The Color Of Water Ruth Mcbride

* The author gives the story from two different perspectives one from the mother’s perspective, Ruth, and the other from the son’s perspective, James.

In The Color of Water, Rachel repeatedly felt the wrath of racism and prejudice. Rachel went to school in her hometown of Suffolk, Virginia. The elementary, middle, and high schools she attended was an all-white, Protestant school. At the time she was a devoted Jew, her father, Tateh, was a Rabbi. Judaism was the main focal point of the family’s everyday life. In this school, her fellow students always said, “ Hey, Ruth when did you start being a dirty Jew?” (pg. 80). Rachel’s original name was Ruth, but she changed it because it was too Jewish. She wanted a more American name. Rachel only had one friend in her school that would accept her for who she was, Francis. Another example of racism in Suffolk was the

James grew up as a black child living in a black neighborhood with a white mother during one of history’s biggest era’s for civil rights movements. The title “The Color of Water” correlates to the issues about religion and race that occur in the book with major characters such as Ruth and James. The aspects that had the most significant impact on James’ identity is environment because of the racist and segregated times, the poor neighborhood he was raised in and his mother, Ruth.

In The Color of Water by James McBride he faces plenty of obstacles in his life. One that I think was very important during his childhood is in chapter 14 where makes a few bad choices after his stepfather, Hunter Jordan, dies. Since James didn't get to know his biological father, Hunter was the closest he ever came to having one. He makes it clear that his family loved Hunter and when he died they were all devastated but none as much as their mother. It's safe to say she wasn't the same and that can be seen when McBride says "She sent us off to school and tried to maintain her crazy house as usual, ranting about this and that, but the fire was gone" (McBride, 137). I think his mother's behavior no doubt had some effect on the way he acted.

In the book color of water by James mcbride talks about his mother Ruth's and how she had ups and downs in her younger life till now when she is a widow and how she a has this habit of riding her bicycle through the all- black neighborhood in which James and his family lived. In “The Color of Water,” by James McBride has many themes. Each theme he is trying to get a point across and he tries to make us understand what him and his family went through as being Jewish and African American. He tells about his past and his parents past to give us an idea of what they all went through. In this book he brings you into their lives.

For my cultural cache book report I chose to read the book, The Color of Water by James McBride. I learned several things about what life was like in the mid-1900’s and in which may be why we still face issues with racial differences. McBride does a great job of illustrating his internal and external challenges that he faces throughout his life. I also learned more about African American culture in the United States and gave me a desire to be a part of positive change to this particular racial group.

In the Color Of Water Ruth and James deal with Hunter Jordan’s death in a very differently . The way Ruth handles her husband’s grief was strange . When Hunter died James mother picked up a habit of riding a bicycle . She would ride her bicycle around the streets of Queen . For example , her son James would watch her ride her bicycle. “ She would ride in slow motion across our street , Murdock Avenue..It was her way of grieving. “ ( McBride 7) . James would find it odd that she would this. Sometimes James mother would ride her bicycle to ignore her husband old car. For instance , James said “ Daddy’s old car sat out front for weeks...every day she rode her bike right past it , ignoring it ( McBride 7 ). Moreover , ridding a bike seemed

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,”

from Tateh, her father. She is raised in a very strict, religious, yet hypocritical family,

In the novel, “The Color of the Water” by James McBride, the readers are introduced to a character by the name of Ruth McBride, James McBride’s mother who presents herself as a wonderful mother to her children successful in life. The first reason Ruth McBride is a wonderful mother because she persuades her children to go to school and wants them to have a very good education in the future. One of the good reasons a mother would do was staying up all night and falling asleep in someone’s homework. Her motto is, “Educate your mind. School is important “(13). A good mother would always want her children to have the best education in the universe. Furthermore, the fact that Ruth McBride wants her children to get the best education is because she

James McBride 's memoir, The Color of Water, demonstrates a man 's search for identity and a sense of self that derives from his multiracial family. His white mother, Ruth 's abusive childhood as a Jew led her to search for acceptance in the African American community, where she made her large family from the two men she marries. James defines his identity by truth of his mother 's pain and exceptionality, through the family she creates and the life she leaves behind. As a boy, James questions his unique family and color through his confusion of issues of race. Later in his life, as an adolescent, his racial perplexity results in James hiding from his emotions, relying only on the anger he felt against the world. It is

James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, demonstrates a man's search for identity and a sense of self that derives from his multiracial family. His white mother, Ruth's abusive childhood as a Jew led her to search for acceptance in the African American community, where she made her large family from the two men she marries. James defines his identity by truth of his mother's pain and exceptionality, through the family she creates and the life she leaves behind. As a boy, James questions his unique family and color through his confusion of issues of race. Later in his life, as an adolescent, his racial perplexity results in James hiding from his emotions, relying only on the anger he felt against the

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,

“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.

The Color of Water, by James McBride, is a capturing memoir which contains meaningful quotations to represent a bigger theme. In my opinion, the major theme in this book is "The Search For Identity". This is because, throughout the entire memoir, there have been multiple occasions where the identity of a certain character was unknown. American society is known to connote freedom in some sort of way, and in this case through the expression of individuality. Ruth Shilsky, James McBride's mother, was a Jewish immigrant who arrived in America for freedom and a chance for a better life. Like many other immigrants, Ruth wished to express her individuality in this vast country. However, her Jewish heritage handicaps her from doing what she feels