Ruth in How Bad Things Can Get: Character Analysis of the Petition Cult Survivor

Overview: The Girl Who Would Not Die Twice

Ruth is the protagonist of Darcy Coates's How Bad Things Can Get and the novel's central secret: she is the Petition Child, the sole survivor of the Petition cult's mass suicide twenty years before the story begins. Born Josanna, the daughter of cult leader Barom, she was believed by the commune's elders to have prophetic dreams, which they twisted into a divine call for mass sacrifice. Roughly four hundred members died from a nerve toxin they drank during a feast, and Ruth survived by hiding among the corpses until police found her two days later. A caseworker named Leslie secured a name change and other protections, allowing Ruth to build a new life. On Prosperity Island, she is deliberately drawn into Eton's deadly festival, where her past and her visions converge. Her arc moves from concealment to exposure, and by the novel's end she has survived a second, Petition-like massacre—the girl who would not die twice.

Plot Role: From Vacationer to Target

Ruth arrives on Prosperity Island as a vacationer, but the festival's selection process is rigged against her. The booth attendant reaches deep into the crate to give her a bag containing a red-dotted rock, making her one of ten contestants in the maze game. She recognizes the island from her nightmares, and the word Petition terrifies her when she overhears it at the drinks tent. Her role shifts from reluctant game player to witness: she discovers Gilly impaled on sharpened wooden stakes in the jungle and reports the attack to staff, though Eton dismisses it as a staged reenactment. As the festival unravels, Ruth becomes the intended victim of a second, Petition-like massacre. She survives again as the second version of Petition destroys itself as thoroughly as the first.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Ruth's primary motivation is survival—both physical and psychological. She has spent years hiding from her past: she guards her secrets, hides her scars, and severs ties to her old life. She dismisses her premonitions as unreal, a coping mechanism developed after the cult's death. Her decision to play the maze game despite her unease is motivated by the ten-thousand-dollar prize and a desire to appear engaged, showing her need to seem normal to Zach's friends. Her caution in the game—moving slowly rather than racing—reflects a survival instinct honed in childhood. When she finds Gilly in the jungle, she turns off her lantern to avoid becoming a target, marks her path with her jacket, and runs downhill to the village—practical, methodical actions that show how her traumatic past has trained her to think under threat. In the second maze game, she runs rather than walks, gambling everything because her life is on the line.

Chronological Arc: From Concealment to Exposure

Ruth's arc moves through four phases.

Phase 1: The Nightmare Returns. On the cruise, she suffers seasickness and nightmares of a young girl named Josanna crawling through a dark compound, fleeing a voice that insists she must die. She briefly catches Carson staring at her with a cold expression, though he acts normally afterward.

Phase 2: Drawn Into the Game. On the island, she is selected for the maze game, finishes third, and slaps Eton over Makayla's injury. She overhears the word Petition and confesses to Zach that she fears someone knows her secret. She discovers Gilly's body in the jungle and reports it, but Eton claims it was a staged reenactment. Her visions intensify, culminating in a collapse on the beach.

Phase 3: The Betrayal. The turning point comes when Carson and Hayleigh reveal that Zach told them she is the Petition Child—and that Zach obtained the festival tickets by informing the contest organizers about her. Ruth confronts Zach, tells him she hopes her vision of his death comes true, and flees into the jungle, where chanting figures surround her. She bolts through them and escapes.

Phase 4: Survival. By the novel's end, she survives the second massacre, holding Zach as rescue ships arrive, knowing the public fixation on her story is about to begin again.

Relationships

Zach. Ruth's boyfriend, who courts her for months as part of a strategy to extract her story about Petition. He ran a podcast about the cult, located her former caseworker Leslie, and pressured her for Ruth's name. He deleted the podcast after a threatening email but kept visiting Leslie. Ruth's confrontation with him is the emotional climax of her arc: she calls him a snake and tells him she hopes her vision of his death comes true.

