Ruth Mcbride Non-Conformist

a. Reading James McBride’s novel brought on a plethora of emotions. I sometimes forget just how trying life can be for “minorities.” For Ruth I mostly felt empathy and sadness. During her childhood, the white kids were mean to her, her father molested her and showed absolutely no respect for her mother, teen pregnancy/abortion, and then she finds the courage to leave where she finds true love not once, but twice only to have that ripped away from her. Ruth’s life is one struggle after another.

Ruth’s Jewish background, her conversion to Christianity, and James’ childhood influence James’ confusion with his identity. Ruth was born Jewish and lived her life experiencing multiple situations of discrimination growing up. Jews and Blacks were hated upon during that period and by her marrying a black man, it attracted even more discrimination towards her. James experienced discrimination when he was younger because he was black. James knows nothing about Ruth’s past because she had kept it a secret from him and his siblings since they were young. Ruth had taught them a mindset that is set to focus only on education and religion, not focusing on anything else so they couldn’t question other ideas Ruth did not want them to see. When Ruth was living in New York with her husband Andrew McBride, Ruth found out that her mother

In the Color of Water, Ruth Mcbride has an important significance, because her complex past is what propels the book. Without her, the book would not be nearly as interesting. James Mcbride, Ruth’s son and author of the book, portrays Ruth as a secretive, un maternal like, and spiritual woman. Ever since James was a child, he remembers his mother never mentioning her past or her racial identity. James notes:”She had a complete distrust authority and an insistence on complete privacy which seemed to make her and my family odder .... Matters involving race and identity she ignored (9) Ruth keeps her past hidden away from her children, so that she doesn’t have to relive painful memories or inquire her past. In doing so, Ruth also doesn’t label

Ruth felt connected to black culture in Harlem because she was never part of a group where she felt welcomed. She would support the Civil Rights acts as if they were her own. On the other hand, she felt rather excluded from the people living in the South. As she had a growing family to take care of, she would be in need of family and financial support, but they would purposely shun her. At a young age, Ruth a practicing Jew was ridiculed and bullied by classmates who were gentiles. It affected her so much she changed her name so she could fit in more, “My real name was Rachel, … but I used the name Ruth around white folk, because it didn't sound so Jewish, though it never stopped the other kids from teasing me” (McBride 80). Her parents forced Judaism on her, causing her to resent religion; therefore, she converted to Christianity when she was an adult. This conversion helped rediscover herself and create a new relationship with God. Ruth’s adult life changed significantly from her life in Suffolk. She needed some relief after separating from her family so she embraced her new religion and found the relief in practicing Christianity. Lastly, Ruth had two integrated marriages that changed her life and brought out the best of her; unfortunately, both died and Ruth was a widow who had to raise and support

Ruth was a source of knowledge that James trusted growing up. James, being a mixed child, is confused about what skin color God would have, so he asks his mother,”

Ruth and James had different experiences when they attended school. Back in the days, when Ruth attended school in Suffolk, there was a split between “white folks’ school and a black folks’ school and a Jewish school,” (McBride 79). The school Ruth attended was not actually a real school, but instead a synagogue, where they did not get a good education compared to what other students were learning in school. In contrast, James “was the only black kid,” (McBride 89), attending in his classroom and he would get called many names because he was the only black kid.

Ruth led a life broken in two. Her later life consists of the large family she creates with the two men she marries, and her awkwardness of living between two racial cultures. She kept her earlier life a secret from her children, for she did not wish to revisit her past by explaining her precedent years. Once he uncovered Ruth 's earlier life, James could define his identity by the truth of Ruth 's pain, through the relations she left behind and then by the experiences James endured within the family she created. As her son, James could not truly understand himself until he uncovered the truth within the halves of his mother 's life, thus completing the mold of his own

Ruth raised her children as Jewish parents would’ve, even if she wasn’t aware of it. Like other Jewish families, she raised her children to be scholastic standouts. They were kept out of the public school system and kept in certain communities. Ruth was particular about the teachers who taught and disciplined them. She wanted he children to receive the best education.

