Who is the antagonist in Kindred?
The antagonist of a story is the force that provides an obstacle for the protagonist. The antagonist does not always have to be a single character or even a character at all. The main antagonist in Kindred is Rufus Weylin who calls Dana from the future to save his life when he is just a little boy.
How does the title Kindred tell the story of Dana?
How does the title Kindred tell the story of Dana? Kindred, relating to family and relationships tells the story of Dana through her transporting in time when her ancestors were in the antebellum time period. This also relates to other characters such as Kevin, Alice and Rufus.
What does Dana do to Rufus shortly before being transported back to 1976 for the last time?
On her last trip back in time, Dana finds Alice hanging dead from a rafter in Rufus’ barn. She realizes later that Alice killed herself because Rufus lied about selling her children. Rufus tries to comfort himself for Alice’s death by grabbing hold of Dana. Dana kills him with a knife and returns to 1976.
Who are the main characters in Kindred?
Edana Franklin
Where does rufus live in Kindred?
Antebellum Maryland
How does Dana realize that Rufus is her ancestor?
Because she was wearing pants, Rufus thought Dana was a man. He says his last name is Weylin and confirms that he has a young black friend, a free woman, named Alice Greenwood. When Dana hears these names, she realizes that Rufus is her ancestor. Rufus tells Dana that she would be safe at Alice’s house.
What happens in the end of kindred?
Dana cuts Alice’s body down. Rufus returns and tells her that Alice committed suicide. Rufus tells her he didn’t really sell the children; he sent them to his aunt in Baltimore to frighten Alice and convince her not to leave him. Dana blames him for Alice’s death and says freeing Joe and Hagar is the least he can do.
What else does Dana lose on the last trip?
Without explaining what she means, the narrator, Dana, reveals that on her last trip home, she lost her arm. She says she also lost her sense of security and about a year of her life.
Why does Alice kill herself in Kindred?
Alice kills herself because she has lost all of her possible identities. Running ceases to exist as an option, because Alice cannot lay claim to any of the identities she would need to embrace in order to flee.
What does the title Kindred mean?
Kindred is an old-fashioned word that means family members or blood relations. It’s especially important to the themes of this novel because the black female protagonist Dana is actually related to the white male slave-owner Rufus.
Why does Dana stab Rufus?
She had been pulled back and forth from her time, 1976, to his time 1800s in order to protect his life. He was the white side of her family and her black side was a slave that he had raped. The irony of the story is that in the end it is Dana who kills Rufus. He tries to rape her and she stabs him with a knife.
What did Kevin tell the police in Kindred?
He explains that they had to amputate her arm above the elbow, as the narrator tries to lift her stump. Kevin further says that he told the police a version of the truth about the accident that won’t land them both in a mental institution.
What does Dana look like in Kindred?
The protagonist and narrator of the novel, Dana is a black woman from 1979 California who gets pulled back in time to Antebellum Maryland to save the life of her white ancestor, Rufus Weylin. Dana is a strong, resourceful, intelligent woman, as well as a writer like her white husband Kevin.
How does Rufus offend Dana?
Rufus threatened Dana with sending her back to work in the fields if she disobeys him.
What is a kindred?
noun. a person’s relatives collectively; kinfolk; kin. a group of persons related to another; family, tribe, or clan. relationship by birth or descent, or sometimes by marriage; kinship.