Do you think Ruth is to blame for walking away from her child? Did she have a choice or was she robbed of it?

Ruth wrestles with the moments after she gives birth when Mama leaves the bedroom with her baby, telling her not to think about her son and instead pursue her Ivy League education. Do you think Ruth is to blame for walking away from her child? What was her responsibility, if any, to pursue the truth about her son's identity and whereabouts over the years? Did she have a choice or was she robbed of it?

My opinion is that Ruth was very young, and society and her mother's pressure to do the right thing left Ruth with very few options. In a sense, she felt robbed at a later point in her life. I think she was scared and perhaps was "told" that she was lucky to get an Ivy League Education.
Ruth decided to own her decisions when she was more mature and wanted to find her son. I do think that Ruth felt guilty and resented what had happened when she was younger.

I think her circumstances left her very little choice. Mama's decision and determination to enable Ruth to better her circumstances boxed her in, and at 17 it was unlikely she would push back hard enough to change her situation. She trusted Mama's judgment and wisdom. In the long run that left her feeling guilty and resentful.

It is difficult for a 17 year old black woman with opportunities coming her way to make a decision to give all of that up. No choice like this is easy.

I think she was robbed of the choice of keeping her son. Ruth was not in a physical or emotional place to make better decisions so she went along with her grandmother and brother’s decision.

In may opinion, Ruth didn't realize her son was likely being handed over to a couple in a backdoor arrangement. She was only 17 and most likely scared at that time.

As a young woman especially a young Black women who had the opportunity for an Ivy League education she had no choice or precisely the choice was made for her benefit so she would have opportunities other Black teens did not have.

I don't think Ruth had a choice. Her grandmother and brother made the choice for her. Moments after giving birth, Ruth was in no position--physically or emotionally to fight for her son. Ruth did choose, however, to keep that part of her life buried, to not revisit it or deal with it until confronted with Xavier's desire to start a family.

I really don't think Ruth had much choice. Mama made that decision for her really without her consent. It's so sad. It should have been a decision made by Ruth with input from her family.

I'm thinking any high school senior raised in poverty wouldn't have much of a choice with her grandmother and brother pushing her to choose education minutes after she has given birth. A young black woman with a chance at an Ivy League education makes this choice even more difficult. I don't really "blame" anyone because, up to this time, no one in Ruth's family had the chance to get out of the family's generational poverty. I don't blame Ruth's brother or grandmother either.

I also don't think she had a choice. She was 17, scared and ashamed. As a generally obedient child, she did what she was told.

I don’t think mama and Eli gave Ruth any choice in the matter . I felt sorry for her that she was forced into that situation and treated so shamefully with being pregnant. And of course, the babies dad just continued living his life with no consequences .

I don't think Ruth should be blamed for walking away from her pregnancy. From the time her mother walked out, she was living a very sheltered life - fully protected by her grandparents. Then Ruth transfers most of the love of her grandfather when he passed over to the baby's father. Infatuated by Ronald and not knowing anything about life after high school with a baby, Ruth followed the only path she could.

Ruth's culpability only starts when she lied (even by omission) to Xavier. She knew how important children were to him from the beginning. This story would have been so much different if she had told the truth and they set out on a quest together to make sure Corey was loved and well taken care of.

No, I do not think she is to blame. Early in the book she said her Mama would have made her give the baby up no matter what.

Ruth was an exceptionally bright 17 year old. I doubt at 17 she would have the emotional intelligence or a strong enough sense of independence to overrule the will of her grandmother, someone she loved and respected. Her grandmother was highly motivated to break the cycle and give Ruth an opportunity to succeed in a world that challenged her every step.

Is choice the right word? Sometimes there are situations where you have to act, but it’s really not a choice. When you’re a young woman with few options, is it really a choice?

I don't think Ruth had a choice. She was young and did not have the resources to do otherwise. I do think that she could have inquired more as she got older and she possibly could have sought her son out earlier.

Ruth should have had more of a say in the life of her son. Mama knew she could not raise that baby, assuring that Ruth went away to college, so thought she was doing the right thing by adopting him out. Ruth was very young and had always lived under Mamas rules, so expected Mama to do what was right by her. If being pregnant and unmarried had not been such a black cross to bear things may have turned out differently.

Ruth was robbed, but what was she to do? At 17, she does not have say over her own life, not to mention a child's. It is heart-wrenching to lose the son and yet she cannot blame herself.