Response to "The Marriage of Ruth and Isaac"

Emily,

“The Marriage of Ruth and Isaac” is a story about a mother who is struggling to give up her daughter, Ruth, to marry a young man named Isaac. The main conflict of the story is that Ruth’s mother seems to care deeply for her daughter but she doesn’t agree that Ruth and Isaac should be getting married so young. She wants them both to find jobs and be able to support themselves financially. Ruth has emphasized to her mother that this is God’s plan for them and that their marriage is safe in His hands.
    Emily, first of all I wanted to say that I really love how sentimental your writing is. It’s delicate, while its still rich with color and smell. The descriptions of the flowers remind me a lot of your last story and the parsley and celery and gardening. So, I really liked the descriptions of the wedding’s flower arrangements. I also really like the contrast between the mother and father. The mother seems to be ultimately more concerned with money--in that she wants her daughter to be financially secure before she marries, when she goes with Ruth to the florist she says all she could see was dollar signs, and later she mentions again how she paid for the flowers. On the other hand, the father seems in full support, so it has that “daddy’s little girl” element to it which is sweet. I also loved when the mother says, “To her it was effortless; it was her joy to care for delicate things.” To me this runs parallel with how the mother is slowly realizing that Ruth is going to be able to care for marriage, because marriage in this case is such a delicate thing.
    I can clearly see the mother has only good intentions for Ruth. However, as far as suggestions go I’d kind of like to see if there is another reason for the mother not wanting her to marry at a young age. I felt like there was additional reasons. Maybe something along the lines of the mother got married young and had so many issues. Some additional reason would strengthen the ending because the mother could overcome something herself. She seems to begin to change when she says, “This is just how I had imagined Ruth’s wedding” but the end I didn’t see as much change as I was hoping for. She seemed slightly more hopeful. But why is it one year that she hopes they get through. Some would say the first year is the easiest. This is the part that leads me to believe something happened in the mother’s life that has made her so strongly discourage this union.
    Overall, Emily, I really liked this story. You have such a sweet aroma to your writing that I think for the most part comes straight from the heart. I’d like to see your non-fiction pieces if you have some, and if not you should write some. :)

Anyway, good job!