Nature vs. Nurture in Kindred
One of the difficult things about Kindred is how much of Rufus’s character development was inevitable. Dana from the beginning once she realizes that Rufus is her ancestor attempts to influence him to become a better person that isn’t racist. One of the ways she tries to change his mindset is by asking him to call her “black or negro or even colored” (Butler 61). She then tries to explain the vulgarness of the n-word by comparing it to the example of white trash, but it’s not clear if Rufus fully understood it. Later on, Dana is warned by one of the slaves that Rufus “can turn mean mighty quick” (68). This behavior is explained in conjunction with his father’s temper, which implies that Rufus learned this behavior from his dad or had somehow inherited it from him. One of the frequent questions that gets brought up is nature vs. nurture. A strong example of the interplay between nature and nurture is with the will of slaves. Slave breakers were employed to break the spirits of sla...