In class someone mentioned that Jack Ruby was portrayed in depth as being rough in his actions but insecure and emotional inside. I think DeLillo is setting up Ruby as the perfect person to kill Oswald. Even before Jack Ruby kills Oswald, DeLillo is already preparing excuses for readers to make for Jack Ruby. Two of Jack's traits that set him up to kill Oswald are his naive aggressiveness and his emotional pride, both of which made him a sympathetic character for me.
Jack Ruby is violent in a defensive way, which can be seen on page 264, where Jack is attacking a man who had "grab-assed one of the waitresses." Jack's anger pushes him to extreme lengths and soon Jack isn't defending the waitress who'd been groped but rather trying to harm the perpetrator. We can see that Jack's anger can push him to do irrational things and go the extra mile.
Jack is also full of emotion. He is very considerate of others, and this can be seen on page 267, where he buys sandwiches for the policemen: "These cops of ours deserve the best because they put their lives on the line every time they walk out the door." Although it is mentioned that Jack does this to stay on the good side of the police force, his respect for the policemen seems genuine. "He felt blood seeping into his shoe. But just seeing these men in uniform, clean shaven, he wanted to say it is the proudest feeling of my life being a friend of the police in the most pro-American city anywhere in the world" (p. 268).
Additonally, Jack is sympathetic character because we learn of a lot of his physical flaws.
Jack keeps taking Preludin pills, which is an appetite suppressant. On page 257: "Jack took a Preludin with a glass of water at the bar for a favorable future outlook." We sympathize with Jack Ruby here because he is trying to overcome one of his flaws and is looking to the future.
Jack is also balding: "He didn't like being without his hat because the balding head is here for all to see. He took scalp treatments that he felt were doing some good although the doubted it" (p. 267).
I feel like now in the chapter "In Dallas", when Jack Ruby shoots Lee, we are less likely to see Jack Ruby as a bad guy.
Jack Ruby is violent in a defensive way, which can be seen on page 264, where Jack is attacking a man who had "grab-assed one of the waitresses." Jack's anger pushes him to extreme lengths and soon Jack isn't defending the waitress who'd been groped but rather trying to harm the perpetrator. We can see that Jack's anger can push him to do irrational things and go the extra mile.
Jack is also full of emotion. He is very considerate of others, and this can be seen on page 267, where he buys sandwiches for the policemen: "These cops of ours deserve the best because they put their lives on the line every time they walk out the door." Although it is mentioned that Jack does this to stay on the good side of the police force, his respect for the policemen seems genuine. "He felt blood seeping into his shoe. But just seeing these men in uniform, clean shaven, he wanted to say it is the proudest feeling of my life being a friend of the police in the most pro-American city anywhere in the world" (p. 268).
Additonally, Jack is sympathetic character because we learn of a lot of his physical flaws.
Jack keeps taking Preludin pills, which is an appetite suppressant. On page 257: "Jack took a Preludin with a glass of water at the bar for a favorable future outlook." We sympathize with Jack Ruby here because he is trying to overcome one of his flaws and is looking to the future.
Jack is also balding: "He didn't like being without his hat because the balding head is here for all to see. He took scalp treatments that he felt were doing some good although the doubted it" (p. 267).
I feel like now in the chapter "In Dallas", when Jack Ruby shoots Lee, we are less likely to see Jack Ruby as a bad guy.
I like how you phrased it as "excuses for readers to make for Jack Ruby." We're not just supposed to sympathize with him--we're supposed to be defensive of him. I don't see the same thing happening with Lee, who (once he's in jail) seems to buy right into the idea of being the guy who takes the fall for the assassination. Ruby is less satisfied with how things turn out for him, so we feel like he got the short end of the stick while Oswald achieved his goal of joining/escaping history.
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