Mrs. Ruby Robichek

In the book, The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, there is a particularly lonely old woman that has quite a mysterious (a little weird too) vibe about her. Whether or not Highsmith purposely wrote about her the way she did is an answer I hope to find!

A quick history on her. Having lost her dress shop in Queens, Mrs. Robichek has to keep food on the table somehow. Mrs. Robichek has to now live in a raggedy apartment and work a job in retail that’s not the best environment. Therese just so happens to work at the same department store. The hopes of Therese liking Mrs. Robichek and possibly being her friend went out the window when Therese referred to her face looking like "ever-lasting exhaustion and terror". That and their interaction in Mrs. Robichek’s home. Sweet old Mrs. Robichek attempts to make a friend out of Therese by inviting her to home. As Mrs. Robichek is sharing her story of her life before the department store, Therese is not into it at all. Clearly stating, “I shall wait fifteen minutes until she is asleep and then go,” Therese just up and left in the middle of the night. Didn’t let Mrs. Robichek know or anything. Looking back at this whole interaction, perhaps Highsmith wrote Mrs. Robichek as a character for us to feel bad for but relate to as well. Mrs. Robichek is written in a way that makes me feel sorry for her losing the dress shop, sorry that she’s working in the department store, sorry for people thinking she’s ugly and especially sorry for her getting left by Therese. She’s not a lucky woman (but then again who is in this novel). However, I see a lot of relatability in Mrs. Robichek because as the end of the day she wants nothing more than to be able to connect with people and help them…just like everyone else.