The One and Only Ruby

“It’s our tusks everyone is interested in. Especially humans.”

Ruby’s comment about humans’ interest in tusks alludes to the ivory trade. Ruby’s revelation later in the novel that her mother was killed by ivory poachers is foreshadowed here. Taken in context, this comment explains Ruby’s ambivalence about her own growing tusks, which she has come to associate with tragedy, loss, and confinement. This quote connects to The Suffering of Animals and Animal Cruelty and Exploitation.

“Anyway, I’m hiding behind this tree because I don’t want to practice. In case you’re wondering. I’m not pouting. I’m protesting.”

In a case of paralipsis, Ruby’s vehemence makes it clear that she is, in fact, pouting, rather than protesting. Ruby’s relative immaturity at this point in the story is reflected in these avoidant behaviors. As Ruby comes of age, she will have to finally face what she’s been hiding from and open up about her tragic past. This vulnerability and honesty allows her to process her complex feelings about her approaching Tuskday ceremony.

“Aunt Laheli cocks her head. Her right eye is golden and large and always smiley. Her left eye is white and blank and doesn’t work anymore. A man at the road-side zoo where she used to live poked it with a stick.”

The motif of The Suffering of Animals comes up in Ruby’s description of Aunt Laheli’s partial blindness, which was caused by the casual and thoughtless cruelty of a man who poked her with a stick. The elephants’ lives before the sanctuary are all variations on the theme of