Pretty Little Liars

"But the truth was, those of us who'd grown close to her, we each played our part in preserving the fantasy and making it last for as long as possible."  Never Let Me Go (p. 52)

Games and avoidance of the truth.  I think this is a normal part of a normal childhood.  But for how long should it last?  Obviously Ruth is the leader in her group of friends.  She makes the decisions and chooses the fantasies the group follows.  I'm not exactly sure how old the gang is when they are during Senior year, but it seems to me they are old enough to know the difference between fantasy and reality.  I'm beginning to wonder if Ruth knows something about the real world that she is just trying to hide from her naive counterparts or if she just enjoys manipulating people.

But if everyone knew about the childishness to the games, why did they all play along?  Ruth must have some type of power or popularity that everyone wants.  Otherwise, I think her friends would have left a long time ago. 

All of these stories of Ruth remind me of the show Pretty Little Liars.  In the series, the girls are manipulated by one of their best friends, Alison.  Even though they know that Alison is not the best influence, they continue to play her games.  When she suddenly dies, the girls realize just how much A played with their lives.  The series is really about a person pretending to be A ruining their lives, but I thought Alison is directly related to Ruth.