Blog 2-Ruth Hall: Absence of Sympathy

In the novel Ruth Hall by Fanny Fern, what caught my attention is the absence or lack of sympathy from Ruth’s family members and friends. It seems as though the feelings and emotions of compassion for Ruth are non-existent when Ruth became widowed and fell into poverty, and was struggling single handedly to make a living for herself and her daughters Katy and Nettie. I felt furious when Ruth’s immediate family members are reluctant to help her, for I had hoped that they would be the ones at least sane enough to sympathize with Ruth and help her as a moral human being. But many of Ruth’s so called “family” and “friends” in the novel lack sympathy, and they are selfish, ignorant, prideful, and egocentric. Truthfully, they could probably care less if Ruth and her family became homeless.

Ruth’s parents-in-law Mr. and Mrs. Hall and family are clearly selfish. The Halls despise Ruth so it is obvious that they do not sympathize for her since the beginning. There was an absence of sympathy from the time Harry and Daisy passed away, to the time Ruth’s family fell close to poverty. The Halls will do something only for their self-interest. They will offer to financially “help” support Ruth for a certain amount of time (Kindle Locations 1348-1349), not out of goodwill, but for their own benefit to acquire their granddaughters and for a positive “Christian reputation” at their church community (Kindle Location 1373). As for Ruth’s father, he is only concerned about money. He is ignorant, and pretends not to know the hard situation Ruth is in, and refuses to be responsible for her. He sees Ruth not as his daughter, but as the Hall’s daughter because Ruth married into their family for Mr. Ellet claimed "when a man marries his children, they ought to be considered off his hands. I don't know why I should be called upon” (Kindle Locations 1355-1356). When he was forced to temporarily support Ruth, he saw Ruth and her daughters as a burden. Ruth’s brother Hyacinth and her so called “friends” are similar to Mr. Ellet, they are ignorant of Ruth’s situation and they’re also egocentric and prideful. Now that Ruth became “lower class”, they do not want to be acquainted with her because they are embarrassed. Drowning in wealth, they ignored Ruth’s situation and do not want to help. It’s sickening how Hyacinth marries a rich woman, and does not want to be associated with Ruth. His sister is non-existent to him. The disgusting part is how later on in the novel, Mr. Ellet tries to take credit for Ruth’s success because of his “good upbringing”, and Hyacinth boasts about Floy being “his” sister. 

Works Cited

Fern, Fanny. Ruth Hall: A Domestic Tale of the Present Time. Girlebooks, 2008. Kindle. 26 June 2012.