Small Great Things
Stage One: Early Labor — Ruth
by Picoult, JodiThe chapter opens with Ruth recalling a pivotal childhood moment at the opulent brownstone where her mother, Lou, worked as a domestic servant for the affluent Hallowell family. The house, with its intimidating gargoyles and iconic NBC chime doorbell, symbolizes the stark divide between her family’s modest life and the Hallowells’ privilege. Ruth’s mother, unwavering in her dedication, braves a snowstorm to work, dragging Ruth and her sister along because they’re too young to stay home alone. The narrative highlights Lou’s subservience and the family’s reliance on her, even for trivial tasks like making sandwiches.
During the snowstorm, Ruth observes the racial and class disparities as she and her sister are relegated to a cramped kitchen closet while the Hallowells’ coats occupy the spacious main entry. Lou’s quiet resilience is evident as she transforms the dark house into a lively space, promising the children hot chocolate imported from Paris—a small luxury contrasting their everyday reality. Ruth’s attempt to draw her idealized family on paper, with invisible snowflakes, subtly underscores her longing for visibility and belonging in a world that marginalizes her.
The tranquility shatters when Ms. Mina, the lady of the house, goes into premature labor. Lou springs into action, embodying both authority and compassion as she manages the crisis. Ruth and her sister, defying instructions, witness the raw intensity of childbirth—a moment that etches itself into Ruth’s memory. Lou’s expertise and calm under pressure shine as she delivers the baby, her love and professionalism transcending her role as a servant. The scene captures the intersection of vulnerability and strength, both in Ms. Mina’s pain and Lou’s quiet heroism.
The chapter closes with Ruth’s awe at the miracle of birth, juxtaposed with the unspoken hierarchies that define their lives. Lou’s ability to navigate both the Hallowells’ world and her own—despite its inequities—reveals her adaptability and dignity. Ruth’s childlike perspective frames the event as transformative, hinting at her growing awareness of life’s complexities. The snowstorm outside mirrors the upheaval inside, leaving readers with a poignant reflection on labor, love, and the invisible bonds that connect disparate lives.
FAQs
1. How does the setting of the Hallowell household reflect the socioeconomic differences between Ruth’s family and the Hallowells?
Answer:
The chapter vividly portrays the stark socioeconomic divide through the Hallowells’ luxurious brownstone home with its ornate features like gargoyles and NBC chime doorbell, contrasting sharply with Ruth’s family’s modest circumstances. While the Hallowells occupy an entire Manhattan brownstone, Ruth and her sister must cram their snowsuits into a tiny kitchen closet despite ample space in the main entry. The imported Parisian hot chocolate and Christina’s extravagant toys further emphasize this disparity. These details collectively illustrate how Ruth’s working-class family exists in service to the wealthy Hallowells, establishing early themes of privilege and inequality.2. Analyze the significance of Ruth’s mother delivering Ms. Mina’s baby in this chapter. What does this moment reveal about their relationship dynamics?
Answer:
This pivotal moment reveals the complex interdependence between Ruth’s mother and Ms. Mina. Despite being an employee, Ruth’s mother assumes a position of authority and expertise during the emergency delivery, demonstrating how domestic workers often perform far beyond their formal job descriptions. The scene shows Ms. Mina’s complete dependence (“God forbid Ms. Mina had to spread the peanut butter”) even in intensely personal moments, while also highlighting Ruth’s mother’s competence and compassion (“with love written over her face”). This paradox of intimate yet hierarchical relationships underscores the chapter’s exploration of race, class, and power dynamics in domestic service.3. How does the author use sensory details to convey Ruth’s childhood perspective in this chapter?
Answer:
Jodi Picoult effectively immerses readers in Ruth’s childhood worldview through rich sensory descriptions. The tactile memory of her mother’s scarf (“like petting a guinea pig”), the visual struggle with the white crayon on paper, and the auditory detail of the NBC chime doorbell all create an authentic child’s perspective. The terrifying gargoyles and the “piercing” scream that “stabbed” Ruth’s chest convey childhood intensity of experience. These sensory elements - particularly the contrast between the warm, familiar smells/textures of home and the imposing grandeur of the Hallowell house - deepen our understanding of Ruth’s formative experiences navigating two very different worlds.4. What does the snowstorm symbolize in this chapter, and how does it function within the narrative?
Answer:
The snowstorm serves multiple symbolic and narrative purposes. Literally, it creates the circumstances forcing Ruth and Rachel to accompany their mother to work, setting up the pivotal birth scene. Symbolically, the whiteness of the snowscape mirrors the racial homogeneity of the wealthy neighborhood (“The faces… looked nothing like mine”), emphasizing Ruth’s sense of being an outsider. The storm also represents nature’s indifference to human divisions - while social hierarchies persist (separate entrances, coat closets), the emergency birth demonstrates how crises can temporarily dissolve these barriers, foreshadowing later themes about shared humanity across racial lines.5. How does the chapter establish thematic foundations for exploring racial identity through Ruth’s childhood experiences?
Answer:
The chapter subtly lays groundwork for racial identity exploration through Ruth’s observations about difference. The “world was white” description extends beyond snow to the neighborhood’s demographics, highlighting her early awareness of being one of few Black faces in this environment. The segregated coat closet and separate entrance establish institutionalized racial boundaries, while Christina’s conditional friendship (“Unless she had a friend over”) introduces microaggressions Ruth will confront. Most powerfully, Ruth’s attempt to draw her family in the white space of paper - where her snowflakes only appear at certain angles - becomes a metaphor for marginalized identities struggling to be seen in dominant cultures, foreshadowing the novel’s deeper racial justice themes.
Quotes
1. “She had been the unmistakable voice in the mid-1960s who announced before every show: The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC!”
This quote introduces the prestige of the Hallowell family through Sam Hallowell’s iconic NBC role, establishing the stark contrast between their privileged world and Ruth’s working-class reality.
2. “She muttered, stuffing us into our snowsuits and boots, that it didn’t matter if she had to cross a blizzard to do it, but God forbid Ms. Mina had to spread the peanut butter on her own sandwich bread.”
This biting observation reveals Ruth’s mother’s tireless work ethic and the unequal power dynamics between the Black domestic worker and her wealthy white employers.
3. “I had not been into any Manhattan homes except for the Hallowells’, so I didn’t know how extraordinary it was for one family to live, alone, in this huge building. But I remember thinking it made no sense that Rachel and I had to put our snowsuits and boots into the tiny, cramped closet in the kitchen, when there were plenty of empty hooks and open spaces in the main entry.”
This childhood memory poignantly captures Ruth’s early awareness of racial and class segregation, even in mundane details like coat storage arrangements.
4. “I tried to draw snow, but I couldn’t. The flakes I’d made with the white crayon were invisible on the paper. The only way to see them was to tilt the paper sideways toward the chandelier light, so I could make out the shimmer where the crayon had been.”
This beautifully symbolic moment represents the invisibility of Black experiences in white spaces, requiring special conditions to be seen or acknowledged.
5. “There was the round knob of a head, a knot of shoulder, a gush of blood and fluid, and suddenly, a baby was cradled in Mama’s palms. ‘Look at you,’ she said, with love written over her face. ‘Weren’t you in a hurry to get into this world?’”
This dramatic birth scene showcases Ruth’s mother’s competence and compassion, foreshadowing Ruth’s own future in nursing while highlighting the intimate yet professional relationships between domestic workers and employers.