The Ruby Necklace in The Davenports: Heritage, Loss, and Restored Identity
What the Ruby Necklace Is
The ruby necklace is a teardrop-shaped stone set in gold, given to Ruby Tremaine by her parents for her sixteenth birthday. It carries her initials on a charm near the clasp, marking it as unmistakably hers. In the opening chapters of the novel, Ruby keeps it hidden in a false bottom of her jewelry box, a detail that signals both its value and the secrecy that surrounds it. The stone is not merely an accessory; Ruby describes it as strong, beautiful, and a reflection of her own self-confidence when she is not feeling second to her best friend Olivia. That self-description is the key to understanding the necklace as a symbol: it is an external object that holds Ruby's sense of who she is when the world around her tries to define her otherwise.
Heritage and Selfhood
The necklace is a gift from a time before Ruby's parents' ambitions grew larger than her happiness. That phrasing matters. The stone represents a version of family love that was unconditional, given freely rather than as part of a social strategy. When Ruby wears it, she feels bold and strong; when she holds it, she feels like herself. The necklace is therefore a portable piece of heritage—not the heritage of the Tremaine name or fortune, but the heritage of Ruby's own identity as a daughter who was once cherished for who she was, not for what she could do for the family's political future.
This connection between the object and Ruby's inner life is reinforced by how she treats it. She hides it, protects it, and refuses to part with it even when her parents ask her to sell it. The stone becomes a private self that she guards against the demands of her public role. In this way, the necklace connects to the novel's broader exploration of women's ambition versus societal expectations: Ruby is expected to be a charming, compliant daughter who advances her father's mayoral campaign, but the necklace is the one thing she keeps for herself.
Loss: The Necklace as a Measure of Sacrifice
When the Tremaine family's finances falter—the textile factory's revenue is hobbled and the boardinghouse barely covers its costs—Ruby's mother asks her to bring all small items of value to the adjuster. Ruby complies in a way that is both defiant and revealing: she pawns her mother's necklace instead of her own. This substitution is a small act of rebellion. It shows that Ruby understands the value of what she has been asked to give up and is willing to protect it, even at the cost of deceiving her parents.
The deception does not last. When her mother discovers the hidden stone, she confiscates it, telling Ruby it will be sold by the end of the week. Ruby feels a hollowness expand within her. The loss is not merely material; it is the loss of the last piece of her identity that her parents have not yet claimed for the campaign. The necklace, which had been a symbol of heritage and selfhood, becomes a symbol of loss—the loss of autonomy, of parental love, and of the girl Ruby was before her family's ambitions consumed her.
This loss is also tied to the novel's treatment of class and social mobility. The Tremaines are a family in decline, and the necklace is one of the few remaining objects of value they can liquidate. Ruby's mother frames the sale as a necessity that will help many people, but Ruby sees it for what it is: her parents are spending her inheritance, her happiness, and her sense of self to fund a political campaign. The necklace becomes a measure of what the family is willing to sacrifice—and what Ruby is not.
Restoration: Harrison Barton and the Return of the Stone
The necklace returns to Ruby through Harrison Barton, who wins it in a poker game from a man who bought it from the adjuster. Harrison brings Ruby to a jewelry shop, where the stone is returned to her on a pillow of black leather. Ruby cries, despite having promised herself she never would over a piece of jewelry. She tells Harrison she does not think she will ever take it off again. The restoration is intimate and personal; Harrison has restored a part of her that her parents had taken away.
But the restoration is complicated. Ruby is using Harrison to make John Davenport jealous, and the guilt sits beneath the stone. She recognizes that Harrison is sweet and thoughtful, and that she is deceiving him. The necklace, which had been a symbol of restored identity, becomes a symbol of her own dishonesty. She wears it as a reminder of what she has regained, but also of what she stands to lose if Harrison discovers the truth.
This tension connects to the novel's theme of forbidden love and self-determination. Ruby's feelings for Harrison are genuine, but they are entangled with her parents' plans for her to marry John Davenport. The necklace is the object that brings Ruby and Harrison together, but it is also the object that exposes the gap between what Ruby wants and what she is willing to admit she wants.
The Necklace at the Anniversary Party
At the Davenport anniversary party, Ruby wears the necklace hoping to see Harrison. She dances with John but remains distracted, watching for Harrison's arrival. When he appears, she leaves John to find him, but her mother intercepts her, praising her and noting that John seems smitten. Harrison overhears part of the conversation and confronts Ruby in the foyer. She admits she initially used him to make John jealous but insists her feelings have changed. Harrison, hurt, tells her to uncomplicate things or he will leave. Ruby cannot explain, and he departs.
