Today Louise Elperding and Roger Rubin, the graphologists we commissioned to analyze the Madoffs' handwriting, discuss the meaning behind Ruth's loops and flourishes.
"Ruth Madoff's large and relatively legible signature presents a smooth, superficially sociable facade. On first glance, the writing appears rather pleasant and conventional. Only closer examination betrays a complicated woman rife with contradictions.
"The initials R and M are outsized and somewhat embellished, which might be seen as a narissistic but ingratiating gesture. Though the forms are conventional, they reflect a mask of artifice. They reside almost exclusively in the middle zone [note the low t-stem and h-stem as well as the short upper extension of the fs] which when present in combination suggest self-centered ego demands.
"Furthermore the appearance of a confident social facade begins to give way to a more ambivalent picture. The initial R hitches at the top, and then the down stroke bows, as if resisting forwards motion and, symbolically speaking, the future. The constricted a, d, and o may reveal not merely emotional reserve but callousness and controlled indifference. The stunted t, h, and fs may have originally been seen as simply self-involvement also presenting a more troubling interpretation: they are avoidance of the upper zone, the zone of common values and ideals. The loop at the signature's conclusion is like a protective wall against interaction with others."