45 pages • 1 hour read
Deborah WilesLove, Ruby Lavender
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Flowers
Flowers appear throughout the text, serving as a motif that highlights The Persistent Progression of Time. Black-eyed Susans were Garnet’s favorite, and because he planted a perennial variety, they come back every year in the Dapplevines’ yard. The fact that these flowers consistently return is like Mattie’s claims about there always being another day. Time passes, and the sun and rain bring the black-eyed Susans back, indicating life’s continuation regardless of any tragedies that occur. In addition, black-eyed Susans are a symbol of encouragement and adaptability, alluding to the resilience it takes to manage painful losses and the necessary strength to go on despite one’s grief and sadness. Its color combination of a dark center with bright petals, moreover, serves as a visual representation of both the sour and sweet that comprise life.
When Eula receives floral leis in Hawaii, she remarks on how colorful the flowers are. This trip represents how she wants to have new experiences and make new memories so that she can remember that her life consists of more than her grief. To further emphasize this motif, Johnson and Annette name their baby Leilani which means “Flower of Heaven, in Hawaiian” (59). Like the black-eyed Susans, which emerge every year, a baby provides new possibilities for love and reminds people of their capacity for childlike qualities like innocence, wonder, and joy. Leilani’s birth presents a wealth of opportunities for Eula to move forward and continue living, which is symbolized by the baby’s flower-inspired name.
Quilt
When Eula takes Ruby into the back meadow to tell her of her trip to Hawaii, she takes along a handmade quilt containing various fabrics from Garnet’s, Eula’s, and Ruby’s clothing. As she spreads it out for them to sit on, Eula says she loves the quilt because it “holds good memories” (29), and Ruby agrees. The star pattern includes bits of Ruby’s old overalls and baby blanket, Eula’s aprons, some dresses, a few hand towels, and a piece of Garnet’s “favorite flannel shirt” along with bits of an old pink sheet (29). Ruby and Eula stitched all of it together themselves. The quilt represents the incredible relationship between these three people. Garnet’s shirt makes up the quilt’s “corner stars.” The rest of the quilt is a patchwork of cloth belonging to Eula and Ruby, interweaving the grandmother and granddaughter’s belongings and physically representing their close bond. The quilt symbolizes the special memories the three have together and brings Eula and Ruby comfort, even when Ruby is upset. For example, Ruby sinks “down, down, into her quilt” when she hears of Eula’s new grandbaby (33). Despite expressing fear that the new grandbaby will replace the affection Eula has for Ruby, she still turns to a physical object that signifies the bond between them.
Additionally, the quilt represents Eula’s hopes for her life after Garnet’s death. She’s not trying to forget her memories of him to avoid the pain of missing him. Rather, she highlights how central he was and how his memory will continue to live on for Eula. His shirt constitutes the quilt’s corner pieces, serving as the essential framing anchors for the fabric contained within. He will always be part of her, and this is why his shirt is an essential part of the quilt. While Eula must make new memories and live on despite her palpable grief, the quilt remains a symbol of the loving life they had together and a physical source of comfort for her and Ruby.
Maple Tree
Ruby and Eula use a knothole in a “majestic silver maple tree” behind the post office as a secret mailbox (5). It has giant roots that stretch under the ground, occasionally popping up in knobby mounds. After one of Ruby’s confrontations with Melba, she climbs the tree, something she’s done “a hundred times” (55). Doing so calms her, and she even gets drowsy resting on the tree’s branches. Maple trees symbolize protection and patience, as their large branches provide shelter and the long time it takes them to reach their full height.
Ruby’s emotional response in running to the tree when she’s upset and the peace it brings her demonstrates the tree’s effects and its meaning to her. The fact that she associates the tree with letters to and from Eula also links the tree and its influence on Ruby to Eula. When Eula prepares to leave, one of Ruby’s biggest concerns is that her grandmother “always know[s] what to say […] to make [Ruby] feel better” (34). In this way, the tree symbolizes the protective role Eula plays as a patient listener and astute source of reassurance for her granddaughter.
Additionally, maple trees are deciduous, losing their leaves in the fall and growing new ones in the spring. For this reason, the tree symbolizes change and transformation. For this reason, the maple tree in Wiles’s novel symbolizes and foreshadows the changes Ruby undergoes in the text—particularly, how her character transforms as she develops empathy and becomes less critical of others.
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