There have been many frustrating instances of insensitivity and carelessness exhibited by Rufus Weylin during the course of Kindred. A few examples include, but are certainly not limited to: the point where he sold Sam simply because he was talking to Dana (and perhaps showing interest, though really just for talking to her since there was no real way for him to know Sam's intentions), sending Dana out to work in the fields when it was clear that she wouldn't be able to handle such a situation, and using the persuasion of a rifle to coax Dana and Kevin into going where he wants them to go. However, none of these moments caused me the most surprise--the real shocker was when Alice was found to have hanged herself after Rufus convinced her that he had sold their children south (when, in reality, he had simply sent them to live with their aunt).
At first, I could only wonder why this was Alice's last resort. Not that there were many options for her in the first place, but couldn't she have just run away again? Rufus had gotten rid of their children forever (or so she had thought), so wouldn't she not have anything to lose? I don't think the answer to such a question is simple, but I have an idea: Alice had finally lost all forms and senses of agency and identity at that point in the novel. There are no more identities that Alice can take up such that she would be able to reconcile continuing to exist.
Having an identity and a sense of self/purpose is one reason that people continue making the best of their situations. However, Rufus has seemingly crushed every since option Alice seemed to have to rationalize continuing to press on as being Rufus' partner. First, she has already proven by succumbing to Rufus' unwanted advances in the first place that her motives do not lie in being the rebellious slave. She isn't interested in being that one slave who managed to break free of their masters' grip by taking the very dangerous initiative of running away. (This doesn't mean that she hasn't thought about it, obviously. But it's clearly one of the least safe options she has, out of what few are available to her.) Secondly, she can no longer motivate herself with the designation of being Isaac's wife, as that was something that was taken away from her when they were captured and he was sold south.
One of the most important and probably the strongest identity Alice had was that of being a mother. Her children were able to keep her at least somewhat rooted to the plantation. When Rufus was attempting to scare her into being more obedient by telling her that her children have been sold south, Alice could no longer claim to have a reason to remain. She had gone through quite some time of being Rufus' unwilling partner, but being that again (as opposed to running away) is no longer something she can rationalize as being an option. Thus, seeing no further options for her to exist in the world, Alice elected to commit suicide.
It was probably one of the most heartbreaking moments in the book for me to read. Considering how much trauma Alice had already been through, while it was a shock to me just because I wasn't expecting that plot twist, I feel like I understood how Alice felt, and how much of an importance and focal point an identity really can be to someone.
