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Wisdom Poole
Ruby Morgan, later Ruby Smith, is the sister of Steward and Deek Morgan and the mother of K.D. She dies in childbirth because segregated hospitals refuse to help her, and Deek and Steward’s regret that they could not protect their sister from institutionalized racism embodies the theme of Black men seeking to protect Black women that runs throughout the novel. The town of Ruby is named after her.
Ruby Morgan Quotes in Paradise
The Paradise quotes below are all either spoken by Ruby Morgan or refer to Ruby Morgan. 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:
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Ruby Quotes
Bodacious black Eves unredeemed by Mary, they are like panicked does leaping toward a sun that has finished burning off the mist and now pours its holy oil over the hides of game.
God at their side, the men take aim. For Ruby.
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At the end of Paradise’s opening chapter, the nine attackers find the Convent women and shoot them. Their perception of the women as “bodacious black Eves unredeemed by Mary” emphasizes the men’s simplistic, reductive view of women. This perspective aligns with the Madonna-Whore Complex, a way of thinking which asserts that every woman is either modest and virtuous or sexual and sinful (“Madonna” is another name for the Virgin Mary, who the nine men contrast with the “bodacious black Eves” of the Convent). In addition to sexualizing the women, the men also dehumanize them, comparing them to deer hunted as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. D
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Ruby Morgan Character Timeline in Paradise
The timeline below shows where the character Ruby Morgan appears in Paradise. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Ruby
...but when this woman died, all the community’s women decided the town would be called Ruby in her honor. Ruby’s son became a fixture in the town, so his uncles include...
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Seneca
...the meeting about the Oven, Deek drives to the bank, taking in the prosperity of Ruby, which in his mind justifies moving the Oven from Haven. He worries about Soane, and...
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Patricia
Along the journey to Ruby, the founding families encountered an orphan baby. The DuPreses took her in and named her...
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...after the wedding that people call Pat “Miss Best” instead of “Mrs. Cato.” Delia and Ruby Morgan are the only two people who ever died within Ruby’s town limits, which lets...
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Save-Marie
...Jeff and Sweetie Fleetwood’s youngest child, Save-Marie. She is the first person to die in Ruby, and Sweetie refused the Morgans’ offer to bury her in the makeshift cemetery they established...
(full context)
