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.
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.
Ruth Younger is a caring mother who feels internal conflicts when she feels strongly about something her husband does not agree with. Ruth lives in a small apartment with her extended family. She tries to be a good wife, supportive of her husband's decisions but she also longs for a better life for her family. Gladys Washington, literary reviewer, points out that Ruth, "seems to hold fairly traditional ideas about motherhood, but she finds herself, without the counsel of her husband, considering abortion as an alternative to bringing another child into the world" (Washington screen 3). She would sacrifice the life growing inside her to ensure her current family had a place to sleep. When her mother-in-law presents them with the opportunity to move from their small run down apartment to a home of their own Ruth is overjoyed, but sees that Walter is furious with his mother for spending so much money on a home in a white neighborhood. Ruth wants so badly to be excited that she urges her husband to see the good that would come from moving. She says, "Please, honey -- let me be glad... you be glad too"(Hansberry 998). She tells him they should, "say goodbye to these Goddamned cracking walls!--and these marching roaches!--and this cramped little closet which ain't now or never was no kitchen!"(Hansberry 999). After being offered money by their white neighbors not to move in, Walter decides to take the money and keep his family in their cramped apartment. Ruth is being torn to pieces at the thought of losing the home she dreamed of but she has done enough pleading. She had already rebelled and let her husband know how she felt about the new home. Finally right before Walter signs the papers to accept the white community's money, his wife and mother's pleas get through to him. He turns down the white man's money and Ruth finally gets a better life for her family.
In Ruth’s narrative she tells of how her family emigrated from Poland when she was a young girl, her abusive father disguised as righteous a Rabbi, her interracial relationships, teen pregnancy, and her eventual marriage to Andrew Dennis McBride, a black man from North Carolina, until he passed away and she remarried Hunter Jordan. What made Ruth so extraordinary was her resilience, strength of character and her freethinking mind. Despite having been raised in an ultraorthodox Jewish family, with a father who molested her, committed adultery, abused her mother, and later disowned her, Ruth was able to develop her own value system. Her ethics not only condemned this behavior, but also went against the societal norm of the 1960’s: racism. After becoming pregnant with her black boyfriend, as a teenager, Ruth confided in her aunt who helped her get an abortion. Following this incident, Ruth realized that she no longer desired to live at home with her family. Spending time away from home enabled Ruth to see how radically different her values and priorities were from those of her
At present Ruth is the most reliable and emotionally stable one in the family and her family depends on her to keep them going. Throughout the play, as Walter and Lena go through their emotional battles, she’s the only one who’s opinions and emotions don’t change. Ruth brings a calm to the household, yet seems to the one always interfering in conversations and telling these two characters fighting and find a solution peacefully. Ruth is the mediator in the family. She doesn’t want to deal with Walter, even though she doesn’t mind speaking up when things are said she doesn’t like. Ruth doesn’t go out of her way to get what she wants. She’s the type of person who makes the best of whatever life hands her, peace and this is when we see her speak up for herself if that's what it takes. “Mama, something is happening between Walter and me. I don’t know what it is- but he needs something-something I can’t give him anymore. He needs this chance, Lena.” (111) This shows her attempt to make others happy, even in hindsight of her own morals and
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, ...
Author(s): Judie Newman Source: The Modern Language Review, Vol. 98, No. 4 (Oct., 2003), pp. 817-826
Ruth’s life is much affected by her childhood memories with her mother LuLing. Whenever Ruth doesn’t obey her, LuLing threatens by saying, “Maybe I die soon!” (54), and “LuLing’s threats to die were like earthquakes” (54). Ruth’s childhood earthquakes caused Ruth to “think about death every day” (121). If one’s mother threatens to kill herself, nothing would be worse than that for a child. Ruth had to go through all those in her sensitive years, and as a result death became an overwhelming figure in her life.