Carson and Hayleigh. Zach's friends. Carson's cold stares and hostility toward Ruth are early signs that something is wrong. They are the ones who reveal Zach's betrayal to Ruth, and Carson's disgust is palpable when he tells her, It isn't right.

Gilly. A guest Ruth meets at the drinks tent who explains the Petition cult's history. Ruth later finds her impaled in the jungle, and her report sets off the investigation.

Petra. Eton's project manager, who takes Ruth's report about Gilly seriously and orders search parties. She is one of the few authority figures who listens to Ruth.

Eton. The festival's host, who is revealed to have created the festival as a distraction after an online relationship with a fourteen-year-old girl. Ruth slaps him after Makayla's injury, and he apologizes, saying he didn't realize how badly she was hurt.

Key Decisions and Consequences

1. Deciding to play the maze game. Despite her unease, Ruth chooses to compete for the prize money. This puts her in the game where Makayla is injured, leading Ruth to slap Eton and draw attention to herself.

2. Reporting Gilly's attack. Ruth insists the woman she found was a real guest, not a staged actor. This leads Petra to take her seriously and begin investigating the island's disappearances.

3. Confronting Zach. After learning of his betrayal, Ruth breaks free from his grip and flees into the jungle, where she is surrounded by chanting figures. Her decision to run rather than stay with the group leaves her isolated but also allows her to survive.

4. Surviving the second massacre. As with the first Petition, Ruth survives while the cult-like attackers destroy themselves. She tells herself, She'd begged for another chance at life. She'd been given her wish. And if this was going to be the cost, so be it.

Themes and Symbols

Ruth embodies several of the novel's central themes. Her story connects to the weaponization of a traumatic past, as Zach exploits her history for his podcast and Eton's festival draws her in because of it. Her visions blur the line between staged horror and real violence, as she cannot tell whether the threats on the island are part of Eton's games or genuine. The cyclical nature of cult violence and false prophecy is embodied in her survival: the second version of Petition destroys itself as thoroughly as the first, and Ruth survives both. The commodification of tragedy by media and public is shown through the public fixation on the Petition Child, the leaked police video, and the podcast industry that feeds on her story. Finally, Ruth's experience with institutions—the courts that sealed her records, the caseworker who protected her, and the police who found her—connects to the erosion of trust and the failure of institutions, as her protections prove insufficient against Zach's persistence.

Questions and Answers

1. Why does Ruth decide to play the maze game despite her fear?

Ruth is motivated by the ten-thousand-dollar prize and a desire to appear engaged. She tells herself, To hell with it... It's just a game. Let's play, and gives Zach a smile she doesn't fully feel. She also wants to be the person her new friends see—not someone who hides.

2. What is the Petition Child, and how does Ruth relate to it?

The Petition Child is the sole survivor of the Petition cult, a commune led by Barom whose elders interpreted the prophetic dreams of his daughter as a call for mass sacrifice. About four hundred members died from a nerve toxin. Ruth is the Petition Child; her birth name was Josanna, and she survived by hiding among the bodies.

3. How does Zach betray Ruth?

Zach ran a podcast about Petition and tried to identify the Petition Child. He located Ruth's former caseworker Leslie and pressured her for Ruth's name. He obtained the festival tickets by informing the contest organizers about Ruth, and he told Carson and Hayleigh that she is the Petition Child.

4. Why does Ruth slap Eton?

Ruth slaps Eton after the maze game because Makayla fell from a beam into the ocean, striking submerged rocks and bleeding. Eton says he didn't realize how badly she was hurt until Petra told him, and Ruth apologizes for hitting him.

5. Does Ruth survive the novel?

Yes. As with the first Petition, Ruth survives the second massacre. The novel's final scene shows her holding Zach as rescue ships arrive, knowing that the public fixation on her story is about to begin again. For more on the novel's resolution, see the ending explained page, or browse questions and answers for further discussion.