Skip over navigation   Octavia Butler  Themes, Motifs & Symbols
Analysis of Major Characters  Prologue and The River   The
Corrupting Influence of Power  Rufus is the prime embodiment of
this theme. When we first meet Rufus, he is a young boy. While
his race and gender alone give him some measure of authority,
his youth renders him relatively powerless, and at this stage in
his life, Rufus is a humane, compassionate soul. Despite being
bombarded by the message that his skin makes him superior to all
African-American people, Rufus’s instinctive moral sense tells
him that Alice and Nigel are worthy of his respect and
friendship. Yet Rufus’s good instincts prove no match for the
power he is given. When he comes into his inheritance and
becomes a slave owner, Rufus begins to believe that he has a
right to control the lives of others, mete out punishments, and
have all of his demands satisfied. A small tyrant, he turns on
his friends and elders, abusing Alice and treating Nigel as a
subordinate. Like his son Rufu