Ruby Glenn

Ruby Glenn is a young woman, suicidal and an outcast. Her story connects to Woburn's own story: “she has acted foolishly over love, leaving her husband for a lover who abandoned her. Her mother-in-law, supported by the Baptist minister, forbids her husband to forgive her or take her back.”¹

Ruby Glenn seems to be a highly emotional woman. Her grief at the beginning of the story, when she is introduced, “was a […] tribute to the trouble he (Woburn) was powerless to relive. Her sobs were not loud, but the sound […] expressed an utter abandonment to grief; not the cloudburst of some passing emotion, but the slow downpour of a whole heaven of sorrow.”² Overpowered by emotions her crying is how she responds to her current situation.

After Woburn has prevented her from killing herself and has given some consolation, she comes to trust him and tells him her story.

To escape her humdrum life in Hinksville and her boring and not really handsome husband Joe, she had decided to run away with another man, Arthur Hackett, in order to pursue a more exciting life. After a few months on the run, her new lover abandoned her. Now, being on her own, she wants her old constrained life back.

One could even argue, that she has an ambivalent personality. It is how she talks about her husband Joe Glenn, which brings the reader to this conclusion. First, she describes him as an unattractive man, who could only hold her by worshipping her. She says he has a week character because he never stood up for her in front of his mother. Then, after her elopment, Ruby is left behind by Arthur. This is when her perspective, just like Woburn's before, started to shift. Suddenly, “Joe is the best man [she has] ever seen”³ and by the end of her story, “Joe [becomes] a real hero […], he did the most splendid thing [one] ever heard of.”⁴

Her change of mind regarding her husband can also be understood as an ambivalent character trait. The feelings of an ambivalent person “towards someone or somebody can vary greatly from one day to the other. One day [one] might feel completely in love with his/her [partner], while the next one he/she is questioning if he/she made the right choice entering the relationship.”⁵

Of course one can argue that she just needed a break from her dull life in order to see if she could do better than that.

Ruby Glenn is a woman of pride. Although she wants nothing more than to return to her husband Joe, she did not accept the financial help of Mr. Devine, a friend of her former lover Arthur. Mr. Devine tried multiple times to offer her some help and money, but Ruby “didn't care to be beholden to any friend of Arthur's.”⁶ She would rather take the bullet, than overcome her pride and rely on someone she didn't trust.

Another indication of Ruby being a highly emotional woman is her attentiveness towards other people. She is very aware and mindful of other people's emotions [⁷] around her and reads them very well, which can be seen in the way she talks to Woburn: “[...] I'm sure you'd behave just like him; you'd be just as gentle about little things, and you'd never move an inch about big ones. You'd never do a mean action, but you'd be sorry for people who did; I can see it in your face; that's why I trusted you right off.”⁸

Ruby wears her heart on her sleeve and never hides her true feelings. That honesty contrasts with the fake smiles and hidden thoughts of the upper class. Right before Woburn and her part, she cannot help but tell him that he is the best man she has ever seen. “The very best – except Joe.”⁹. With her genuine statement, she rewards Woburn for all his effort in helping her, making him a hero. Perhaps she knew this was exactly what he needed.