"Whenever they laughed, I laughed too just to be polite. Tommy seemed to be understanding things even less than me and was letting out hesitant little half-laughs that lagged some way behind. Ruth, though, was laughing and laughing, and kept nodding to everything being said about Martin just like she too was remembering them."
~ Never Let Me Go, page 150
As much as I dislike Ruth, I can't deny that she is very intelligent. Fake, but intelligent. She has mastered the use of rhetoric to act as if she knows much more than she actually does. This only earns her more respect from the veterans; being seen as their equal is obviously Ruth's goal. This has really frustrated me - it's like Ruth is in a play: a one-woman show of which she is the star actress. Her veteran audience is just laughing it up and having a grand old time, and she completely convinces them of the character she is portraying. But, more importantly, her technical crew, Kathy and Tommy, are pushing props in at the right time and keeping the spotlight on her when they could ruin this whole operation in a minute. Whether anyone knows it or not, the techies run the show from back stage, and they have the most responsibility when putting on a performance. So I laughed maniacally to myself when Tommy finally stopped complying with Ruth's show (it kind of made me flashback to that time when Kathy almost brought up the pencil case). However, Ruth snapped back and effectively shut Tommy up by bringing up a touchy incident from his past. Ruth's use of rhetoric allows her to manipulate the people she associates with through their communication.
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