What Really Happened to Dana’s Arm

Author’s note: This blog post channels the ideology of a conspiracy theorist, as seen in Libra.

When introduced to Kindred, the reader and narrator, Dana, must quickly come to terms with the teleportation through time Dana undergoes. Details such as when (Antebellum era), where (Maryland), the passage of Dana’s time (or rather, lack thereof), reasoning behind her arrivals (whenever Rufus needs his life saved), and reasoning behind her departures (whenever she genuinely believes her life is in danger) are rapidly thrown at Dana and the reader both. Additionally, Dana’s first return from her journey in time depicts that she disappeared for a few seconds, only to reappear in a different place in the room. Moreover, “The Fall” teaches us that Dana can facilitate the transportation of not only objects, such as her bag, but also people. 

Assuming there is some consistency in this book (although that is a major expectation for postmodern works), Rufus should appear in the 20th century when he tightly grips Dana’s arm, yet, it is common belief that he dies following his attempt to rape Dana, which is brought to a halt after Dana musters the courage to stab him. Furthermore, Dana narrates to the readers that Nigel, walking in on the scene, must have set fire to the home to hide the murder, however, she does not truly know what happened. And nor do we. 

It is entirely possible that Rufus had teleported back to 1976 with Dana, but is simply not brought back directly next to her. Rather, he could be anywhere in the world, explaining why his corpse had not been found. Nigel, having seen Dana return home on numerous occasions, comes to the conclusion that Dana teleported to the 19th century because of Rufus, meaning now Rufus would never return to his own timeline, but rather permanently reside in Dana’s. To conceal Rufus’ mysterious and indescribable disappearance, Nigel then sets the house on fire. He ensures Margaret, Rufus’ mother, is safe from the fire, avoiding families being torn apart. This careful thinking guarantees the preservation of Dana’s bloodline. Hagar and Joe may have even been raised by Carrie and Nigel, all of whom lack a record of being sold. 

Going back to Rufus, he can receive proper care for his stab wounds due to medical advancements in the 20th century. He too struggles to explain the wounds in the hospital, a parallel to Dana's circumstances in the prologue. Additionally, he requires support to survive in this timeline. Since the ties between him and Dana are severed, just as her arm, the strange bond he once shared with Dana  transfers over to a future descendant of the bloodline. Rufus’ impact on the 20th century remains to be seen, or perhaps we have already seen it unknowingly. 

Comments

  1. I love this theory! I didn't even think about it before, but you're right- it seems like Rufus should have teleported back with Dana (Although I will say that the boundaries of what comes with her seem kind of hazy- technically shouldn't the tub she slit her wrists in have come with her as well? Where do we draw the line? Should the floor come with her and by extension the house and by extension the planet?) I would really like to see how Dana and Rufus' dynamic would play out in the 20th century, where he no longer would have nearly the same power over her. I don't think he could take losing that control.

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  2. This theory brings up an interesting scenario where Rufus comes into the 'modern world.' I think he would have a harder time adjusting to the time period than Dana did, since there are a crazy amount of technological advancements. Also, his thoughts and behaviors would be quite old-fashioned, to say the least. I'm not so sure why Rufus didn't come into 1976 at the end, but if there's one thing this book has pushed, it's that we shouldn't question the logistics of the time travel aspect and let the story be. Great post!

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  3. I can't believe I didn't see that inconsistency until now but you're completely right- by all the rules we've established so far, Rufus's corpse should have just come with her. Very curious that it didn't, and we instead got this Harry Potter style splinching. I don't know if we have any reason to believe he's just out there somewhere in a random location (where exactly would that be anyway? What would be the reason that he would go to that particular place etc.), but it is a very interesting thought and it's made me look at the last time travel episode in a whole different light. Great post.

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  4. Wow--I have never heard this possibilty before, and I find it oddly compelling and pretty coherent. If Dana is our narrator/point of view, we'd have no way of knowing if Rufus ever did come back with her, to a different location. And I think I said in class how part of me would really like to see a "Rufus in 1976" narrative, if only to get out of the claustrophobic and "diseased" setting of the main narrative for a bit.

    But I was thinking about this paradox of time travel stuff in a comment on another blog, and it occurred to me that there is some coherent logic to the fact that Rufus never travels to the future with Dana, even as he grips her arm. If Dana is a figure for the historian, immersing herself in the past in order to understand and critically analyze it, then this is a movement that can only go one way: time travel to the past is a metaphor for history, but travel to the future would be something like speculative fiction or futuristic theory. The historian can and MUST confront the troubling past and contemplate its traumas and wounds and how they shape the present (figured in her returning "not whole" from the past, literally re-shaped by the experience); but the person in the past has no way to travel to the future. They can only understand their present with reference to their past.

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  5. Interesting idea! It seems very plausible that Rufus would come along with Dana, especially considering all of the other past situations where Dana brought back things from the past. There is one inconsistency, however -- Dana's never brought a person from the past with her (Kevin doesn't count because he's from the present).
    Here's something else: what if Rufus died before Dana travelled back to the present, and his corpse came along with her and got stuck in Dana's wall along with her arm? Perhaps his corpse held Dana's arm back so that it appeared in a place it shouldn't have and that's why her arm got stuck in the wall?
    Just another thought.

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