Ruby’s View on the Conspiracy
While we may never know what the real Jack Ruby thought of Oswald and assassination as a whole, DeLillo portrays Jack Ruby as an overly patriotic man who despises Oswald, viewing him as a “complete nothing, a zero person in a T-shirt” (DeLillo 421). Ironically, Ruby is known to history solely as a player part of the Oswald conspiracy, and for DeLillo’s Ruby, this association to Oswald leaves him in a difficult mental state. DeLillo offers the reader some of Ruby’s thoughts while in jail, and we see how the conspiracy has taken over his mind completely, reaching a point where he views himself and Oswald as one of the same. His thoughts also show how he simultaneously regrets killing Oswald, making references to Jews who will suffer because of this, and how he still feels a small bit of pride, by reading the telegrams of those who supported his killing of Oswald. Essentially, Ruby feels overwhelmed by the conspiracy like no one else in the book, by having his entire mental state deteriorate and fall into confusion and chaos.
Ruby is shown to regret murdering Oswald by making references to the Jews and to his loved ones during his time in jail, worrying about their fates because of his actions. The pride he feels from killing Oswald soon vanishes, and he worries about how all his brothers and sisters will die because of what he did, not explaining why he believes this (444). He also blames himself for Jews in America being “stuffed in machines” (445). This is paranoia on Ruby’s part, but it shows just how much he regrets killing Oswald, as he feels he had been used to allow for these killings to take place. We had also seen earlier that Ruby thought killing Oswald would show America that Jews were able to be brave Americans, but this sudden shift in his viewpoint of how murdering Oswald would affect the Jews shows just how naive Ruby had been when Jack Karlinsky convinced him to murder Oswald. This is just one example of how unprepared Ruby had been for the consequences of killing Oswald, which helped break him mentally, allowing the conspiracy to consume his mind and thoughts.
Ruby’s mental state deteriorates to the point where he views himself and Oswald as indistinguishable. He describes how he “begins to merge with Oswald,” and that he has stopped being “the man who killed the President’s assassin," instead being “the man who killed the President” (445). For someone who loves the President as much as Ruby, this is a surprising thing to say, and you would imagine that he would still pride himself in having “avenged” JFK by killing his assassin. To us, it seems that Ruby is speaking complete nonsense at this point by viewing himself as Oswald, yet this shows how he has come to believe the conspiracy. Ruby has come to believe the idea that he was part of the plot too, as he tells Chief Justice Earl Warren that he had “been used for a purpose” (443). Ruby is likely referring to the fact that he had been used by the mafia to prevent Oswald from exposing the conspiracy, however Ruby still has no idea what the conspiracy really was. All he knows is that he had been used, and that history will remember him solely for his connection to Oswald. In the end, the gravity of the conspiracy is too much for Ruby and he loses himself, with Oswald haunting him and taking over his mind.
Hi Mahdi! I do think it was really interesting for DeLillo to put so much attention on Jack Ruby even though in my mind honestly he was just a side character. It really is also interesting how he begins to "merge" with Oswald and realize that he was set up, just like Oswald, and begin to realize that he was used like a puppet. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting to look at this conspiracy through Ruby's eyes. The fact that he sees himself as used in a conspiracy is a hard thing to understand. I wonder if he was necessary to the conspiracy plot, if he himself was needed the way Oswald was perfect for his role. I wonder if it counts as being used when it didn't take much swaying.
ReplyDeleteJack Ruby is definitely an interesting person to view the conspiracy through. This point of view is also emblematic of some points made in class that not only does no one person know everything about the conspiracy, but many are manipulated or taken advantage of. It's not surprising that they use Jack Ruby's "patriotism" as a motivation. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Mahdi! I think your analysis of Ruby's paranoia regarding his Jewish identity is interesting. His patriotism was used to manipulate him, but it's interesting to see how he was targeted especially because he was so easily swayed by his own ideals. Ruby's an interesting character, arguably the most interesting character, in this book, and I think you do a great job of unpacking that.
ReplyDeleteIt is ironic that Ruby is initially so relieved to learn that the suspect in the assassination is "not a Jew"--the idea being that it's hard enough for him as a minority in Texas, and he doesn't want his community to be blamed for the assassination. But then Karlinsky persuades Ruby that assassinating Oswald in turn will in some way "improve" the image of Jews in America--to "prove" Ruby's Americanness by defending the honor of "our president." Ruby is convinced that shooting Oswald will gain him mainstream American respectability, and how quickly that turns to paranoia once he realizes that he, like Oswald?, is also a "patsy" for a plot that is much larger than him, and which doesn't really care about him at all.
ReplyDeleteNice post Mahdi! I found it interesting how you connected DeLillo's use of guilt, worry, and confusion to exemplify how big this conspiracy was in Jack Ruby's perspective. The part where you talk about how Ruby and Oswald converge into one is pretty cool, because I really like your reasoning of how it was based on Ruby losing his identity.
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