Power in Kindred

Definition of status: a person's social position or standing

Status can be changed

Alice's change in status from a free woman to a slave

Dana's change in status from a free woman to a slave

Status can affect an individual's outlook and life

Slaves

Power among slaves

Some slaves seem to have power over the other slaves because they are well respected and people seem to listen to them

Sarah

Not power to make decisions or to change lives, but their power comes from the influence that they have

Slave owners

Have status because they own plantation which provide jobs and accommodation of slaves

Power is defined with skin colour

Male

Most males are portrayed to be the most powerful and strongest amongst the society like Rufus and Tom Weylin who possess the ultimate superiority as the owner of the plantation. However there are also characters who are portrayed to be the weakest and useless amongst the society like Nigel and Alice who has no choice but to obey and oblige to specific instructions given by their masters

Whites

Rufus

Had some form of control and authority over the slaves in the plantation

What kind of control does Rufus have?

Even though he took over the plantation, he had to earn the respect and authority over the slaves because Tom had a stronger impact on the plantation

Tried to instil fear by selling slaves away without a reasonable excuse

Punished Dana to send a message towards other slaves

Tom Weylin

Had absolute control over the slaves in the plantation

What kind of control does Tom have?

Tom had absolute control over their lives

Makes decisions for them

What they had to do as a slave for their living

Does not really care about maintaining relationship

Despite knowing that Dana's appearance is to save Rufus' life, Tom still treated her as a slave and eventually punished her by whipping her, to a state where Dana was in Mortal danger and had to be transported back to her timeline.

Tom knows that Dana's appearance is to save Rufus' life through the conversation between Tom and Dana ( 223 )

Despite knowing that Sarah has a type of bond between with her child, Tom still continued to sell her children to make money

Plantations are passed down from father to son

This keeps the wealth and influence in the family

The rich white man will always remain rich while the slaves will always remain as subjects in the plantation

Jake Edwards

Fowler

Blacks

Nigel

Jude

Luke

Female

Even though Margaret is a white woman, she does not seem to hold any real power in the text

The power that Margaret hold seems to be very superficial. She gets to punish the slaves if she is unhappy with them, but her punishments seem petty and insignificant, as compared to the punishments that Tom and Rufus mete out

Margaret's punishments to the slaves seem to only display her frustration and impatience, not to teach them a lesson

Therefore, she does not have any real power in the plantation

Margaret is not included in the important decisions and she is usually brushed aside by her son and husband, as if she is insignificant

She is not involved with the running of the plantation

Margaret Weylin only appears in the domestic sphere and her existence in the text revolves largely around her son

Makes it seem that women are incapable of doing important jobs, and their sole purpose is to take care of their children and family, which she is unable to do independently

Rufus was impatient with her at a young age and she was unable to command his respect, even when he is a child

" Don't say nothing!" Rufus took his head off her lap. " Go away and stop bothering me!"

Rufus and Margaret's relationship is skewed because Margaret obviously listens to Rufus and is afraid to offend him, hence she gives in to Rufus and is unable to control and teach him as a mother figure

However, Rufus does not dare to behave in this manner towards Tom, which suggests that he fears Tom and holds his father in high regard

Tom will hit Rufus, but Margaret won't. Therefore, Margaret is unable to control him when he grew up ( 21 )

She was moved away, which is significant because she is not important enough to be kept near her husband and her sound as she has o business in running the plantation

The portrayal of Margaret as a character is usually negative and she acts as the opposite to her husband or her son

In The River

Margaret was hysterical with the appearance of Dana and her attempts to do< CPR, even to the extent of getting in the way of Dana's attempt to rescue Rufus

Page 7

Margaret was emotional and unable to save Rufus, Tom appeared to be calm and in control of the situation. This portrays Margaret to be an emotional and hysterical woman who is useless in crisis management ==> entirely helpless and needs to depend on someone else to help her

Tom appeared in the capacity of the plantation owner who wants to protect his family, find out why his wife is hysterical, and solve the problem at home.

In The Fall

Margaret is again portrayed as the hysterical, overly concerned mother who is unable to do anything for her son, while Tom is portrayed to be dependable and rational

Page 70

In The Storm

Margaret is portrayed as a weak invalid, who requires assistance for her weak mental and physical health. She even depends on drugs to make herself feel better and to mellow her temper.

Page 245

Margaret Weylin had never been portrayed to be someone who is capable and independent. Hence, as a woman in a patriarchal society, her opinions are also limited and hence, she has to stay out of the picture in the order to let her husband and son run the plantation.

Page 241

Page 242

Page 244

Page 249

Does not portray a picture of strength, control and authority

Power is gained and through

Lineage

As a slave owner

As a slave

Fear

Status

Subtopic

Lack of control / inability to choose / lack of options

When Rufus became the slave owner of the plantation and decided to sell Sam as a punishment for his interest in Dana, Dana was unable to change Rufus' decision as there was a change in power dynamics

Due to her lack of power and hence, lack of control over the situation, Dana had to watch Rufus' exact extreme acts of cruelty at her expense

At this moment, It was evident that Dana no longer power over Rufus and she no longer has the upper hand in this relationship because Rufus no longer wanted to listen to her

Page 266

Same also did not have any control of the situation as he had to just follow instructions