It's fair to say that Rufus has a pretty messed up family life. Between his harsh father and his spoiling mother, the kid gets an awful lot of mixed messages. This helps explain why he grows up to be such a jerk when he's older. His mom teaches him to expect the world to give him whatever he wants and his dad teaches him to act violently whenever this doesn't happen. Finally, his mom also teaches him to expect immediate forgiveness from anyone he hurts, especially women. Put it all together and you've got Octavia Butler making some important points in Kindred about how not to raise a kid.
Questions About Family
- How could Tom and Margaret Weylin do a better job of raising Rufus?
- How fair is it to blame Rufus' problems on his upbringing? How much of it is his fault?
- How are we supposed to interpret the fact that Dana and Rufus are blood relatives? Does the book draw a lot of attention to this fact?
Chew on This
In Kindred, we learn that family is usually the number one reason a person turns out bad or good.
Kindred reminds us that, at the end of the day, we can't blame our family for our behavior as adults. We need to take responsibility.