Blog Topic #2: Character: Ernst, Ruth’s father
As a child, Ruth believes she has the strongest connection with her father. She believes they are band together to defend themselves against the horrible food and mood swings of her mother. As a book designer and “detached” man, Ruth sees her father as a bland figure whose only interest is repairing and building, which he takes much pride in. Ernst appears to be a weak character in the exposition of the story: greatly controlled by his wife and, “blind to [her] failings” as a cook (13). An example of his inferiority to his wife is when they decide to take a vacation to Europe when Ruth is six and Ernst, “was not eager to leave me for such a long time, but that he didn’t know how to say so to my mother” (24). Whether Ruth’s father is afraid to speak for himself or is afraid to trigger a mood swing is unknown, however what is for sure is his unwilling acceptance of his wife’s every command.
Ruth’s father is not discussed much throughout the course of the novel. However, a different side of Ernst is revealed when Ruth’s future husband, Doug, accompanies his girlfriend on a trip home to meet her parents. Ernst takes a shine to Doug and tells him stories that not even Ruth has heard before. He explains to him how he once flew with a Wright brother and how he was a pacifist and draft dodger in Germany before he met Ruth’s mother. While this upsets Ruth, her father explains to her that he never truly had a son and was forced to live his life in a home with two women. This special bond shared with Doug reveals that Ernst is not the bland character that Ruth was saw him as and is actually a very interesting man. This “male bonding” also appears to give Ernst more confidence as he begins to have a more dominance in the relationship with his wife by not allowing her to interrupt his stories and deciding on their plans for lunch.
I must say I was also appalled that Ruth's father spoke up to Doug during their visit home. I also picked Ernst because he seemed intriguing, and somehow I picked up on the foreshadowing the author used in the beginning of the story, such as when he would wake up early just to test Ruth's mother's atrocious recipes, to guess that he would later serve a greater purpose since there was not a lot about him in the first half of the novel. Ernst was a hard character to decipher for me because I could not understand some of his significance and importance when the author would mention him. He also seemed totally detached--since Ruth's mother would usually make the more prominent decisions, like sending Ruth to French School. Yet, still, I liked the fact that Ernst and Ruth had an easy connection that was not as complex as hers with her mother, and I think his tender presence brings a sort of balance to the family.
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