Mixed Feelings

When asked at the start of class if we enjoyed the character Ruth in Baldwin’s “Come Out the Wilderness”, I can honestly say that I have mixed feelings. I mean, this is the first time in this collection that the female character has been brought to the forefront. Characters such as Roy’s mother, Eric’s mother, and Sonny’s mother are all figures that tend to wade out in the background of their respective stories. We aren’t even given most of their official names, just their relation to the main characters. So, assumably, it would be a breath of fresh air when Ruth came along; finally, a story with a female protagonist! But, unfortunately, I don’t think I’m sold. See, almost the entirety of the story involves Ruth’s internal thoughts as she struggles with the relationships in her life. Although I can see the pain Ruth has constantly had to endure throughout her life, I found her a somewhat frivolous and uninspiring character, as she thinks more about the men in her life than her own job or her future.

Now, with that being said, I do sympathize with Ruth. She escaped the claws of her religious, conservative family by fleeing to New York, a place seemingly symbolizing freedom and new adventure; a place where she could start a new life, out of the hands of those who wish to control her. But, unfortunately, New York ends up not being the safe haven she had hoped for. She came with heavy baggage on her shoulders. After getting caught being in a room along with a boy, she is proclaimed as “dirty” by her family, a label that she carries without wherever she goes. When she runs away with Arthur to apparently the land of promises, she begins to realize the problems she has made. First, Arthur is a controlling partner, never quite satisfied with Ruth’s personality. He opts to change her by sending her to school and dressing her the way he wishes. On the other hand, Ruth does credit him with allowing her to somewhat accept herself. “Through him, she got over feeling that she was black and unattractive and as soon as this happened she was able to leave him” (209). Once he had finished remaking her into the woman he wished to be with, she found the courage to go off on her own path. With Arthur, she felt like she was unable to move and breath the way she wished, for he was molding her into his ideal sculpture. Good thing she was able to leave him, right?

No. In fact, she got about a year or so of a break until she found Paul. Now, after leaving Arthur, Ruth found herself some new found independence. She found that she was able to support herself financially with her newly learned skills, and so I believe that she enjoyed Paul’s presence because she was not only able to support herself, but him as well. But, while Paul became seemingly financially dependent on Ruth, she became emotionally dependent on him. Even though now, she doesn’t even love him, she feels like he has a hold on her. “She had no place to go, she only wanted him. She had tried hard to want other men, and she was still young, only twenty-six, and there was no real lack of opportunity. But all she knew about other men was that they were not Paul” (199). At this point, she can’t image life without Paul. Even though she does not love him and thinks constantly of when he will end it between them, she is lost without him. Paul has created this void in her life that can’t be filled by any other man. She feels incomplete without Paul in her life.

It’s unfortunate that Ruth flees to New York, in search of a new life, a life of freedom and new opportunities, but  finds herself stuck, unable to break the molds others have set her in. She describes the scenery of Manhattan as: “For her as for most of Manhattan, trees and water ceased to be realities; the nervous, trusting landscape of the city began to be the landscape of her mind. As soon her mind, like life on the island, seemed to be incapable of flexibility, of moving outward, could only shriek upward into the meaningless abstractions or drop downward into cruelty and confusion” (203). The idea of Manhattan was this place where she could have a fresh start, but in reality, it has caged her in. She allows others decide her fate for her, leaving her no room and opportunity to expand the fields she wished to. She has found herself stuck in two dimensions, unable to break into the third. As she stays with Paul, she will increasingly find herself being reduced to the first dimension; a point. A dot that will stay stagnant, under the control of those she depends on.

But, like I said earlier, although I can see and sympathize with Ruth’s situation, I didn’t see her as a very compelling character. Perhaps it was the constant mentioning of her relationships that got to me, for she came off as sort of a drama queen. Now, I can’t even fathom being in such a binding situation where you are unable to move an inch onto your own path, but I still can’t seem to find Ruth a likable character. Her constant mention of the fact that her boyfriend might break up with her seems so middle/ high school - esque. We even get snippets of her conversations with Paul, where he doesn’t seem like he is going to break Ruth’s heart, and yet she builds the reader up to think so. She makes up situations in her head, not allowing life to come at her and take her where it pleases. She came to New York, in search of a free spirit, but she hasn’t let her feet leave the ground yet. Her mind doesn’t take the time to be concerned about herself, for she only thinks about those around her. She too worried about how her past has affected her in instead of focusing on what lies ahead.