How are Ruth and Only alike in the novel, Daughter of Moloka'i?

The dog Only symbolizes how Ruth feels about herself. Ruth does not fit in many places because she is hapa, half-Hawaiian and half-Japanese. She is rejected at times because of both aspects of her ethnicity. The dog Only is alone just like she is, and she develops a bond with him. She feels even more alone, however, when she is not allowed to keep Only. Eventually at the end of the novel, she believes she sees Only, and it is at this time, as Only runs away from her, that she finally is able to reconcile the two aspects of her identity and finally feel whole.