The Color Of Water

8 Pages 2057 Words

Paper on the color of water

The Color of Water by James McBride is a book about the author finding his own identity though discovering who his mother, Ruth really is. Throughout his whole life he has felt there is something different between his mother and himself. His father and his eleven brothers and sisters were all black and his mother was white. This never really bothered James when he was a child. His mother never talked about race and didn’t see herself as any different from her children. She never talked about her past and always changed the topic whenever he asked her any questions about where she came from or why she was different from himself and the rest of his siblings. It was not until he wrote this book that all of his questions about his race and identity were answered because he finally uncovered his mothers past.
Ruth had a miserable life growing up. Her family was Jewish Orthodox, and first generation Americans. She spent most of her childhood moving around with her family as her father looked for work as a rabbi. Her family finally settled in Suffolk, Virginia. It was a small town which was racially segregated and Jews were not well liked there. They lived on the black side of town and her father was the rabbi and they owned and small store. She only had one friend that she talked to most of her childhood. “White kids hated Jews in my school. ‘Hey ruth, when did you start being a dirty Jew?’ they’d ask . I couldn't stand to be ridiculed.” (McBride, 80) Going to a predominantly white school caused Ruth to have low self esteem because she wasn't accepted by the other kids. “In school kids called me ‘Christ killer’ or ‘Jew baby’.” (McBride, 40)
Ruth's family life was not much better than her social life. Her father was very strict and she was afraid of him. “There were to many rules to follow, too many forbiddens and ‘you cant’s and ‘you musnt’s,’ but does anybody say they...