In this moment, I believe we can compare Ruth's feelings towards Martin with her feelings towards his work. From the beginning of their affair, Ruth had a strange obsession with Martin's strength and muscular neck. Upon meeting Martin "Her gaze rested for a moment on the muscular neck, heavy corded, almost bull-like, bronzed by the sun, spilling over with rugged health and strength... It seemed to her that if she could lay her two hands upon that neck that all its strength and vigor would flow out to her." (Pg. 10) While she is aware that she does not desire him as a life partner, she seems to be "carried away" by her fascination with his physical state. In the end when Ruth approaches Martin with desire for his intellect "she had been carried away by something quite foreign to it"; this, I assume, would be Ruth questioning her distraction with Martin's neck and misinterpreting it as a desire for his love. This ongoing misconception leads Martin to believe that he really will be with Ruth one day. As she recognizes here, her feelings towards Martin seem "unsummoned in her brain."

I think this is a perfect metaphor for what Martin hoped to discover when becoming closer to Ruth. As he learns and discovers joy in understanding more about the world, he is too distracted by his love for Ruth to pay close attention to "all the hidden chemistry" that made her become the way she is. When he finally comes to terms with the true content of her character, he is disappointed to find that- unlike the grass- she became less beautiful. When Ruth asks Martin to accept her at the end of the novel "He was not thrilled nor stirred by what she had done. It was splendid and magnificent only intellectually. In what should have been a moment of fire, he coldly appraised her. His heart was untouched."(Pg. 233)

Again, this comment seems ironic for Martin; throughout the story he is compared to Mr. Butler by Ruth. More realistically, Mr. Butler is somewhat of an ideal that Martin tries to uphold by his own means. The idea of "commonplace little men and women" reminds me of the kind of life Martin and Ruth would have shared. He continuously strived to achieve a status that was qualified to win Ruth's heart. However, in the end, Martin realizes that this commonplace life, which he worked so hard for, was indeed glorified as he says here. When Ruth first introduces the concept of Mr. Butler to Martin she says "He wanted a career, not a livelihood, and he was content to make immediate sacrifices for his ultimate gain."(Pg.44) I believe this is the main difference between Martin and Mr. Butler's goals. While Mr. Butler aimed to make money and have a career for himself, Martin worked for a livelihood which included Ruth. Martin and Ruth can't share a "commonplace little love affair" because their relationship is much more complicated.

This moment reveals an ironic twist on a desire that Martin's story circles throughout the entire novel: he wishes to understand Ruth and her world. "The many books he read but served to whet his unrest. Every page of every book was a peep-hole into the realm of knowledge."(Pg.30) Not only does he attempt to educate himself in school subjects and literature, but he studies closely etiquette regarding upper class behaviors and values. Martin is terrified by the idea of showing Ruth the severity of difference between their classes. "He was not fit to carry water for her -- he knew that; it was a miracle of luck and a fantastic stroke that had enabled him to see her and be with her and talk with her that night."(Pg. 18) However, when he says "He wanted her to feel with him this big thing that was his." Martin is expressing his desire for Ruth to truly understand the facets of his mind. He is extremely frustrated by his inability to express his experiences in a way for Ruth to truly understand. In reality, Martin is making grand efforts to understand Ruth while she simply fancies at him and dances around her true feelings about his work.