The Color of Water

The Color of Water, is a story written by James McBride. James McBride was born in 1957 in New York. He was the son of Andrew McBride and Ruth McBride Jordan. His father was African American and his mother was a Jewish immigrant from Poland. James McBride attended Oberlin College. James McBride was a jazz saxophonist, a producer, and a composer. He was also a journalist for Washington Post, Boston Globe, and People. James McBride was also a freelance writer.

Ruth McBride, the mother of James McBride refuses to reveal her past to her twelve children in the story The Color of Water. She refuses to talk about her past because as a child her father was abusive to her and her mother. Her refusal to talk about her past to her children helped them become there own person and made them understand what was important in life. It made them realize that race and religion didn't make a difference on how they viewed someone.

Ruth McBride Jordan begins her story by telling her son that she is "dead" because she had to change her identity and start over as a child. As a child Ruth McBride's identity was taken from her. The fact of her identity being taken means she is no one. So Ruth McBride's telling of her story to her son saying she is "dead" is saying she had no life as a child cause of her father being abusive and taking her identity from her.

"Mommy's contradictions crashed and slammed against one another like bumper cars at Coney Island. White folks, she felt were implicitly evil toward blacks, yet she forced us to go to white schools to get the best education. Blacks could be trusted more, but anything involving blacks was probably standard... She was against welfare and never applied for it despite our need, but championed those who availed themselves of it." These contradictions, I think contributed somehow to the balanced view of humanity that James McBride possesses. It contributes to his view of humanity because from not knowing his mother's past, helped him understand his identity as being racial, religious, and social.

Ruth changes her name multiple times in The Color of Water. She changes her name from "Ruchel Dwajra Zylska" to "Rachel Deborah Shilsky" to "Ruth McBride Jordan" during the story. Each of the name changes are significant to her life and how she lived. Her name changes made her fit in with the society she lived in. She moved from Poland to American and changed her name to a more American name. As she converted from Judaism to Christianity, she made her name more of a Christian name.

Ruth was head of her household just like her father was the head of his household. Although they both were head of there households, Ruth succeeded in running hers and her father didn't. The reason Ruth was successful in being head of the house was because she cared about her children. She wanted her children to have the best education. Her father wasn't successful because he didn't care about anything or anyone but himself. Their child-rearing styles were different, but were also the same in some ways. Their styles were different from each other because, her father didn't care about his children and made there decisions for them and on the other hand Ruth cared about her children and wanted nothing but the best for them and allowed them to make there own decisions and mistakes and let them learn from that. The styles of Ruth and her father were the same because they both controlled the house and ran it.

During The Color of Water James McBride's recounting of his mother's life helps him to discover himself and answer questions of race and identity, which had troubled him throughout his life. It helps him find his identity as a person. He becomes influenced by his mother's past and it allowed him to understand other races, religions, and social identities.

The title of the book The Color of Water is significant with the respect of race and religion and many ways. The title is significant because God was mentioned to be The Color of Water and that describes how races and religions are. This vision offers Americans to understand all the different races and religions in the world and how they live and work.

In the book, the lives of McBride and his family members are marked by historical events and people related to race relations in the United States. McBride perceives some of those people and events by being influenced by the African Americans during his time that made their self famous for their actions. He became Influenced by African Americans such as, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and the Black Panthers.

I think this book was a very good choice for summer reading. I learned a lot from this book. In my opinion this book was very inspiring for me cause i learned about how important different races and religions are. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to know more about race and religion and how important they are to people in the world.










Drew Y.