On the surface, Ruth the Red Squirrel (a minor celebrity in her hometown as an actress) comes off as self-confident, knowing how to use her charm to mask her insecurities and cynical view of the world. She’s quick to judge, having learned how to use flirtatiousness to quickly assess someone’s nature and intentions, and struggles to change her view on someone if they 'fail' her test. She attends the book club to return to her academic roots (she never finished college) and learn all she can, voraciously so. Ruth acts friendly and mildly flirty even to fish out reactions from people to toy with them, but to her it is simply insincere, mild distraction. Overall there seems to be nothing that can fill the void left inside of her.