Ruth, a shy and awkward girl from the Midwest, grows up in the small town of Honey Creek, Illinois, in the 1970s. He spends his entire childhood, and much of his adult life, wondering what would happen if he could escape. Her father, Elmer, left the family when she was ten, leaving her mother, Maylene, very bitter. Maylene is extremely unhappy and disappointed in Ruth because she is nothing like her brilliant brother, Matt. Matt, a math genius, earns a scholarship to attend college, while Ruth was not encouraged, either at school or at home, to believe she could get a college education. Throughout Ruth's life, the bitter and vindictive Maylene fueled her daughter's insecurities. , making the girl feel insignificant and useless. This was the only way Maylene was able to express her love and the only way she was able to bond with her daughter so she would never feel alone and abandoned, a selfish act. Ruth eventually meets and marries Ruby and they move into the home of Ruth's overbearing mother, Maylene. As the years pass, Ruth has a son with Ruby, Justin, and begins to regret her marriage to him. Ruby has her own weaknesses and failures that appear as the story progresses. Family tensions rise and reach a climax when Ruby snaps, beats and strangles Maylene in the basement. Ruth becomes progressively stronger and more self-assertive, not only capable but also willing to heal the wounds of her troubled childhood. The Book of Ruth is the story of a family whose members desperately want to be loved, but cannot as their tragic flaws fade. harshly against each other, surprisingly, Ruth is the one who seems to tolerate. This is the passionate coming-of-age story of Ruth, an uneducated small-town girl, who ... middle of paper ... .ance to real people in society who are experiencing a very similar culture and environment, which unfortunately happens too frequently in society. There are many dynamics at play in this film, but modern conflict theory may better explain social patterns around the world. . Power differentials and the socioeconomic system create a necessary tension that brings consequences or changes, in this case a negative consequence. The inability of these individuals to change their relationships and the inability of “outside” society had a huge impact on the outcome. According to C. Wright Mills, “Social structures are created through conflict between people with different interests and resources. Individuals and resources, in turn, are affected by these structures and by the unequal distribution of power and resources in society." (Macionis, 2013).