The Color of Water- Wes Edwards

James McBride is an acclaimed award writer who is known from his memoir including; The Color of Water, Song Yet Sung, and Miracle at St. Anna. His most prized memoir, The Color of Water describes James’ struggle to discover his identity while experiencing a white, Jewish mother and twelve siblings. The Color of Water has sold over 1.3 million copies. The Color of Water, by James McBride is a story covering the struggles of a young black man who faces many hardships. James McBride’s greatest struggle is to understand why he is living this world with a white mother. Throughout the whole story James must overcome racism, religion, and growing up with twelve siblings and a white mother, Ruth McBride to find his identity.

Ruth McBride is the mother of James and twelve other siblings who are strong willed and who has a drive to raise her children right. By not reaveling her own past and identity to the children, it allows James and all of his brothers and sisters to look upon the future and make their own decisions. These decisions include where the children strived the most, their education. I believe that Ruth did not reveal her past to her children because she wanted them to establish a strong suit in the society and become who they want to become. Ruth McBride tells her son that she is dead because she is lost in society. Her husband is deceased and she has lost touch with all of her Jewish faith and family.

I believe “Mommy’s Contradictions” contributed to the balanced view of humanity that James McBride possesses. These contradictions showed the McBride family that the world is not perfect. There is hatred and racism between many people. Examples of this lie in Mommy’s Contradictions, and that her children must be strong willed like she was to be successful in life.

As the story progresses one learns that Ruth also known as “Ruchel Duraja Zylska” changes her name two times to escape her Jewish faith and her memories growing up as a Jewish child. The first time Ruth changes her name it is to “Rachel Deborah Shilsky”. She changes her name to hide her Jewish background when she comes to America. The second time she changes her name it is to “Ruth McBride Jordan.” Ruth changes her name the last time after she losses touch with her Jewish faith and when she gets married. Once Ruth lost touch with her family she decided she would hide from her family altogether by changing her name the final time and becoming completely “dead.”

Tateh, Ruth’s father ruled a strict household where everything was about supporting the wealth and family itself. Both Ruth and her sister would work tremendous hours in the little shop that Tateh owned in Suffolk. Everyday after school the kids would come straight home and go back to work. Ruth ruled her family a similar way which consisted of a strict household but mainly focused on the children’s drive for education and to stay out of trouble. For example all of Ruth’s children were very bright students and all of them excelled in school. Also all of her children went to college and that was something Ruth could boast about to anyone. Ruth and Tateh both were strict parents and held strict households but were strict in different ways.

This book The Color of Water hits the topic of race and religion right on the head. Not only does it show how race and religion is evident in Ruth’s world but in James and the real world. The more James grew as a young man the more he slowly started to discover the difference between him and his mother. When he would ask what color he was, his mom would just say “You’re a human being.” This is true saying that people are not any color. Ruth would say many times, “educate you’re self or you will be nobody”, in response to James asking what color he is. Just because one is a single color shouldn’t mean they should be targeted and physical and mental acts. As Americans we should discover and represent all races and not just try and destroy one because they way one looks or where one comes from. I believe this book is aspiring in the way it portrays race and religion. As teens James and his siblings grew up listening to and learning from Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. These men motivated James and his siblings in the civil rights movement. The Color of Water shows how each of James’s siblings and himself were influenced by these men.

I really enjoyed The Color of Water and would recommend it to anybody who is willing to read a great novel. I really enjoyed learning about the hardships of race and religion. I also appreciated how hard James searched for his mom’s past even though she tried so hard to hide it. Lastly I appreciate learning about Ruth’s past growing up in Suffolk. Again I would recommend this book to anyone.