Rufus and Thor
Rufus and Thor are both characters who, despite their initial interest in improving the situation of the colored members of their society, end up betraying this mission and submitting to the white supremacist narrative of their time.
In the beginning, they are inspired by a black figure–Dana and Berbelang–to become attracted to the cause of empowering colored people. This partnership between a white and a black character is unusual for their time and is a big personal sacrifice for both individuals.
It’s important to note the challenge of Dana and Berbelang’s position here: these two characters are both outliers in their colored community (the enslaved people at the Weylin plantation and the Mutafikah) because they believe that a sympathetic white person can be instrumental to promoting the best interests of their community. Despite the warnings of other people in their community, Dana and Berbelang develop a relationship with Rufus and Thor and put their trust in them, even if it ends up costing their status within the marginalized community (Sarah calls Dana a “traitor” to the black race, and Yellow Jack calls Berbelang “weak” for siding with Thor).
Things also go shaky for Rufus and Thor. At first, they do, at least in some aspects, take racially progressive actions: Rufus develops a notion of “love” for Sarah and ultimately frees their children, and Thor helps the Mutafikah during their repatriation missions. Over time, however, both characters face a choice between their white identity and what they believe is morally “right”. They start to stray from their initial moralist sentiment as they come to terms with their place in society as a white person and the privileges that come with it–often as a direct result of oppressing colored people. Unable to reject their privileges and the racist biases ingrained within them through their upbringing, they begin to loosen their grip on morality and let themselves melt into the molds of the white supremacist society.
As a result, both Rufus and Thor end up betraying the black characters who had trusted them, resulting in the worst possible outcome for everyone. Not only do Dana and Berbelang suffer, but the situation worsens for the entire colored community–most of the people at the plantation are sold after Rufus dies, and the Mutafikah loses its leader and risks getting exposed to the public. In the big picture, the situation had turned out worse than what would have happened if the white characters had not been involved in the first place.
So what do these parallel stories of Rufus and Thor tell us? These characters, whose lives unfold 100 years apart from one another, both illustrate the limitations of white-black cooperation during those historical periods and exemplify the authors’ criticism of white people involved in promoting the goals of colored people–reflecting a general historical sentiment during the 1970s. These white characters, whose lives perch at the top of an explicitly racist hierarchy, can never fully grasp or internalize the suffering of marginalized people beyond the blindfolds of their privilege.
I like your observation of the overlap between the two characters, especially how they are both influenced by a black figure. Rufus and Thor both ask us to confront how privilege has a role on these moral decisions. Though they seem like they want to help in the beginning, societal pressure gets the better of both of them. We can't help but look at the limitations of allyship and whether it fosters genuine advocacy or creates a way for those allying to feel better about themselves. Rufus and Thor both show us how these deeply ingrained societal "status quos" can ultimately overturn the characters initial intentions. It seems that although Berbelang and Dana try to explain their point of view, Thor and especially Rufus misconstrue what they were trying to get at.
ReplyDeleteI think your observation about the fact that black characters in these novels who put their faith in white believers often experience backfire in which the white characters (Rufus and Thor) somehow betray them or let them down, leading to their eventual death or injury. I think another important character to parallel would be Mother's Younger Brother. Although he does not betray them persay, he occassionally gets lost in the premise of why they are doing what they are doing and simply starts playing revolutionary for the purpose of "being different". In this sense, the white characters in these novels tend to lose the symbolism or message behind their actions, which causes them to be susceptible to a moral suasion and betray the cause of people like Dana, Berbelang, and Coalhouse Walker. In Rufus' case this moral suasion comes from the society around him, which overcomes his loyalty to Dana, whereas with Thor this moral suasion comes from the simple manipulative words of Biff Musclewhite, a white man they held captive. Whatever the case, this betrayal and/or confusion regarding loyalty is a constant theme.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really insightful post! I never thought about these connections before and they really do share a lot in common and the fact that they're more telling of actual patterns we see in history about inclusive activism and movements. You put it really well when you talk about they are "unable to reject their privileges and the racist biases ingrained within them through their upbringing." These people who are in such a privileged position in society will never be able to deny their privilege, and they can never truly devote themselves to the causes they support no matter how hard they try, because it's something they can't understand unless they experience it. It reminds me of MYB with how he was devoted to Coalhouse Walker's revolutionary causes, but at the end of the day, he was able to escape with zero repercussions because of his identity as a white man. White allies are inherently stuck in their privileged position, simply due the institutional biases they are granted. Really good post!
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting how Ishmael Reed and Butler are both much more skeptical of the kind of archetype of these white people as allies to the cause. Doctorow seemed much more hopeful than them that people like mother's younger brother could be helpful, but he was still critical of the motives behind it. I also agree that it seems like they kind of lost their grip on their sense of morality and their societies were constantly pressuring them to give in to more racist beliefs. Every time Dana goes back home Rufus has multiple years to be remolded by his society, and Thor is also unable to hold out without the rest of the Mutafikah with him.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting point. It's incredibly easy for many of these white characters (Thor, Rufus, Mother's Younger Brother) to become detached from the issues they're initially fighting for, because they don't have to deal with the day-to-day struggles of the systems they're protesting. I think Butler is definitely critical of how anti-racist certain white people can be, as she exemplifies with Kevin's occasional slips. However, I think she's also optimistic by making Kevin improve as a character, and genuinely dedicate his time in the antebellum south to helping slaves escape/read at many points.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most striking aspects of the early stages of the Dana-Rufus dynamic, for me, is her insistence that they need to *trust* each other, that they both have some degree of incriminating information on each other, and they need to keep each other's secrets. Initially, this alliance seems to position them both against Rufus's father--he too has been whipped, and he worries about "getting in trouble" with Tom Weylin, and Dana seems to believe that this puts them on something like equal footing. And as the novel unfolds, we see that Rufus is NOT bound by any such agreement, even if he keeps insisting that he cares about Dana and doesn't want to hurt her. He betrays her trust so casually (like with the letters), and she is always pretty eager to forgive--even up to the very end, as he is assaulting her.
ReplyDeleteRufus is more of a "torn" character than Thor, in that his allegiances to the slave-owning society are invoked all around him all the time (he literally stands to inherit the plantation and the people living on it), and his allegiances to Dana are this private secret that he and she share. But many readers (myself included) remain surprised by how much slack Dana is willing to give him, and how long she seems to harbor hopes that he won't "become his father."