In our continued readings of Fanny Fern’s, “Ruth Hall,” our class has discussed many themes occurrent throughout. Of those themes, the love of convenience displayed by Ruth’s relations, i.e. her brother, “Hyacinth,” proved , to me, to be an interesting point. One would nary imagine a dog in love with a flea, which plagues it so. However, such is the “love” displayed by Hyacinth, flea-like, parasitic in nature, with him latching onto Ruth at his own convenience, with no regard, nor gain, for his “host.”
Though “flea-like,” Hyacinth would only keep up with well-bred associations, initially rejecting Ruth’s “mongrel” company. Such an example is seen upon Ruth’s correspondence with Hyacinth, Ruth hoping to receive his endorsement to propel her newfound idea of “[writing] for the papers” as a means of making a living, him being “the prosperous editor of the Irving Magazine” (Fern 220). In his reply, Hyacinth denies Ruth’s appeal, on account of her “[having] no talent that way, stating “that writing can never be [her] forte,” thusly refusing her the opportunity to contribute to his “esteemed” paper, let alone to be praised within its pages (Fern 221). However, at a later point in the story, after Ruth has achieved a considerable degree of success, under the nom-de-plume, “Floy,” Hyacinth, in an artificially nonchalant manner, slips into a conversation with an acquaintance that “Floy,” is indeed his sister. So apparent is Hyacinth’s “change of heart,” that his acquaintance marks it so, pointing out that “nobody knew that she was [Hyacinth‘s] sister, when she first published the pieces that are now collected in that book,” to the response of Hyacinth’s ignorance of his remark” (Fern 336). Thus, apparent even to outside parties, it is clear that Hyacinth held a love of convenience for Ruth, and in true “parasitic” form, only thought of his own selfish spoils coming out of Ruth’s well-being.
Works Cited
Fern, Fanny. "Ruth Hall." http://openlibrary.org/books/OL6989748M/Ruth_Hall. Mason Brothers 1855. 155 - 197. Web. 9 July 2012.