Ruth Mcbride's The Color Of Water By James Mcbride

2102 Words5 Pages

In The Color of Water, author James McBride writes a tribute to the life of his mother, Ruth McBride. Ruth was born Rachel Shilsky, a Polish Jew, immigrated to America soon after birth. As an adult she moved to New York City, leaving her family and faith behind. In New York Ruth married a black minister and founded the all- black New Brown Memorial Baptist Church in her Red Hook living room. Twice widowed and dealing with life’s adversity and the racism of the times, Ruth 's determination, drive and discipline allow her to raise her twelve children.
Everyone has a self-concept, “what we know and believe about ourselves” (Myers 2015, p. 19), these self-concepts create the most important part of ourselves, our self. While there are many aspects of our personality that create our self-concept, we do not display all of them for everyone. The self that you show the world, how we interact with others, the way others view us, is our social-self. Our self-concept maybe different from our social-self depending.
As a boy James saw his mother as strange, she never socialize with the neighbors and her past was a complete mystery. He felt that she was completely unaware of what the world thought of her and the danger she faced from people who hated her for the single fact that she was a white
One reason for this is because theirs was a romantic love. According to Sternberg 's theory of love, love is made up of three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. Sternberg identifies different types of love, which can be described as different combinations of these three elements (Myers 2015). Romantic love is made up of a combination of the intimate and passionate components of love, romantic lovers are drawn physically to each other and share an emotional bond but lack commitment. This lack of commitment is made very apparent when Ruth discovers Peter is going to marry another girl he has gotten

Show More
Related

  • The Struggles of Ruth McBride in The Color of Water by James McBride

    514 Words  | 2 Pages

    Questioning looks, dirty gazes, and the snide babbles were all too accustomed to Ruth McBride, when she walked down the street with her tow of children. James McBribe, one of the dozen children from her two elopements, was often ashamed as well as scared. They had to prolong the worse racial monikers. His mother, who was white, maintained unattended, “Whenever she stepped out of the house with us she went into a somewhat mental zone where her attention span went no farther than the five kids trailing her,” McBride subsequently wrote “My mom had absolutely no interest in a world that seemed incredulously agitated by our presence. The remarks and stares that we heard as we walked about the world went right over our head.” Her indomitable spirit and her son’s recollections became the basis of “The Color of Water”. In the work there is a great presence of God and the fortitude he unconditionally sends, especially to Ruth. Although Ruth’s clout frequently surpassed her circadian problems, she would more regularly rely on God for her vigor.

    Read More

  • James Mcbride's Identity In The Color Of Water

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this memoir, James gives the reader a view into his and his mother's past, and how truly similar they were. Throughout his life, he showed the reader that there were monumental events that impacted his life forever, even if he

    Read More

  • The Color of Water by James McBride

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    McBride, James. The Color of Water: a Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother. New York: Riverhead, 1996. Print.

    Read More

  • The Color Of Water by James McBride

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Color of Water, author James McBride writes both his autobiography and a tribute to the life of his mother, Ruth McBride. In the memoirs of the author’s mother and of himself, they constantly face discrimination from their race in certain neighborhoods and of their religious beliefs. The trials and tribulations faced by these two characters have taught readers universally that everyone faces difficulties in life, but they can all be surmounted.

    Read More

  • The Color of Water, by James McBride

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel, The Color of Water follows the author and narrator James McBride and his mother Ruth’s life, through their childhood—when they were both embarrassed about their mother—through the part of their lives where they began to accept themself for who they are and became proud of it. Moreover, this memoir is quite distinctive as McBride cleverly parallels his story to his mother, Ruth’s story by using dual narration which further helps to contribute to the theme of self-identity. Throughout the novel, McBride searches for identity and a sense of self that derives from his multiracial family and through the use of two different narrations, McBride slowly establishes his identity. Plus by integrating both narratives at the end, McBride also shows that although both narrators at the beginning had different upbringing, in the end they come together and understand each other’s perspective.

    Read More

  • The Color Of Water By Ruth Mcbride Jordan

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, the fact that Ruth lived through so much trauma from her father most likely brought out the strength in her heart, and caused her to realize that she wants a good life for her children instead of the trauamtic life that she lived through in her own childhood. Ruth’s overall identity could be explicity explained as a mother who is strong, has a lot of faith in God, and a woman with a lot of value and love for all of her twelve children. Ruth Mcbride’s strength and confidence helps herself through the hardships of her childhood, her relationships with Dennis and Hunter, as well as James Mcbride and the rest of her children. She developed the identity of a strong-willed mother, lover, and a woman of God.

    Read More

  • My Self Concept: Self And Self-Concept

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    Self-concept is defined as the knowledge, a multi-dimensional construct, of an individu-al’s perception one may have about his or herself such as personality traits, physical characteris-tics, abilities, values, goals, and roles. During my infancy stage, I started to organize and acquire information, which helped me to recognize the perception of self in the social world. As a child, I learned how to interact in the social world from the environment and my learning experiences. The self-concept is an internal model, which refers to my physical characteristics, hobbies, occu-pation, abilities, skills, personality, etc. My self-concepts refer to my personal social identity. A significant factor in self-concept is an individual’s self-perceptions and how he or she interacts in the social world is.