The necklace is present throughout this scene, but its meaning has shifted again. It is no longer a symbol of heritage or restoration; it is a symbol of the cost of Ruby's deception. The stone that once made her feel bold and strong now sits at her throat as a reminder of the person she has hurt. When Ruby later confides in Olivia that she is falling for Harrison and that her parents oppose it, Olivia advises her to decide what she wants and pursue it. The necklace, which has been passed between Ruby, her mother, and Harrison, becomes a catalyst for Ruby to finally decide what she wants.
The Necklace and Ruby's Final Choice
In the later chapters, Ruby plays with the pendant while her mother reveals that Harrison made a sizable donation to her father's campaign weeks earlier. Ruby had not known. The revelation complicates her guilt: Harrison believed in her father's cause enough to support it privately, without seeking credit. Ruby realizes she must break her mother's heart to be happy. She declares she will not marry John, that she loves Harrison Barton, and that she will not let her parents bully her. She leaves the store, rides a streetcar to Harrison's brownstone, and tells him she wants a life with him. They kiss.
The necklace is still around her neck when she realizes she may have stolen the dress she is wearing. The stone, once a symbol of parental love turned to obligation, now accompanies her act of self-determination. It has come full circle: from a gift freely given, to a possession confiscated, to a token of Harrison's devotion, to a companion on Ruby's journey toward choosing her own life. The necklace does not change Ruby's circumstances, but it witnesses her transformation from a daughter who obeyed to a woman who decides.
Study Questions
1. How does the necklace's meaning shift from heritage to loss to restoration over the course of the novel?
Initially, the necklace represents Ruby's heritage—a birthday gift from parents who loved her before their ambitions took over. When her mother confiscates it to fund the campaign, it becomes a symbol of loss: the loss of autonomy, of parental love, and of Ruby's sense of self. When Harrison returns it, the necklace becomes a symbol of restoration, but also of Ruby's guilt over using him. By the end, the necklace accompanies Ruby's final act of self-determination, when she chooses Harrison over her parents' plans. The stone's meaning is never fixed; it changes with Ruby's circumstances and her growing awareness of what she wants.
2. What does Ruby's decision to pawn her mother's necklace instead of her own reveal about her character?
Ruby's substitution is a small act of defiance that reveals her priorities. She is willing to deceive her parents to protect the one object that feels like her own. The decision shows that Ruby values her identity over her family's political ambitions, and that she is capable of quiet rebellion even when she appears compliant. It also foreshadows her later, more open defiance when she declares she will not marry John and leaves the store to find Harrison.
3. How does Harrison's return of the necklace complicate Ruby's feelings toward him?
Harrison's gift is both a restoration and a burden. Ruby is genuinely moved by his thoughtfulness, but she is also using him to make John jealous. The necklace becomes a reminder of her dishonesty, and her guilt grows as she realizes how sincere Harrison is. His later donation to her father's campaign deepens this complication: Harrison has been supporting Ruby's family without seeking credit, while Ruby has been deceiving him. The necklace thus becomes the object through which Ruby confronts the gap between her actions and her true feelings.
4. In what way does the necklace connect to the theme of self-determination?
The necklace is the object Ruby refuses to surrender, even when her parents demand it. Her decision to keep it, hide it, and later wear it openly is a form of self-determination—a claim to her own identity in the face of family pressure. When she finally chooses Harrison over John, the necklace is still around her neck, marking the moment when Ruby stops letting her parents define her future. The stone, which began as a gift from her parents, ends as a symbol of Ruby's independence from them. For more on this theme, see the analysis of forbidden love and self-determination and the character study of Ruby Tremaine.
The Necklace in Context
The ruby necklace is one of several objects in The Davenports that carry emotional weight for the characters. Unlike the Davenport family's carriages or Amy-Rose's plans for her salon, the necklace is a private object, hidden from view and guarded closely. It belongs to Ruby alone, and its journey—from birthday gift to pawned substitute to poker prize to restored treasure—mirrors Ruby's own journey from obedient daughter to self-determining woman. The necklace does not solve Ruby's problems, but it gives her something to hold onto while she figures out what she wants. In a novel concerned with Black entrepreneurship and economic self-determination, the necklace is a reminder that self-determination is not only about money or business; it is also about the small, personal objects that anchor a person's sense of who they are.