Character Analysis
Hippie Hippie Hooray
Larry Rosenfarb is the dude whom Grandma hires to put up new wallpaper after Ma dies, and Ruth is his wife. These two people spend about forty-eight hours with Dolores, but they have a huge influence on her (not a fat joke) because they're the first two people who don't treat Dolores like total poop. Maybe they're nice because she's actually honest with them—she tells them that her mom died, and they comfort her—or maybe they're just truly decent people.
They're pretty stereotypical sixties hippies, wearing flowing clothes, making their own shampoo, and smoking weed. Larry wanted to name his daughter Free!—with the exclamation mark and everything—but luckily for her, they settled on Tia instead.
They show Dolores that it is possible to love and that not all men are evil rapists like Dolores thinks they are. But it's not all love and peace signs with them. Ruth gives Dolores some wise advice: "I usually learn more from the situations I hate than the ones I love, you know?" (11.161), and considering how many situations Dolores ends up in that she hates, this is good advice for her.