Summary: The Color Of Water By James Mcbride

James grew up in a racist and segregated part of history. Often times racial slurs were used to describe people of African descent during the time James was growing up. Even during school James would be called these horrendous names: “...someone in the back of the class whispered, “James is ni**er!” followed by a ripple of tittering and giggling across the room” (McBride 89). The fact that small school children call blacks these names shows how racist the many people are and the hatred and discrimination that blacks face. These experience taught James how people treat those that appear to be different. Another experience that taught James this was when he and his family went to the Jewish store and were discriminated against. McBride had many experiences in which he and his family were discriminated against whether it was by the police or store owners: “Some of these Jews can’t stand you” (86). All in all, incidents with people who have a particular dislike for blacks shaped James into the way

James McBride has faced many obstacles in his life and that consisted of facing discrimination throughout the majority of his youth, having an overall sense of being lost, being embarrassed by his mother’s appearance (being white), and questioning life in general. As the novel progresses, James begins to overcome the obstacles he has faced by embracing God and Jazz. He turned to Jazz in order to escape his drug use and drinking. James’ life has proven to be highly inspiring because he grew up during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. There were many conflicts surrounding interracial marriages and anything against Black Culture.

Throughout my life, I have endured experiences and have been exposed to influences that have had the power to affect my story in a multitude of ways. As described in my testimonial, a critical incident in the shaping of my realized identity as a biracial individual was my mother’s pressured decision to cut off my hair. With the racially-charged backlash that followed also came an acknowledgement of the extraordinary tension present between my two sides, black and white. In this manner, the divided perspectives of my family shaped my story in that they have caused me to go through life with an enforced understanding that my existence in itself is characterized by the contention which seems to inherently be associated with racial/ethnic differences.

James choosing not to deal with his grief, is a way that separates him for the other characters

It's hard for some people to find themselves, and it’s easier for others. James Johnson is a good example of this. In order to find his identity his mother dies, he moves to countless different places, and meets thousands of different faces. Yet he doesn’t find who he is until his children are born and his wife ends up dying. He is brought to realize the difficulties life has to bring him to be able to enjoy the simplicity of knowing who he

James and His Mother had two very different experiences in public school. Ruth was racially divided in her schooling and James went to a school that was racially diverse.”In Suffolk, they had a white folks’ school and a black folks’ school and a jewish school.” (McBride 79). Some people didn’t consider the jewish school to be an actual school. When Ruth was finding a school for her children, she would search for a primarily jewish public school. “We grew accustomed of being the only black, or ‘Negro’ in school and were standout students, neat and well-mannered, despite the racist attitudes of many of our teachers” (McBride 89). James did not feel like he did not belong in the school he was in. “The Jewish school didn’t really count with the

In the color of water it is unreasonably considerable to see how James and his mother Ruth, deal with the same kinds of emotions that they show throughout the story. When Hunter jordan die’s it becomes rather difficult for James, as he interprets his step father’s death with sadness. Like his mother himself, she also is sad and tries to accept the fact that he has gone. In the book, James talks about how Jordan, his step dad was a great dad and that he liked the fact of him being different. In chapter 2, James describes his stepfather as someone that he truly admired and that he loved even though he wasn’t his real father. “ He was seventy two when he died, trim, strong, easygoing, seemingly infallible, and though he was my step father.”

    In life we live to understand who we are as people, for most it may take a while, but many should at least know where they stand and what they were taught growing up. Throughout this world people struggle with double consciousness, which is basically having double souls or personalities. Not being clear with whom the people are and what they represent themselves as, leads to a self identity crisis. Most people do not claim who they are based off of where they come from or not appreciating who they are, maybe not even agreeing with the actions their race face. The issue continues throughout the youth years and is harmful not only to the person being affected, but the personalities. The struggle of a racial identity crisis causes the narrator to become anonymous.

Ruth's initial experiences of a white Jew living in a black area were different than James's later experiences. Although Ruth might have felt antisemitism, the racism wasn't overt. Certainly James had to contend with being bi-racial as well. Ruth tries to counter the divisiveness of race through the book. When James asks his mother whether God is black or white, he is a boy living in a predominantly black community with a mother who looks white, and is simply expressing his personal confusion about race. To add to the confusion, however, his mother simply responds that she is "light-skinned". When his mother explains that God doesn't have a color, and that God is "the color of water", the image converges questions of racial and religious division

If they were to tell of James’s secret family, his first family would likely disown him. However, the only thing that saved James from being exposed for so long was Gwen’s love for him and Dana’s misinterpretation of the situation. If Dana understood the magnitude of what James had done and had not grown up accustomed to such treatment, then she likely would have rebelled and revealed the secret sooner.

While reading this novel, many themes crossed my mind, but the one that I found the most important was Identity Crisis. James, the author of The Color of Water, wrote about how he struggled with knowing who he was and what his purpose in life was. James wasn’t sure what race he was. He was confused due to the fact that his mother was white, and he was white.

One of the most important things I’ve come to terms with is my biracialism. How I identify myself has always been a part of who I am, and this was something very difficult for me to accept. My mom and her family were Guatemalan immigrants, but my Dad’s family is Caucasian. I could never fully identify with being a certain race, and when I did, I felt like I was lying about who I was. It was hard for me to feel like I fit in with my friends, who were either all Latina or white. Even in my own family, it was difficult. My grandparents on both sides quietly disapproved of my parents’ interracial marriage. I didn’t want to be ashamed of who I was, but I often found myself thinking, If only my parents hadn’t married each other! It didn’t help when

He is a young, impressionable man in need of divine guidance that may not be available to him directly through the counseling process. James could benefit from a spiritual mentor; perhaps a member from his church. Furthermore, the counselor may have to concede that individual counseling may not be adequate to resolve James’ dilemma and gently suggest bringing his parents in for a few group sessions if feasible and permissible. At some point James will have to face the fact that he is going to live his life for himself, and ultimately the Lord, and explain his decision to his parents or come to terms that his life is not his own and instead adhere to his parent’s

“I will never work for Dr. Milk. (for those of you guys who don't know Dr. Milk he is a kind a vet that takes care of animals and all of James’s brothers had worked for him part time.) I will never go hunting with my father. I will decide for myself what kind of boy I am, what kind of man I will become.” The first thing I am going to say is that your family members including yourself are a powerful influence. But after reading this part of the story you can infer that James had a disagreement with his brother Paul (Paul is the second youngest brother in James's family. He is the one who has spent the most time with

James grew up in a household in which the women played a major matriarchal role in raising the family and taking care of the affairs of the household. The role of the men in the home was that of a pursuit of their own individual aspirations and revolving at a distant from the rest of the family. The men were more relaxed in their duties and relied on the women to tend to the family. That is what was familiar to James and what he desired in his