Character Analysis
Saul Bellow has a rare talent for capturing the "human essence" of even the most minor characters who appear in his novels. Rubin is a great case in point. All we know about him is that he manages the newsstand in the lobby of the Hotel Gloriana, and sometimes gets together with Wilhelm and a handful of other men to play gin. But here's what else the narrator tells us:
Rubin, the man at the newsstand, had poor eyes. They may not have been actually weak but they were poor in expression, with lacy lids that furled down at the corners. He dressed well. It didn't seem necessary—he was behind the counter most of the time—but he dressed very well. He had on a rich brown suit; the cuffs embarrassed the hairs on his small hands. He a wore a Countess Mara painted necktie. (1.4)
Later, after Rubin compliments Wilhelm's shirt, Wilhelm thinks:
This shirt had not been bought by Wilhelm; it was a present from his boss—his former boss, with whom he had had a falling out. But there was no reason why he should tell Rubin the history of it. Although perhaps Rubin knew—Rubin was the kind of man who knew, and knew and knew. (1.11)
Wilhelm has a habit of meeting men who seem to know, and know, and know, and so this description of Rubin also tells us a bit about Wilhelm's view of the world. Maybe it's because Rubin spends his days surrounded by America's major newspapers, or maybe he just has his ear to the ground, but either way, Wilhelm sees him as someone who has the kind of knowledge that he desperately needs, and desperately lacks.