 How does the monster wearing the diamond ring send a different message than the main character's wife wearing the same ring?
Images began to appear, drawn from inexhaustible files, wherein are kept all thoughts, past, present, and future.... "Oh, a ring, and it's a diamond, too!" When he opened it, he found a picture of her in one side, and in the other a picture of the children. His cold fingers found the locket, making a little bulge under his uniform, and the touch of it seemed to warm the blood in his veins. Three days later they had landed in Spain, merged with another division, then crossed the Pyrenees into France, and finally to Paris where the fighting had begun. The Russians had not yet used the H-bomb; the threat of annihilation by the retaliation forces had been too great.
 The ring is meaningless now that it is not worn by his wife.
 The ring now shows that material love is stronger than emotional love.  The ring is meaningless now that it is not worn by his wife.  The ring now shows that anyone can hold a symbol of love.  The ring shows that the love between the main character and his wife was not exclusive between them.