This is a terrible idea Jsony-Hash Examples hsh = {:a => {'b' => [1, {:c => :d}]}}.json! hsh.a.b # => [1, {:c=>:d}] hsh[:a]['b'] # => [1, {:c=>:d}] hsh.a.b[1].c # => :d json_object = {"a" => {"b" => {"c" => ["foo", {"d" => "bar"}]}}}.json! json_object.a['b'].c[1].d # => bar