Ruth McBride-Jordan in The Color of Water vs Love Medicine's Marie-Lazarre-Kashpaw

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In life, we face and overcome many challenges and struggles that help to define and build who we are. According to Orrison Swett Mardon, "Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them." Ruth, Jade, and Marie do exactly that. Ruth McBride-Jordan in The Color of Water is a Jewish immigrant in America who desperately struggles to search for her identity in a time of great prejudices. Breaking free from her abusive father and religious intolerance, Ruth undergoes trials and changes that create the extraordinary life she leads. Love Medicine's Marie-Lazarre-Kashpaw experience's a difficult life full of responsibilities, but despite the destruction around her, she manages to keep her head up high. In The Fifth Chinese Daughter, Jade Snow Wong is a young woman trapped between her traditional Chinese teachings and the American beliefs. Jade's longing for independence and knowledge pushes her to defy the odds against her. These spectacular women from different backgrounds, despite their many differences, share similar struggles. Ruth McBride-Jordan, Jade Snow Wong and Marie Lazarre-Kashpaw each come to a crossroad of difficult decisions as they face troubles with their family, and lose a loved one, in order to grow into the strong, independent women they are.

Each of the characters comes across a point of darkness in their lives, forcing them to make a difficult decision. After leaving her home in the South, Ruth tries to make it on her own by working in Harlem and meets Rocky, who, unbeknownst to her, is a pimp. When she finally does realize this, she gets lost in the night life in an attempt to forget her past, and almost ruins her future. Ruth even says, "...a prostitute, which I almost did become." (McBride, Pg.172) She gets past this when she fesses up to Dennis McBride, and realizes her error when she sees how disappointed he is. Ruth then returns home to Bubeh, her grandmother living in New York, and gets a decent job at a diner. Jade Snow comes across a similar, yet different problem when she is unable to acquire the scholarship for a university. She starts to consider not going to college at all if she can't go to a university until her friend, Joe, says to her, "…makes you so sure that junior college won't teach you anything.

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