In the popular children’s television show Phineas and Ferb, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, the primary antagonist declares that he is “ruthless. [He] has no ruths” (19:40). His declaration articulates an interesting linguistic idiosyncrasy; ruthless currently only operate in various forms of itself (i.e. “ruthlessness,” “ruthlessly). As many words do, this facet of the word ruthless illuminates various types of change in the English language over time. To be completely understood, the word “ruthless” must be looked at, and then it must be examined in its constituent parts—“ruth-“ and “-less.” I will also look at the name Ruth as a variant on the root word “ruth.” This word demonstrates various aspects of compounding and the movement of Christianity through English culture. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “ruthless” means “devoid of pity or compassion; pitiless, unsparing, merciless.” However, to understand the history of the word, one can divide it into its constituent parts. “Ruthless” is comprised of two morphemes ([ruth-] + [-less]), which together mean “without ruth.” The suffix “less” is common in many words and serves to negate various adjectives. The word “ruth” has become archaic/obsolete in the English language. Most words associated with the root word have become archaic or obsolete (i.e. ruthful). The first recorded account of the word “ruthless” appears at 1327 in Pol. Songs of England, and since the word’s appearance, it has undergone minimal phonological changes. Most of the substantial transformations to the word “ruthless” appear in its morphemes. The first morpheme, “Ruth,” means “1. The quality of being compassionate; pitifulness; the feeling of sorrow for another; compassion, pity… 2. Contrition, r... ... middle of paper ... ...'.. I said I was similarly card-caseless.” Increasingly, the suffix “-less” is attached to nearly any word as a means of stating “without.” Thus, a modern speaker may explain ruthless as one “without ruths.” Today, “ruth” may be nothing more than a name to most English speakers, and many may use the word “ruthless” without understanding the root word “ruth” to be a word. Because the root word has become obsolete, we may often have a meaning in our minds, but not completely understand that meaning. Readers may also assume that “less” and “-less” come from the same origins, and today they have paralleled meanings. The history of the word ruthless allows it to become a catalyst for word play such as the wordplay seen in the show Phineas and Ferb. Given the negative connotation of the word “ruth” is the only surviving form, in time ruthless may become obsolete as well.
Before the murder, Ruth had concerns about her son Frank’s relationship with the killer’s estranged wife and fears the worst for her ...
To begin with, the dual narratives of the text here present a unique mixture of chronology and perspective. Moreover, noteworthy is also McBride’s usage of the rhetorical strategy of alternate chapters and parallelism. This can be seen when McBride remarkably places related chapters together to juxtapose the life of his mother and that of himself. This allows one to observe the parallelism in the two lives; and perhaps more importantly, understand the significance Ruth’s life has had on McBride. For example, McBride places the chapters “Shul” and “School” next to each other. Here, both Ruth and James are struggling and are trying to fit in but are rejected due to racial and social conflicts. Another example is, “The New Testament” and “The Old Testament.” Both of these chapters revolve around the embarrassment Ruth and James feel for their circumstances. In “The Ne...
Ruth led a life broken in two. Her later life consists of the large family she creates with the two men she marries, and her awkwardness of living between two racial cultures. She kept her earlier life a secret from her children, for she did not wish to revisit her past by explaining her precedent years. Once he uncovered Ruth's earlier life, James could define his identity by the truth of Ruth's pain, through the relations she left behind and then by the experiences James endured within the family she created. As her son, James could not truly understand himself until he uncovered the truth within the halves of his mother's life, thus completing the mold of his own identity.
To begin with, the dual narratives of the text here present a unique mixture of chronology and perspective. Moreover, noteworthy is also McBride’s usage of the rhetorical strategy of alternate chapters and parallelism. This can be seen when McBride remarkably places related chapters together to juxtapose the life of his mother and that of himself. This allows one to observe the parallelism in the two lives and to understand the significance Rachel's life had on McBride. For example, McBride places the chapter titled “Shul” and “School” next to each other with each giving a view of the problems they faced in school. Here both Ruth and James are struggling and are trying to fit in but are rejected due to racial and social conflicts. Another example is “The New Testament” and “The Old Testament.” Both of these chapters revolve around the embarrassm...
Ostriker A. (2002). The book of ruth and the love of the land. Biblical Interpretation, 10 (4),
As her "daddy's daughter", there is little doubt that a form of love exists between Ruth Dead and Dr. Foster; however, such love is not truly love because as evidenced by Ruth's subsequent life, the filial relationship better resembles an emotional dependence that Ruth took for granted (67). The great emotional schism within her that is the result of her father's death leaves Ruth dysfunctional: she is unable to emote towards other, especially her family. Instead, ...
We see the introduction of Ruth in the scripture in the book of the bible that bears her name. Ruth is living in the land of Moab. She meets a new family that has come to Moab, to survive during the famine in Judah. She falls in love and marries one of their sons, becoming a family member to his people. Not only did she have a marital covenant with this son, she viewed it to pertain to the entire family. When her father in law passed away, leaving Naomi widowed, Ruth knew she had to step up and help Naomi. Shortly after that Naomi’s two sons died. Leaving the three widows to care for each other. Ruth understood through her faith of God what her role was to be toward her mother-in-law. Naomi wanted to return to her
In conclusion, the fact that Ruth lived through so much trauma from her father most likely brought out the strength in her heart, and caused her to realize that she wants a good life for her children instead of the trauamtic life that she lived through in her own childhood. Ruth’s overall identity could be explicity explained as a mother who is strong, has a lot of faith in God, and a woman with a lot of value and love for all of her twelve children. Ruth Mcbride’s strength and confidence helps herself through the hardships of her childhood, her relationships with Dennis and Hunter, as well as James Mcbride and the rest of her children. She developed the identity of a strong-willed mother, lover, and a woman of God.
The novel, presented as a series of disjointed, possibly problematic, narrative frames, attempts to draw attention to this fact. "...no word exists alone, and the reason for choosing each word had to be explained with a stor...
Ruth is Walter's wife. Her dream is to have a happy family but she also wants to be wealthy.
This quote that was said by Ruth had a significant meaning and also a purpose for it being put in the book.
Lucille likes to think that the mother was very clean and organized, very much a housekeeper, but Ruth is able to see that that wasn 't necessarily the case. She faces the reality of the situation head on, referring to her mother as the abandoner. With Sylvia, Ruth feels at home. She establishes the true meaning of housekeeping.
"...[Ruth's] passions were narrow but deep. Long deprived of sex, long dependent on self-manipulation, she saw her son’s imminent death as the annihilation of the last occasion she had been made love to" (134).
“WALTER: “.See, that just goes to show you what women understand about the world. Baby, don’t nothing happen to you in this world ‘less you pay somebody off!”(Hansberry). Walter says that money is a man’s domain, and that Ruth, being a woman, just wouldn’t understand. This sexist remark seems to come from his own lack of self-esteem. Unfortunately, for Walter and those around him, he feels the need to put people down in order to feel more powerful.”
...s, 1882-1942. v.: ill.; 28 cm. Semiannual. Issue no. 33, 32, 1989. Vol. 1, no. 1, 1973; no.2, 1974. California State College, Sonoma, Dept. of English.