Love, Ruby Lavender

Eula is Ruby’s grandmother and best friend. She works with Mattie Perkins, her sister-in-law, at the town mercantile. Not long after the accident that killed her husband, Eula painted her house a color she calls “Shell-shocked Pink” and told Ruby that “it was a rite of passage” (25). The paint color’s name aligns with the sudden, upsetting experience of losing her husband, indicating the pain and sorrow it causes her.

One of her favorite expressions is “Life does go on.” This saying demonstrates why she called the unexpected paint job a rite of passage, as it constitutes a visual reminder that her life does go on, even after Garnet’s death. However, after grieving for a year, Eula needs to live “away from reminders of Garnet for a while” (34), creating new memories and having experiences that don’t remind her of him. Though Eula knows Ruby will miss her desperately, she says, “I need to do what’s right for me. And for you” (32). A trip to a new place to meet her grandbaby and visit a son she hasn’t seen for years will give her a chance to “see how life does go on” and give Ruby space to grow (32).

Eula is very empathetic and models this empathy for Ruby, though Ruby resists. Eula encourages Ruby to be patient with Melba and Mattie, and she makes allowances for others’ grief. She understands that people handle grief differently, and she tries to influence Ruby to see that Mattie “is who she is […]. So is Melba Jane. Aren’t we all?” (17).

Eula also stands up to injustice when she sees it. The newspaper article that introduces her character acknowledges her “commitment to animal rights and lost causes” (xii). Eula is much beloved by her neighbors, which the townspeople demonstrate when she leaves on her trip. Despite the hour, everyone turns out to wave her off; Mattie even opens the store early so people aren’t standing in the street. Evelyn refers to the crowd as Eula’s “public,” and Eula gives a little speech of gratitude before she departs. Even the newspaper devotes three paragraphs to Eula’s departure when every other town event gets only one. Eula is both a static and round character with depth and complexity. She is gentle and caring but she also recognizes the need to prioritize her healing—even when her decision to go to Hawaii deeply upsets her granddaughter.

Her last name, Dapplevine, serves as a symbol of her character. The image of a dappled vine depicts a green plant flecked with sunshine, embodying a contrast of light and dark—or sweet and sour—that Garnet described as part of every individual. Thus, Eula’s name, like Ruby’s, references the contrasting combination of the light, or “sweet,” and the dark, or “sour.”

Melba Jane is the novel’s antagonist and Ruby’s enemy for most of the book. Her father is the other person who died in the accident that killed Garnet Dapplevine. She blames Ruby for their deaths, believing the men only returned because Ruby begged Garnet to come home. Just as Ruby’s unkempt appearance matches her personality, Melba’s meticulous attention to her appearance matches her own. While Ruby’s hair is “unruly,” Melba has a “mass of ringlets,” a hairdo that one salon magazine “says [is] the latest look” (53). While Ruby is wild, Melba is styled; they are different in appearance, personality, and ambition. Melba longs to be an actress, and Ruby takes pride in liberating and caring for aging chickens. The two have little in common, which makes them more apt to criticize one another and less likely to empathize with each other.

In addition to being Ruby’s antagonist, Melba is also her foil. When she retaliates against Ruby for the accident that ruined her hair, Melba unwittingly kills two chicks. Only meaning to land rocks in the yard—one conveying a hate note—Melba unintentionally upsets Ivy’s nest. She doesn’t mean to hurt the birds, but she is thinking only of herself and her feelings in this instance. Through this situation, Melba learns how bad Ruby must feel to have been blamed and feel responsible for the accident and how easy it is to focus exclusively on what one wants rather than its possible consequences.

When Dove tells Ruby about activities Melba did with her father—things Ruby and Garnet also did—Melba’s character becomes round. Melba’s confession that she misses her father is what eventually alters Ruby’s resentment. It is easier for Ruby to be angry than to forgive Melba and come to terms with her grief, so Ruby tries to hold onto it. Melba, however, additionally takes responsibility for her actions, something Ruby never did when she thought the men’s accident was her fault. Melba says “Yes, I did […]. I did” when Ruby accuses her of killing the chicks (168). Melba grows through her ability to accept her wrongdoings and be vulnerable. Melba taking responsibility for her actions and speaking honestly about her grief, ultimately, allows Ruby to see the effects of her behavior and understand Melba’s humanity and the character’s similarities. Beginning as a stark antagonist and foil, Melba and Ruby ultimately learn to empathize with each other by the novel’s end.

Dove is the peacemaker, a role her name symbolizes. She idolizes Margaret Mead, a famous anthropologist, and longs to understand why people act as they do. She says, “We’re all different and we’re all the same” (71). Dove is an observer who refrains from judgment; instead, she asks questions to try to understand. For example, after Melba threatens to tell the whole story of the accident at the Ishees’ house, Dove simply asks Ruby what happened. Dove witnesses the events that ruin Melba’s hair, and she simultaneously sympathizes with Melba and believes Ruby, who claims it was an accident. Dove doesn’t choose sides but attempts to understand where the girls’ relationship breaks down. When Ruby says Melba hates her for “No good reason,” Dove insists, “There must be some reason” (114). When Ruby calls Melba a bully, Dove points out that Melba is nice to her. Dove’s sincere attempts to understand their conflict ultimately help Ruby to empathize with Melba and Melba to Ruby.

Dove is a mediator who tries to pull Ruby and Melba closer so that they can settle their conflict. She is mature and eschews blame—even after Melba’s rock-throwing stunt—trying to understand and resolve hard feelings. For this reason, Dove is most like Eula, who tries to help others similarly. She even takes to wearing Eula’s hat and floral muumuus, demonstrating the connections between the two characters. Dove is also a foil for Ruby. While Ruby makes little attempt to understand others and has a lack of empathy for much of the text, Dove is a peacemaker committed to observing and mediating conflict throughout the text’s entirety.