Alice as a stand-in for Dana?

I was rereading bits and pieces of Kindred when I stumbled upon an interesting line that Alice says to Dana: "'He likes me in bed, and you out of bed, and you and I look alike if you can believe what people say' ... 'All that it means we're two halves of the same woman--- at least in his crazy head'" (228).

This may be a wild interpretation, but what if Rufus' possessiveness and sexual liking to Alice resulted from Dana's presence in his youth and her unattainable status? (This isn't a fully baked idea, so pardon me if there are holes in my logic).

By saving Rufus, Dana assumed the role of a savior, and by caring for him, she filled a maternal void (the act of reading to him, offering him encouragement, and correcting his judgments strike me as very tender, maternal acts). Until Rufus became old enough to question Dana's authority and assume his role as a slave master, Dana was both the only woman he respected. As with how Rufus and his father interacted with his mother, it is evident that women were to subject themselves to the patriarch (true not just to the antebellum South). Though overtime Dana became accustomed to life as a slave, she tried to distinguish her actions as that of an "actor's," which also allowed her to have the bravery to adamantly defy order and argue for her rights and freedom in a rebellious manner more commonly associated with masculinity (the image of her dressed like a man confirms her masculinity and there are many scenes where she is endangered after "speaks out of place"). Her actions are clear indicators that she is from a different time and given the nature of the time traveling phenomenon, there is uncertainty as to why she time travels and how constant her visits are (uncontrollable factors). This uncertainty builds to the intense loneliness and sense of abandonment Rufus experiences when Dana leaves, which he expresses when Dana tries to distance herself from him upon realizing that he intended for her to replace Alice.

Since Rufus is a product of his time and society, Dana's outspokenness and identity as a black woman from the future with an educated background contradicts everything that he is familiar with. Societal values prompt Rufus to believe that blacks, even if supposedly born free like Alice, were lesser beings and so, are easily fall under his power. However, as Dana does not accept recognize Rufus as her master, she cannot be his slave (Hegel). Furthermore, to add to her unattainable status, she is already married to Kevin. Having aged from a child to man while Dana remained in her late/mid-20s, Rufus’ perception of Dana matured from regarding her as a sister-mother-angel figure to that of a woman (or perhaps, he has an additional Oedipus complex?). We know how preoccupied he was with Dana as Alice recognized her after years because of the frequent accounts that Rufus had told her; Dana had always been on his mind.

Alice and Dana resemble one another, but Alice lacks the mobility that Dana has and the ability to defend herself (her suicide was the only form of escape). Even if Alice is a free slave, in the context of the antebellum South, her “freedom” accounts to nothing. Rufus rapes her knowing that he can overpower her physically and socially, by successfully raping Alice, he transfers his sexual desire for Dana onto Alice, which otherwise could have damaged his platonic relationship with Dana.