jealous over Sam talking to Dana or how he desperately wants to keep Alice--at times, Rufus seems a bit like a child who can't properly express his feelings to other people. And the ways that he does express them are disastrous.
ReplyDeleteNearing the end of the novel, esp. around The Storm or so, I think it becomes easier to sympathize with Sarah's plight too once we see how easily Dana becomes a little assimilated into the Weylin plantation as a kind-of Margaret Weylin's slave...it's easy to fall into a position of safety without consciously doing it too
I agree that Rufus has this quality that makes me not totally hate him even though he is doing horrible things. I think that the bond he forms with Dana can be interpreted in a couple different ways though. The first being the one you brought up: an odd take on love, he cares about her and becomes a little jealous sometimes as you pointed out. On the other hand it could be a bit of personal interest since Rufus has realized that Dana appears to save his life and he doesn't want her to leave because that could possibly endanger his life again. Not sure which fits better though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, there definitely is something about Rufus that makes it difficult to hate him. For me, I think it's easier to not dislike Rufus because of the postmodern idea that the society/culture around you shapes you, and your point of how he acts like a child fits into that--he was never expected to really act like an adult because everyone around him would do as he says when he said it. Though I cannot say that I like Rufus, I think Butler doesn't allow us to hate him either. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI think you brought up interesting points that we all struggled with while reading this novel. How does someone's circumstances affect our judgement of their actions? In Rufus' case, I too, certainly sympathize with him slightly. His father whipped him, his mother is barely functional, and the one person who is constantly saving him, Dana, leaves for years at a time. Though I sympathize with Sarah's "mammy figure" more than some of Rufus' outrageous actions, it is important to note their situations are understandable, but not excusable. People who operate outside of their societal constraints are the ones who make change, and it is possible as we see time and time again throughout history.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your point about Rufus. I think that his child-likeness is part of the reason why we give him so many passes. Like, even though he is a child, I dont think he should get so many passes. But, I also think it is because we spend so much time focusing on his father being the bad guy of the novel. To be honest, by the end of the novel, I really sympathized with his father more than him. As for your take on Sarah, I agree with you. I think often times you want really do support a cause, but you dont show it by joining it. I don think that it's right that people are often criticized for not helping a cause more by joining it. Even though they are not actively partaking in it, by dissenting it and saying that they dissent it is still helping.
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