Rufe and I

In reading Kindred, I found myself fascinated my all the characters and their actions. There were definitely times when I had "gasp I can't believe they did that…" moments. Rufus seemed to be the character that caused most of these moments and that's when I realized that I had a love/hate relationship with him. In the beginning of the novel Rufus was a child and I, as the reader had so much hope for him. I hoped that Dana would be able to save him from what I was sure would be a disastrous life. Sadly, at some point I lost hope and I broke away from Rufe, or so I thought. It is not until we realize Rufus rapes Alice that a separation starts to occur. All the pain that he puts Alice through really shows how Rufe is like his father. Furthermore he continues to push his relationship with Dana to its limit through his actions of violence and at the end almost rape. When Rufe is killed it brought a sigh of relief. It relieved all the tension created from the start of the novel and showed the final delivery of Dana to safety. Yet, as there was relief there was sadness. This is when I ask, what is it about Rufus and his character that keeps you attached? Yes he did some horrendous things, but there were moments when he was endearing and I wanted him to be saved. For example, his obsessive and almost sickening love for Alice at moments was sweet. The fact that he was almost going to shoot himself after her death seems to say that he really did love her in a way. Also the glimpses we are given of his interactions with his children seem to make his previous actions seem not so bad. Did Butler make it so hard for the reader to break away with Rufus' character so we could understand way Dana kept making excuses for him? Maybe Rufus really was a good person in a bad time period.

The Talented Mr. Twain in Samuel Clemens' Body

Many writers write about what they know and Mark Twain was no exception. His novels are often reminiscent of earlier times, yet his use of satire never gets old. While reading A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court I was interested in knowing what events or thoughts really belonged to the writer and I often wish I can a biographical reference. So here I have compiled a bit of facts about Twain’s life for your literary enjoyment.

Mark Twain was born Samuel Clemens on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. His father John Marshall Clemens came from Virginia, although his family was not wealthy they were minor slave holders and John Clemens did inherit three slaves. Later, John Clemens moved to Kentucky where he met Jane Lampton who would later become Samuel Clemens’ mother. When Samuel was a child the family moved to Hannibal, Missouri. Samuel Clemens’ time here would later turn out to be the basis of his novels Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Hannibal of Samuel Clemens’ childhood was slave holding, although the town was not part of the south many citizens were southerners and as such they possessed household servants. Yet, Clemens’ did not recall many instances of slave cruelty. He however did recall never fully being able to be friends with African American children because of a color and culture barrier. These childhood years can be said to have been the happiest for young Samuel Clemens.

Samuel’s father died on March 1847, after the death young Clemens begun working as a printer in different publications in Hannibal. From 1853 to 1867 Clemens traveled throughout the United States working as a printer and summiting short stories to different publications. At this time Clemens was also granted a license to pilot steamboats. In December 1867, Clemens met Olivia Langdon and in February 2, 1870 they were married. Samuel went on to have three daughters Susy, Clara and Jean. He only had one son Langdon who died at the age of two.

Samuel Clemens had a very prosperous literary career as Mark Twain. Twain wrote many pieces including Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. At the time in which Twain was writing Connecticut Yankee he was also in a five thousand dollar investment with the Paige typesetting machine and invested in the Webster publishing company. He expected to become very rich from these investments. He saw the Paige typesetting machine as the way of the future, he could not believe that something so marvelous could exist and so he put all his time and energy into this machine. He was unaware of the existence of other machines much like this typesetter in London and Baltimore. The typesetter had many costly breakdowns, delays and needed much improvement, yet Twain still organized a company out of his own pocket to manufacture, perfect and sell the Paige typesetter, this eventually left Twain almost bankrupt. As a way to bring income to his investments Twain begun writing Connecticut Yankee, the novel was intended to be an elaboration of Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. As Twain, continued writing, however, the novel changed course and became a narrative of Twain’s concerns and nostalgia. Neither the Paige typesetter nor Connecticut Yankee obtained mass success. Twain later moved to Europe with his family and wrote many short essays while abroad. He continued writing the rest of his life but never wrote something that was popular as his earlier novels. In April 21, 1910 after the deaths of his daughters Susy and Jean and his wife Olivia, Mark Twain died in New York.

There is tons of biographical information that would be interesting to know so if you have time you should check out this website: http://etext.virginia.edu/railton

Work Cited

Kaplan, Justin. Mark Twain and his World. Simon and Schuster: New York, 1974. Print.

---.Mr.Clemens and Mark Twain. Simon and Schuster: New York, 1966. Print.

Long, E.Hudson. Mark Twain Handbook. Hendricks House: New York, 1957. Print.

Railton, Stephen. “Writing Connecticut Yankee” Mark Twain in his Own Times. The University of Virginia Library. Web. 2009