Ruth Benedict was an American anthropologist and folklorist who greatly influenced philosophy through her studies of isolated societies. Her theory of cultural relativism has met both great acclaim and vehement criticism as an explanation of morality and behavior. Stepping away from the stance of ethical absolutism she calls us to take a different and perhaps harrowing approach, examining morals as socially approved customs rather than immovable and eternal cornerstones of all cultures. I argue that Benedict, through her examination of indigenous cultures, provides a sound argument for the relativity of morality – and the consequent lack of a universal moral standard to which all humans can be held.

In 1921 Ruth McBride Jordan was born in Poland and grew up with a Jewish family. In 1923 Her family moved to the U.S when she was two years old and once she moved to the U.S her name was changed to Rachel Deborah Shilsky. They moved to Suffolk, Virginia town where most African Americans were living. Her father (Tateh) opened a grocery store and over charged his items and he also mistered his family. In 1930 Tateh raped Ruth and also made her and his children work at the store. In 1934 Sam (Ruth`s older brother) runs away from home and went Chicago because he couldn’t handle his father any longer. In 1936 Ruth meet a guy name peter. They secretly became boyfriend and girlfriend because Peter was an African America and she was a white Jewish girl and Ruth`s father hated African

At the beginning of The Color of Water, James McBride’s mother Ruth goes on to introduce particular aspects about her upbringing. She mentions how she grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family and begins to describe both her parents. Ruth’s father was a very cold and hard individual who didn’t care too much for his children’s overall well-being, while her mother was very sweet and kind in nature. She also goes on to talk about how her family was originally from Poland but decided to move to the United States from fear of oppression from the Russian government. Along with outside forces that proved to be a problem for Ruth’s family were similarities in oppressive behaviors in their family as well. Since Ruth’s family were Orthodox Jews,

Ruth seems to be subjected to a lack of experience that has led to emotional hardships. She is financially well off, but this may have added to the sorrow that she has felt. This is because she is more accustomed to the life of having resources and does not understand what it is like to come up in the world and the struggles that come with this. These struggles can make a person stronger emotionally because through those experiences it is possible to learn how to deal with a variety of problems in life. Ruth’s privilege caused her to have a major lack of exposure to the world. This made it hard for her to come up with solutions to her problems. She fails to have the knowledge from travels and the individuality to deal with many problems which has hindered her personal growth and emotional stability. She relied a great deal on her father for happiness which

“I'm dead. You want me to talk about my family and here I been dead to them for fifty years.” - Ruth McBride Jordan. Ruth McBride Jordan is a strong Polish Jewish woman with 12 children who firmly believes in work, school, and religion. Ruth undergoes many different changes within both herself and her family throughout The Color of Water, causing her to change her name 3 times in a way of reviving herself. These 3 names are significant with respect to her identity and her life because they represent a time in her life where she tried to change in order to make her it better. These name changes lead up to a manageable time of life for Ruth. The name Ruchel Dwarja Zylska is significant because it represents her when she was young naive girl who didn't understand the aspects of life. The second name, Rachel Deborah Shilsky, represents a time in her life where she tried to change her ways in order to fit in. The final name, Ruth McBride Jordan, stands for a time when she finally moves on with life and leaves behind all of the toxic things that once troubled her.

In this paper, I’m going to discuss the argument that the famous American anthropologist, Ruth Benedict, has put forth regarding ‘ethical relativism’. Ethical relativism is the theory that holds that morality is relative to the norms and values of one's culture or society. That is, whether an action is classified as right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. The same action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another. For the ethical relativist, there are no universal moral standards -- standards that can be universally applied to

Ruth’s mother set a feminine guiding line that was characterized by a serious devotion to principle, righteousness, duty, and her husband.