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March 19, 2006
Ruby's quite a gem!
O'Connor, ''A Stroke of Good Fortune'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)"It was mortifying to let that kind of a husband see that you had that kind of a brother." Get real Ruby! We never get to meet Bill Hill, but are told that he works as a "Miracle Products" salesman who we know lives in a 4th floor walk-up apartament 8 blocks from the center of town. Ruby can't seem to see the good in anything - her brother, her pregnancy, even collard greens - and clings onto this concept of what a catch her husband was. Funny how she never just calls him "Bill", but always "Bill Hill". Ruby is kinda like Grandma in "A Good Man..." in that she is in denial about so many things.
Posted by BrendaChristeleit at March 19, 2006 8:28 AM
Comments
Brenda,
I just think that Ruby is a depressed individual she never did like her brother from the day he was born. She came off as if she was better than everyone else in her family. Her husband smiled knowing that she was pregnant and never said anything to her. Her fortune teller told her she would have "good fortune" and yet never said what that good fortune would be. Then at the end we find out that she is pregnant. She was so dramtic in describing her illness that at first I truelly thought that she would have a heart attack until I read that her feet were swollen. I never viewed her as a grandma but I guess that could be said with her attitude.
Posted by: LisaRandolph at March 19, 2006 10:17 AM
Brenda~
I found that interesting about Ruby also! Is she honestly serious about how terrible everything is except herself and her husband? She talsk badly about her brother, her mother, her sisters, Hartley Gilfeet, Mr. Jerger, and even her friend Laverne! She really does not seem to give anyone any credit...even her unborn child!
Posted by: Terra Stumpf at March 19, 2006 9:37 PM
I agree that she is like the grandma because she doesn't realize the good in anything. Grandma always said you cannot find a good man when she herself wasnt good. Same with this story, she could not find good in anything but her husband whom did not seem that wonderful. Yet, she was not the best person. She could not see faults in others. Her poor brother, he is yong. What does she want from him? Honestly, she should not have children. It sure isnt good fortune for the child!
Posted by: OnileeSmith at March 20, 2006 6:01 PM
I wonder if O'Connor had someone like Ruby/grandma in her life. It seems like she needed to exorcise a selfish personality from herself. Speaking of exorcising, since she was Catholic, I wonder if these characters are specific ways she represents the evils of pride and the inability to be thankful for the good in one's life.
Posted by: Jennifer DiFulvio at March 20, 2006 10:31 PM
I was reading in O'Connor's bio that her father died after a debilitating disease and that afterwards, she never spoke of him. Could it be that Grandma and Ruby's self-centered ways are a means of chiding herself for failing to "move on"?
Posted by: Brenda Christeleit at March 21, 2006 8:53 AM