Ruth is Howard’s niece. She died after shooting Howard, her fiancé, and her mother. Ruth fell in love with an indigenous miner named Benito, but Howard had already arranged Ruth’s marriage to her cousin, and when he found out about Ruth’s feelings, he beat her mercilessly. Ruth knew about Howard’s immortality and his ability to control people though the gloom, and she decided that she was going to escape from High Place. This required killing Howard, but she didn’t believe that there was anything wrong with that—Howard is evil. She shot Howard twice during her escape attempt, but he didn’t die; he controlled Ruth through the gloom and forced her to kill herself. Thus, Ruth is a model for feminine resistance against Howard’s patriarchal authority. Her attempt was not successful, but it does serve as a precedent for future women to emulate. Furthermore, Ruth’s frequent directive to Noemí to open her eyes during her dreams serves as both a warning and a call to action—Noemí’s own escape attempt wouldn’t succeed if Ruth’s actions didn’t guide her.
Ruth Quotes in Mexican Gothic
The Mexican Gothic quotes below are all either spoken by Ruth or refer to Ruth. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 16
Quotes
Once could conclude that this was a case of three silly, nervous women. Physicians of old would have diagnosed it as hysterics. But one thing Noemí was not was hysterical.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21
Quotes
Noemí clacked her teeth together in fear and thought to cry too, but then she recalled the words, the mantra.
“Open your eyes,” Noemí said.
And Noemí did. She opened her eyes, and the room was dark.
Get the entire Mexican Gothic LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ruth Quotes in Mexican Gothic
The Mexican Gothic quotes below are all either spoken by Ruth or refer to Ruth. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 16
Quotes
Once could conclude that this was a case of three silly, nervous women. Physicians of old would have diagnosed it as hysterics. But one thing Noemí was not was hysterical.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21
Quotes
Noemí clacked her teeth together in fear and thought to cry too, but then she recalled the words, the mantra.
“Open your eyes,” Noemí said.
And Noemí did. She opened her eyes, and the room was dark.
