Eman Thabateh
African American Literature
November 3, 2014
Journal 6
How can we view Dana and Alice’s relationship in relation to their situations with Rufus?
Dana and Alice's relationship was quite strained because of Rufus. Both view each other as understanding what it was like to be treated as a slave- however they did not view themselves individually as understanding what it was like. Alice was born a free slave and Dana grew up in the 70’s when slavery didn’t cross her mind unless she was reading about it. Because none of them could rationalize being treated as a slave, they struggled immensely with Rufus’s behavior. However, these similar experiences with him allowed Alice and Dana’s relationships to grow and they became closer. Unfortunately their strained relationships with Rufus lead to Alice’s (what seemed to be inevitable) death.
They had very obvious similarities and even Rufus noticed them, on page 228, he says to Dana and Alice
"Behold the woman" "You really are only one woman. Did you know that?"…show more content… He fulfills his sexual needs with Alice and his emotional ones with Dana. Part of the reason why Rufus is so drawn to them both is because they are so alike in appearances. The major difference between the two women is that Dana is coming from a totally different perspective than Alice. She is a modern woman who has only read about slavery, while Alice (even thought she was a free woman at the beginning) has grown up in a time and society that condones and accepts slavery. Alice and Dana have similar struggles with death and escaping- for Dana escaping is to be back at home. Whereas Alice feels death is her only escape and is better than slavery. We get a better understanding of that when she hangs herself at the end of the