I've tried a couple of playthroughs and still can't wrap my head around it; regardless of choices taken (EDIT: SPOILERS) Ruth is unchanged and Caleb is changed, which gives the ending an inevitability, which is fine, except I'm still confused about its meaning. It's nicely written and I really made an effort to understand it, but I couldn't. I guess it's just not for me, and that's fine.
Viewing post in We Shall All Be Changed jam comments
Thank you so much for playing, especially multiple times! Half of what you're describing was intentional, and half of what you're describing were the result of time constraints. SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT. Without telling you everything I think about what happens in the end - this story was based upon a letter written in a time of religious confusion, where people were hearing about Christianity for the first time by travelling preachers. The New Testament hadn't even been compiled yet, let alone printed, so after the preachers left, there was no 'authority' you could go to find out what was proper Christian belief / ways of living / forms of worship. I didn't want to resolve that tension, so your response to the game is actually perfect! In the letter, it says 'we shall ALL be changed' - but in my story, that is not the case - and as you point out, it's ALWAYS not the case. So why is Ruth unchanged? That's the question I wanted to end on, and what I can't answer for anyone, but the choices you make throughout the game are summarised by the pig a few screens earlier are supposed to create a context for each player's answer. TL/DR: the final line is always the same, and your choices are supposed to provide a context to try and make sense of it. Again: thank you SO MUCH for playing, the time and attention is very much appreciated.
Ooh, OK. Thanks for taking the time to explain! I did get the sense of the letter being an addition, and wondered from whom; the fact it's not revealed conveys how easily doctrine could be changed. And with Ruth being unchanged, that questions the authority behind the 'we shall ALL be changed', but also more broadly the question of why some are changed and some are not is left to Ruth/Caleb to wonder, to try to make sense of based on their decisions instead of on scripture/preachers - a kind of broader commentary on a divide between God and his interpreters(?)
(Thanks for adding more on the game's page. It's a really interesting read!)