Dana and Rufus might look like friends from the outside, but Danas feelingsfor him are quite different from what we think of them. To begin with Dana seesRufus as a child needing or relying upon her protection. For instance, when Danasaved him from drowning in the river.
Secondly, she views him as a man of histime. In another words Rufuss personality is the way that any other man wouldhave been in that period of time towards his slaves. Lastly, he is a ruthlessand vicious slaveholder, which Tom Weylins fault. Just as Toms behaviouron the slaves and on his son. Finally, I will explain in more details howDanas feelings for Rufus are in the following paragraphs.
As a child Rufusstarted depending on Dana. In another words, Rufuss survival was left in thehands of Dana. Just as when Dana went back to the past the first time to saveRufus from drowning in the river. “I reacted to the child in trouble”. Also, Rufus depended on her to be his companion. Even more, when Alice killedherself and Dana came back to the past the last time and saw what happened Rufustold her “dont leave, Dana”.
As Rufus grew older he never reallylearned to take good care of himself. Rufus is a man of his time. To begin withhe treats his slaves the way any man would do in his period of time. Like thetime when his father died and then he started to buy and sell slaves like anyother slaveholder would do. Like Alice said “Hes all grown up now andpart of the system”. Further more Rufus had started to take whatever hewanted by force if he couldnt get it peacefully.
For instance, the time whenAlice said he didnt want to go with him and she decided to marry Issac. Justas then he thought he should get her by forcing her to come with him and whenshe didnt he tried to rape her. “Shell get whats coming to her. Shell get it whether I give it to her or not,” he said smiling. Toconclude, Rufus still needs to learn a lot about manhood of his time.
As, Rufusgrows older he becomes more offensive , brutal, and vicious. To begin with TomWeylins hatred for his as a little child had turned him this way . Forexample, when Tom hit Rufus for stealing a dollar from him and Rufus tried toget back at him by burning the draperies. Rufus “He said I took money fromhis desk, and I said I didnt. He said I was calling him a liar, and he hitme.
Several times”. Also, Rufus started to deal with his anger by punishingother people like his slaves. Like the time when Rufus blamed Dana for hisfathers death and sent her to fields, and also got her whipped. “I guess Ijust had to make somebody pay.
And it seemed that. . . well, people dont diewhen youre taking care of them” .
Finally, Rufus had really shown hisvicious side to Dana. For these reasons, you understand how Dana feels aboutRufus. No matter how many times Dana saved his life, he paid her back bypunishing her in one of his brutal and vicious ways. If Dana didnt have tosave her future by waiting until Hagar was born she would have killed Rufus along time ago. Put yourself in the place of Dana and think about what you wouldhave done.