    Read More

  • Zero By Paul Logan, I’m Just Me by Lylah Alphonse, and The Jacket by Gary Soto

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first unit on our textbook Interactions by Ann Moseley and Jeanette Harris talks about the self-concept. It is hard to find a definition for the self-concept because it is certain beliefs about ethnicity, religion, and personalities combined. This unit has a number of readings by various authors where it shows struggles with the self. Self-identity, ethnic backgrounds, and self-esteem are the major aspects of those readings. After reading their writings I found that I could relate to their experiences. The three readings that got my attention were “Zero” By Paul Logan, “I’m Just Me” by Lylah Alphonse, and “The Jacket” by Gary Soto.

    Read More

  • Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

    2637 Words  | 6 Pages

    Cecilia was diagnosed with cancer while Ruth was in high school and the day before her daughter’s graduation, she passed away (Salokar & Volcansek, 1996). One of the greatest influences on Ruth’s life was her mother and the values she instilled in her from a young age. Two of the greatest lessons that Ruth learned from her mother was to be independent and to be a lady, and by that she meant not to respond in anger but to remain calm in situations (Reynolds, 2009).... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Influence Of Social Identity And Role Identity

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    The sociological concept of self is our perception of who we are in relation to others and ourselves. The self is largely a social construct that is formed through our interactions with others and the world around us. The self is an abstraction that forms over time. For example, young children are known to have problems with role taking, which is the ability to use other’s perspectives to form one’s behavior. This shows that the self is a process and not a construct that all people

    Read More

  • The Water Diviner by Andrew Night

    1725 Words  | 4 Pages

    People normally tend to assume that plants in the past vary in differences and traits compared to species that are present. People have the impression that the past species had diverse weather conditions and nature related incidents forcing them adapt and become different from others. In the book, Andrew Knight had the idea that the food that was available could have tampered with their genes. Reproduction could have something to do with species changing. With plants, minor situations could determine whether they disperse a seed. It happens quickly and changes the genes of the plant causing a new formation that is disseminated through plant. Reproduction inheritance of genes is an important aspect when trying to determine ancestor’s life. By studying these pigeons, Darwin decides that all pigeons have originated from the rock-pigeon. Many people believe that pigeons have descended from a numerous amount of species and birds. Pigeons mate for life and by doing so the breeds are kept together and have markings in same areas of body. They mold into different species as years have passed because of the natural selection or an idea that Charles called unknown selection.

    Read More

  • The Flow of the River, by Loren Eiseley

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    When reflecting and writing on Eiseley’s essay and the “magical element”, I balk. I think to myself, “What magic?”, and then put pen to page. I dubiously choose a kiddie pool to draw inspiration from, and unexpectedly, inspiration flows into me. As I sit here in this little 10x30 foot backyard, the sky is filled with the flowing gaseous form of water, dark patches of moist earth speckle the yard, the plants soak up their scattered watering, and the leaves of bushes and trees imbue the space with a sense of dampness from their foliage. As my senses tune into the moisture that surrounds me, I fill Braedon’s artificial pond with water. I stare at the shimmering surface, contemplating Eiseley’s narrative, and the little bit of life’s wellspring caught in Brae’s pool. I see why Eiseley thought the most abundant compound on the earth’s surface is mystical.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: The Role of Ego Boosters and Ego Busters in My Life

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...l, our self-concept is multi-dimensional. We have three ways of perceiving ourselves, the private me, the ideal me, and the public me. The private me, is the way that we believe ourselves to be. The ideal me, is how you desire yourself, who you wish you were. Lastly, there is the public me, the way that we present ourselves in public, the face that we try to show others. Ego boosters and Ego busters affect us in everyway possible and affect the way we perceive ourselves to the world we live in.

    Read More

  • The Self-Concept And Role Of Yoga In Understanding The Self

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    Self concept is not inherent. It is shaped and reshaped by the people around us, the people who influence us directly or indirectly. Self concept of a child depends upon the description provided to him by these people e.g. parents, teachers, peers etc. it may be correct or incorrect as it is formed by the people, how they see the child e.g. if the family members tell the child constantly that he / she is lazy, the child starts to see himself/ herself as lazy. However due to the subjective opinion of family members it may not be correct

    Read More

  • Self Concept Through Interpersonal Communication

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    In order to understand how one perceives situations and how they can determine the way one communicates; we first must understand the value of self-concept. Self is easily defined; it is one's beliefs, attitudes, feelings and values. It is who one is and what one stands for. Self-concept, is a relevantly stable set of perceptions and emotional states. It is the way one sees and understands oneself, and contributes to how one perceives oneself and perceives situations. One's self-concept may alter their perception, and either enhance or impede one's communication effectiveness. The way one sees oneself can influence the way they see their social surroundings. Only after one become aware of oneself can they be aware of their physical and social surroundings, which will allow one to perceive situations and people with a truer idea and create a more positive outcome.

    Read More

More about Ruth Mcbride's The Color Of Water By James Mcbride

Open Document