Mark Power-Freeman
asked
Matt Ruff:
Hi, Matt! I've long been curious about the Ruby arc. How did you find the courage to take her story in that direction? It very easily could be taken the wrong way, even though I think you did an *excellent* job of laying out her motivations for doing what she did.
Matt Ruff
One of the earliest creative decisions I made about Lovecraft Country was that the viewpoint characters would all be black. That just made intuitive sense to me – a story about the horrors of racism should keep its focus on those characters for whom it is a horror. But this created a logistical problem, because I needed a way to show what the white villains were doing when they thought they were alone.
So I came up with the idea of doing a Jekyll and Hyde riff, where one of my protagonists would become white through magical means. Of course as soon I thought of this I realized there were a lot of interesting things I could do with it. It would allow me to contrast the very different experiences black folks and white folks had just walking around in the world. It would also allow me to explore the moral and psychological issues involved in “passing,” where you might personally escape the effects of racism but at the price of being alienated from your family and community, and benefiting from a system that continued to oppress them.
The choice of who got to play Jekyll was pretty straightforward. It couldn’t be Atticus, Letitia, George, or Montrose, because after the events of the first chapter, there’s no way any of them would have willingly made a bargain with Caleb Braithwhite, even if they wanted what he was offering. Horace didn’t fit either, and I already had other plans for Hippolyta. That left Ruby, who turned out to be perfect for what I had in mind.
As far as “finding the courage,” I don’t think I was any more nervous about this particular story arc than I was about Lovecraft Country as a whole. I was aware there were potential pitfalls, but I was also reasonably confident that if things started to go off the rails, I’d know it. I just took my time and thought it through carefully.
In the end, the biggest issue I had was that the chapter kept trying to turn into a novel in its own right. My first draft included a detailed backstory about Ruby’s relationship with her mother. There was some good stuff in there, but it was too long and strayed too far from the main story, so in editing I cut it and replaced it with the scene in the nightclub where Ruby tells Braithwhite about her mom and he opens up, sort of, about his father. That turned out to be an interesting bonding moment between them – their family issues and resentments are similar enough that you can see why Braithwhite would be drawn to Ruby, beyond his simple desire to use her in his scheming. Of course that affinity only goes so far: Braithwhite is ruthless and incapable of seeing himself as a bad guy, while Ruby never loses her moral sense, even when she gives in to temptation.
One other thing I’ll say is that it was always clear to me that Ruby’s desire to take the potion had nothing to do with self-loathing or unhappiness with her own body. She just wants the world to treat her fairly for once. When she realizes what fairness is going to cost her, she develops the Hillary alter ego as a way of coping with her guilt and fear, but even there, the key point is not that Hillary isn’t black – Ruby doesn’t have a problem with being black – it’s that Hillary *is someone else.* “This is dangerous and wrong, and I shouldn’t be doing it, but” – checks reflection – “that’s not me doing it.”
So I came up with the idea of doing a Jekyll and Hyde riff, where one of my protagonists would become white through magical means. Of course as soon I thought of this I realized there were a lot of interesting things I could do with it. It would allow me to contrast the very different experiences black folks and white folks had just walking around in the world. It would also allow me to explore the moral and psychological issues involved in “passing,” where you might personally escape the effects of racism but at the price of being alienated from your family and community, and benefiting from a system that continued to oppress them.
The choice of who got to play Jekyll was pretty straightforward. It couldn’t be Atticus, Letitia, George, or Montrose, because after the events of the first chapter, there’s no way any of them would have willingly made a bargain with Caleb Braithwhite, even if they wanted what he was offering. Horace didn’t fit either, and I already had other plans for Hippolyta. That left Ruby, who turned out to be perfect for what I had in mind.
As far as “finding the courage,” I don’t think I was any more nervous about this particular story arc than I was about Lovecraft Country as a whole. I was aware there were potential pitfalls, but I was also reasonably confident that if things started to go off the rails, I’d know it. I just took my time and thought it through carefully.
In the end, the biggest issue I had was that the chapter kept trying to turn into a novel in its own right. My first draft included a detailed backstory about Ruby’s relationship with her mother. There was some good stuff in there, but it was too long and strayed too far from the main story, so in editing I cut it and replaced it with the scene in the nightclub where Ruby tells Braithwhite about her mom and he opens up, sort of, about his father. That turned out to be an interesting bonding moment between them – their family issues and resentments are similar enough that you can see why Braithwhite would be drawn to Ruby, beyond his simple desire to use her in his scheming. Of course that affinity only goes so far: Braithwhite is ruthless and incapable of seeing himself as a bad guy, while Ruby never loses her moral sense, even when she gives in to temptation.
One other thing I’ll say is that it was always clear to me that Ruby’s desire to take the potion had nothing to do with self-loathing or unhappiness with her own body. She just wants the world to treat her fairly for once. When she realizes what fairness is going to cost her, she develops the Hillary alter ego as a way of coping with her guilt and fear, but even there, the key point is not that Hillary isn’t black – Ruby doesn’t have a problem with being black – it’s that Hillary *is someone else.* “This is dangerous and wrong, and I shouldn’t be doing it, but” – checks reflection – “that’s not me doing it.”
More Answered Questions
Ian Stewart
asked
Matt Ruff:
Fun Question: I absolutely love A Princess of Mars and was very happy to see it in your book, and that your main character can see through its flaws. How would you tell a modern interpretation of that book? I always took it as a confederate standing up for the sins of his past and saving people. Have a great day, and Congrats on all your success, you deserve that.
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