Thursday, May 12, 2011

In Kindred, how many times does Dana travel back to the 1800s?

In the novel
, Dana travels back to 1800's Maryland 7 times. The first time, she arrives
to find Rufus, drowning in the river and she pulls him to safety. When she returns to Maryland
the second time, only a few minutes after the first, she rescues Rufus from himself after he set
fire to his bedroom drapes while angry at his father for selling a horse he admired. 


Her third trip to Maryland comes as a result of Rufus falling out of a tree and
breaking his leg, but this time Kevin comes with her by holding on to her when she is
transported back in time. However, when she returns on her fourth trip to Maryland, when Rufus
is being beaten to death by Issac, Alice's husband, she finds that Kevin has left the state and
must survive in the Weylin household without him.

Her fifth trip to Maryland
occurs after Rufus has found himself so drunk that he is face down in a puddle. And when she
returns the sixth time, she arrives to find that Rufus is a much harsher man than he was when
she left. On her seventh and final trip to Maryland, she arrives as Rufus has nearly committed
suicide. She tries to save him from himself, but when he attempts to rape her, she stabs him
twice and returns to 1976 South Carolina for good. 

 

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