Kindred: Character analysis

Throughout Kindred, the characters have developed in many ways, in which a lot of their characteristics either weakened or strengthened. As Dana, the protagonist of the story, interacts with each character, a lot of their personalities have shown a lot more in the novel, and helped identify the type of character we are dealing with. As I read through the Fight, it became obvious to me that Alice is a foil character, while Tom Weylin and Rufus are dynamic and round characters.

A foil character can be described as someone who is the opposite of the main character, or in Alice's case, a foil character can also be someone like the main character. In Kindred, both Dana and Alice share similar circumstances, in which both are born free, but became slaves on the Weylin plantation. In the Fight, both Dana and Alice were captured by Tom Weylin and Rufus after attempting to escape their property in order to be with their loved ones. Another type of character would be a dynamic character, which is defined as a character that goes through change in the story. Although Tom Weylin seems like he is stagnant throughout Kindred, he can be considered as a dynamic character due to his sudden change in the Fight. Tom Weylin may seem like an evil person all throughout the book, he did show a different side in the Fight when he indirectly helped Dana reunite with her husband, Kevin. This change was shown when he kept a promise made by someone else, which he fulfilled Rufus's promise of sending the letter to Kevin for Dana. Lastly, a round character is someone who has more than one facet to their personality, which matches to Rufus's description. In the Fight, Rufus can be seen as someone who is tough, but also someone who truly has a soft heart for both Alice and Dana. After Dana finally got Alice to cooperate with Rufus, Rufus became more talkative and happy towards Alice, which is a lot different from his usual, "abusive" personality. Rufus's rounded personality was also shown towards the end of the Fight, after Dana was caught escaping the plantation. Although Rufus tried to keep a stern personality to punish Dana, he cared and stayed with her, wiping the blood off her face until she gained consciousness.