always believed that a willingness to start with the obvious is an essential element of good literary criticism. It is a form of epistemic humility, a willingness to submit to the text and to let it determine the shape of the interpretation; a readiness to be attentive, and to be led from the obvious design features of the text into its more subtle levels of meaning. The charm and apparent simplicity of the story are in fact quite deceptive. Ruth has a finely articulated plot, and, as with all stories,