The Color of Water

James McBride is a well-celebrated African-American author raised in New York City. McBride was one of 12 children raised by his white, Jewish mother. In The Color of Water, an autobiography written by McBride, he pays tribute to his mother and tells of his life. Besides being a sucessful writer, writing several novels including Miracle at St. Anna and Song Yet Sung, McBride was also an accoplished saxaphonist. He received the Stephen Sondheim Award at the 1993 American Music Festival, the 1996 American Arts and Letters Richard Rogers Award, and the ASCAP Richard Rogers Horizon Award the same year. The Color of Water tells of James McBride's struggle as a middle child in a family of 12 and how his white mother influenced his life.

James' mother, Ruth was born in 1921 Poland of a Jewish decent. Later Ruth moved to America in Suffolk, VA with her parents. When she is old enough Ruth leaves her lif in the south and starts her new one in New York City. Here she is married to Andrew McBride and has eight children. Andrew dies soon after Ruth is pregnant with the eighth child James, leaving Ruth to care for the eight children. Ruth is a bit out of place as a single white, Jewish mother of eight mixed raced children in New York City. This stirred many questions left unanswered by Ruth. She refuses to reveal anything about her past to anyone, not even her own children. This is because Ruth chose to leave her past life and wants to cut all attachments to it. She wants to forget about her past life and move on. She begins her story by telling James that she is "dead". This is because she had to put to rest her past life in order to life a new one. Again she just wants to forget about her past and feels she can do so by keeping it hidden from others.

Ruth remarried and had four more children with Hunter Jordan. He too died. Again Ruth was forced to care for many children single handedly. She raised them lovingly but left her children confused in her contradicting methods. However as each child matured they begin to realize that their mother was only trying to balance their view of humanity.

Ruth has several names throughout the book. She was born as "Ruchel Dwaira Zylska" into a very strict home with little to no freedom. When she moved to America her name became "Rachel Deborah Shilsky". Now she is in the transition into becoming an adult. When Ruth marries for the second time her name becomes "Ruth McBride Jordan". this represents her independancy as a single mother.
Both Ruth and her father, Tateh, ran the household in a "tyrannical" manner. Ruth suceeded where her fahter failed because she truly loved her children. Tateh chose to run his household in this way because he wanted total control over his house and Ruth suffered because of it being physically and sexually abused. Ruth chose to rule her house tyrannically because she wanted her children to live suceesful lives. She only interfered when needed.
James McBride's recounting of Ruth's life gives him an insight of who he really is. This also gives him a greater respect for his mother. He finally realizes why she was different from the other mothers and how much she has sacrificed and given to him and his siblings. He also realizes the similarities in their lives. Both dealing with racial tension and opression.
The Color of Water is a significant title to this book because it is nuetral. Water has no color. Just as God has no color. He is indescriminant and loves everyone equally. Water does not have color, but it can reflect it. If someone shows racial prejudice, that is what they are going to get back. McBride also mentions Martin Luther King Jr. in his book. He uses him as a symbol of hope and someone who will stand against racial opression and discrimination.

McBride tells of his life growingup with many siblings raised primarily by a single white Jewish mother and the hardships that came with it. He pays tribute to his mother and tells of events seen through his eyes. I didnt like this book very much because it wasn't exciting and was very dry. I would recommend this book only to someone who likes American history and the history of racial conflicts.

JoshL