"The Marriage of Ruth and Isaac"

“The Marriage of Ruth and Isaac” describes a mother’s reservations about her daughter, Ruth, getting married at a young age. I like how seamlessly you integrate summary with scene. I never felt like there was too much explanation at once, and the transitions worked well. I like how the image of flowers comes up again and again in the story. Your story covers scenes far apart both in terms of time and space, so having a recurring image strengthens the story’s sense of cohesiveness. I also liked Ruth’s aptitude for gardening. Her “joy to care for delicate things” mirrors her mother’s desire to protect her. I like the ambiguity at the end. The mother sees a perfect wedding, while worrying that it is the beginning of an imperfect marriage. I liked the ending. It is not nearly as storybook as the wedding, but it seems that Ruth and her mother can retain the relationship despite a marriage the mother will not or cannot approve of.

Reading this story, I wondered about the characters. Does the mother distrust or dislike Isaac? Does she think Ruth is too immature? Does she feel she married too early, and now she wants to save Ruth from the same mistake? The mother clearly cares for her daughter, but is a little unreasonable and maybe even smothering. However, I wanted to see more of Ruth. She clearly resents her mother’s disapproval, but does she come to understand it? What does Isaac think of all of this? What is Ruth’s and Isaac’s relationship like? Does the father agree with the mother’s opinion of the wedding?

The mother does not change a great deal over the course of the story. Her feelings about the wedding grow more ambiguous as the  story progresses, her feelings are never resolved.