Summary Of John Jordan, By Ruth Mcbride Jordan

* This chapter was written in Italics because it was written from a different point of view which was Ruth’s perspective who talks about her past as a child.

The author James Mcbride uses diction in chapter 5, of the book “The Color of Water”, to prove the theme. The author displays Ruth’s low self-esteem due to her father killing her self-esteem

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 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,”

Throughout the whole novel, Ruth is a tough and brave woman, yet she has a big

Ruth, James's mom, couldn’t have cared less that she had mixed children. As far as she was concerned, they were her children; the color of their skin didn’t matter to her. All Ruth cared about was the education her children were receiving in school. James saw it completely different than his mom did, though. James was confused about all of it.

Racial divisions had always been a source of conflict for Ruth. Her struggles began as a young child and followed her into her adulthood. She felt the pressures from racial divisions at her school and in her very own home. The internal conflict that Ruth felt regarding race stemmed from the hatred that she had experienced with the white people from her childhood and the acceptance that Ruth had felt from the black people she had encountered.

The middle of the book takes more of a look of some of the prejudices that both Ruth and James went through during their upbringing. Ruth begins to talk about the difficulties that came with being Jewish and living in the South during that time period. She was always the target for mockery by her peers, but fortunately met a girl named Frances who truly accepted her for who she was. They would spend a lot of time together, most of the time at Frances’ house due Tateh’s discern for gentiles. James also faced similar prejudices at school. Since his mother put so much of an emphasis on schoolwork, James and all of his siblings would have to go to predominantly Jewish schools and were the objects of ridicule for the other students. There was one instance in particular in which James was asked by his classmates to dance because of a predisposed idea that because he was black he could dance. He danced for the class, but conflicting thoughts were rushing through his mind. He felt accepted by his peers, but also ashamed that he stooped so low to gain that acceptance. This example as well as other instances that occurred with his siblings showed the racial tensions that were filling the air at that time.

The name Ruchel Dwarja Zylska is significant because during this time, Ruth didn't fit in with others. Since she had a Jewish name, she was an outcast which leads up to the first name change. As a young girl, Ruth didn't really understand the aspects of life. In The Color of Water it states, “In school the kids called me “Christ killer” and “Jew baby”. The name stuck with me for a long time” (pg. 31). Clearly, this was a

Ruth just want to get out of poverty and to have a happy family. She doesn’t want to lose her opportunity to get out of the too small dilapidated apartment of which her family is forced to live in do to their lack of finances.

The Book of Ruth Ruth is a story about loyalty, love, and faith. The simple love story

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 offers James confusion as he grapples with his racial identity as a younger boy, but she offers him clarity as a young adult. When James was young, Ruth would answer any of her questions and that bothered him but he knew not to push her to her limit or he would get the belt. He does not know what half of his race is, he know he was black from his father but knew nothing about his mother’s race. Ruth was not ashamed to be a Jew, but she did not support Judaism because of her father, Tateh. She was not hiding the fact that she was a Jew from James but she did not want to think about everything that she ran away from when she

Ruth was emotionally abandoned she wanted someone to return the love she had been giving out. The mere idea of her having to go the rest of her life in that state frightened her. If she was emotionally supported by her husband she would have been happier. This shows that her mental state shows abandonment of women.