Ruth has an intriguing personality. She is very loving towards her family. She will do all in her power to improve the lifestyle of her family. When it appears that the deal for the house in Clybourne Park will fall through, she promises to dedicate all of her time to make the investment work. “Lena-I’ll work… I’ll work 20 hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago…I’ll strap my baby on my back if I have to and scrub all the floors and wash all the sheets in America if I have to-but we have to MOVE!” she pleads to her mother-in-law (Hansberry140). Her plan is unrealistic and idealistic, but the well being of her family is more important to her than anything. Ruth is also witty and sarcastic at times. She cracks jokes to lighten the mood of her family when they’re worried. “Well that’s the way the cracker crumbles. Joke. (121)” When Beneatha and Mama are stressing over the neighborhood they are moving into, Ruth makes a witty joke to improve the mood. Ruth supervises the daily routine and well being of her family. She makes sure that everyone does what they are supposed to and stays on track. ...
On March 13, 1933, Joan Ruth Bader was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Celia Amster and Nathan Bader (Salokar & Volcansek, 1996). Ruth had an older sister, Marilyn, but she passed away at the age of six from meningitis; Ruth was one year old at the time. Cecilia, Ruth’s mother, stayed home and took care of Ruth while she grew up. Cecilia made sure that Ruth worked diligently in school and taught her the value of hard work. Cecilia was diagnosed with cancer while Ruth was in high school and the day before her daughter’s graduation she passed away (Salokar & Volcansek, 1996). One of the greatest influences on Ruth’s life was her mother and the values she instilled in her from a young age. Two of the greatest lessons that Ruth learned from her mother was to be independent and to be a lady, and by that she meant not to respond in anger but to remain calm in si...
Growing up, Ruth had a rough childhood growing up in a very strict jewish household. Her family was poor, her mother was physically handicapped, her father was verbally and physically abusive, and she faced prejudice and discrimination from her neighbors and classmates because she
Robin Lakoff is a linguistics professor at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of The Language War. She published an article in The New York Times on May 18, 2044 titled, “From Ancient Greece to Iraq, the Power of Words in Wartime.” Her purpose for writing the article was to give a snippet from her book, in which argues that the usage of nicknames makes it easier for someone to kill another human being because it makes them appear to be inferior. Lakoff uses example such as, “In World War I, the British gave the Germans the nickname “Jerries” (Lakoff 15). Therefore, it makes it easier for soldiers to kill their enemies.
“Men can imagine their own deaths, they can see them coming, and the mere thought of impending death acts like an aphrodisiac.” Crake, the antagonist of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, emphasizes something that is vocalized in many literary works: the prospect of death can drastically alter a person's behavior. However, in Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, the antagonist Ruth is completely drained when she sees her death as opposed to the desperate, sexually stimulated men Crake describes. Ruth’s days of energy and sexual activity are when she is in Hailsham and the Cottages. During that time, Ruth serves as the main villain against Kathy, the protagonist of the novel. As a villain, Ruth is one of the most hateful characters in Never Let Me Go. Her villainy emphasizes the futility of trying to escape reality.
Ruth Fowler is Matt’s wife of many years and the mother of Matt’s three children: Steve, Cathleen and the now murdered Frank. Ruth can’t come to terms with Frank’s death and is haunted at all times of the day, whether at home or out in the town shopping and running errands, “She was at Sunnyhurst today getting cigarettes and aspirin, and there he was. She can’t even go out for cigarettes and aspirin. It’s killing her” (108). This quote is a symbolism of her mental state. The anguish of just seeing her son’s killer on the streets with freedom is more than Ruth can mentally comprehend. Ruth continually applies emotional pressure to her husband with comments and allusions to why the killer is sti...
Ruth is Walter's wife. Her dream is to have a happy family but she also wants to be wealthy.
Early on in the play, when Beneatha hears that Ruth is pregnant, her initial reaction is one of indignation. She tries to convince Ruth that they can’t provide for another child. At the climax of the conversation, Ruth says, “Mind your own business.” to which Beneatha replies, “It is my business-where is he going to live, on the roof?”. At that point, Beneatha realizes the harm of her words and tries to apologize to Ruth. Regardless, Beneatha states what Ruth was already thinking and puts pressure on her to make a decision. At this point and others in the play, Ruth becomes worn down by the constant demands her family has of her. Later in that conversation with Beneatha, Ruth starts to cry heavily. This displays Ruth’s weak emotional state and adds greatly to the simile of her sagging like a heavy load. Mama, unlike Beneatha, is the only character in the play who actually listens to Ruth and supports her most of the time. However, Ruth still has mental and physical languor when she talks with