Ruby is the novel’s protagonist, a dynamic character who changes from someone self-centered to someone who can empathize with others’ feelings and pain. Only her private thoughts and feelings are reported by the third person limited omniscient narrator, increasing intimacy with Ruby more than any other character. Wiles provides access only to Ruby’s thoughts as opposed to other characters like Melba or Mattie. Despite giving access to Ruby’s thoughts, Wiles does not give voice to everything the protagonist feels, such as her guilt for the role she believes to have played in her grandpa’s accident or why she is so critical of some people like her great-aunt Mattie. Wiles portrays Ruby as selfish—not due to a lack of morality but rather due to a lack of maturity and understanding. Thus, the novel follows how her maturity and understanding of others develop.

Ruby is smart, imaginative, and unfussy. She cares deeply about animals, as is evident when she helps Eula to “liberate” three chickens from the defunct egg ranch. She is entirely devoted to her grandmother, one reason she finds it immensely difficult when Eula leaves for Hawaii. Ruby’s hair is described to symbolize her fiery personality.