In Cynthia Ozick's Essay "Ruth", Ozick takes a feminist approach to the Biblical narrative, The Book of Ruth. She begins her essay with two very prominent images from her past. In her childhood, her parents had two paintings upon the walls of the house where she grew up. One was of her grandfather who was a Torah scholar and the other was of a woman collecting grain in a field. She then continues to describe the reasons why so many Jewish scholars have had problems with this book in the Bible, many of which stem from Ruth's heritage. Ozick offers her own interpretation of the text which is largely based in monotheistic and feminist ideals. Ozick's interpretations of The Book of Ruth are insightful because they convey her religious beliefs and heritage which give her a perspective that is otherwise not so easily attained; though they may slightly differ from my own interpretations, Ozick makes the story easy to understand because she has the advantaged view of a Jew as well as a normal human being living in our advanced world.
             Ozick makes The Book of Ruth easily understood from the vantage point of the layman by using contemporary language to explain Ruth's situation. Ozick first mentions the reason why this story would make any rabbi uncomfortable. It is the story of exogamy. This woman comes from a culture that is an enemy of the Hebrews and marries one of their own. Naomi and Ruth cling together because they find themselves in the same situation. Naomi left Bethlehem with her husband in search of food during a famine. However, she had no alternative except death for her entire family. She too could be considered a deserter. If she was truly a Hebrew, she would not have left when times got hard and food became scarce. It seems that "God's chosen people" would have no other alternative than to throw them out and they had every right to. Instead, everyone seems to welcome them with open ...