Arms Disappearing Left and Right (No Pun Intended)

           What in the world happened to Dana's arm?! The last few pages left me confused and I had to re-read it multiple times until the fog started to dissipate. My conclusion was that Dana had been able to kill Rufus, but he was still holding onto her arm, so as she was being transported to her world this caused a malfunction and her arm became a part of the wall and had to be cut off to set her free.

            I then needed to ask, why did this cause a malfunction? I came up with two possibilities to answer this question. Either fate would be too altered if Rufus came to 1976 or Dana needed to leave a part of her back in the 1800's. Though the book never explained how, Dana's and Rufus's fates seem to be intertwined. He can call upon her to come to the past when he thinks he is about to die and Dana has no choice but to respond to this call. Maybe if Rufus came to 1976 too much of history would change and Dana's entire fate would be changed. When Dana goes back in time, she is more of an observer of history that has already happened. Because she is alive in 1976, we know that her time-travel back to the 1800s does not change much of her fate and that she cannot actually do much in the time period. The information Dana learns from the 1800's cannot change much of her time period, it will only change her emotions. But Rufus coming to 1976 is very different. This is someone from history coming to the future and with the new knowledge he gains, Rufus would have the capability of drastically changing his time period when he returns to it. 

            The other reason Dana could have lost her arm is because there was no way that she could leave the 1800's whole. The year she spent at the Weylin residence changed her life so much. She came in as an observer, but as time progressed she created a life there. She had friends among the slaves, helped in the household chores, and became involved with all of the Weylin's and many of the slaves' lives. She had created an emotional anchor in this time, and even though she mentally knew she belonged with Kevin in 1976, her heart was in the 1800's. Therefore, when she was leaving the 1800's, she was taking with her the experiences of the time, so the 1800's needed to take something from her as well. Unfortunately for her, that "something" the time period took from her was her left arm.