The One and Only Ruby

The suffering of animals is a recurring motif that connects to the theme of Animal Cruelty and Exploitation. Ruby suffers repeatedly as a young elephant; her mother is cruelly murdered in front of her for her tusks. The crack of the poacher’s gun is compared to “a crack of thunder […] a rock split in two […] a heart breaking” (102). Katherine Applegate combines literal and metaphorical language to describe both the violence of the sound of the gunshot, as well as Ruby’s devastation at her mother’s death.

Even in the months prior to Ruby’s mother’s death, humans inflict suffering on elephants, albeit more indirectly, by causing climate change that makes the savanna dry and inhospitable. In her Author’s Note, Applegate suggests that global warming “continues to shrink available resources” (213) for elephants and other animals. This phenomenon is symbolized in the novel by the fires that burn across the savanna as Ruby’s Grandmama tries to lead the herd to water: “Now, [Grandmama] said, with the world so dry and the sun so hot, she was certain this wouldn’t be the last smoke I smelled” (87).

Ruby’s suffering continues when the elephant orphanage is burned down and she is taken on a ship, sold to a circus, and then sold to the owners of the mall where she lives with Stella and