Contrast is also used to good effect: pleasant (the meaning of “Naomi”) and bitter (1:20), full and empty (1:21), and the living and the dead (2:20). This use of contrast is most strikingly developed between two of the main characters, Ruth and Boaz: The one is a young, foreign, destitute widow, while the other is a middle-aged, well-to-do Israelite securely established in his home community. For each, there is a corresponding character whose actions highlight, by contrast, her or his selfless acts: Ruth versus Orpah, Boaz versus the unnamed kinsman-redeemer.
