The Color of Water by James McBride

353 Words1 Page

How can you really know somebody unless you take the time to see what they have done right and wrong? In the nonfiction by James McBride, The Color of Water, Ruth McBride was the perfect example of a mother who did everything she could though couldn't do it all correctly. On one side her good parenting came out. She convinced all her kids to go to school and showed them to stick up for what is right. Though she failed to have a true connection with her kids because she beat them and didn't tell them about herself. If you look back at what Ruth did, one thing sticks out the most. Schooling topped her list of what she expected the kids to attend. Ruth was so hardcore about it, she would end up staying up all night and falling asleep in someone's homework. Not that the kids weren't bright, just the teachers were the main reason they didn't get the grades they earned. By giving them grades lower then the kids deserved. After Ruth's oldest son graduated from college she was so proud, she repeated herself to the others to go to school and be like Dennis. In times of Black Power, activists and revolutions, Ruth needed to show her kids how to stand up for what you believe in. One example of this was when Ruth told McBride to get some milk, it ended up being sour. Ruth took McBride back there and demanded that the cashier return her money or exchange it for another. Ruth didn't care who was looking at her or what they were saying. All she cared about was getting the proper food for her kids. On a different note, Ruth could have done a couple things in another direction. For instance, beating kids is one way to get your kids to listen, not talk back, though it's not the best of ideas. She beat Billy because he forgot his lines in a play, beat them when they were a few minutes late home and beat them if they hadn't finished their homework. Ruth would have had a more personal relationship with her kids only if she let them know a little bit about herself here and there. James at one point had no idea where she came from and Ruth only told him that she came from god. Also, James was teased by one of his brothers because he told him his real mother is in jail and he is going to visit her.

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

  • The Color of Water by James McBride

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel, The Color of Water follows the author and narrator James McBride, and his mother Ruth’s life. It explores their childhood—when they were both embarrassed by their mothers—through the part of their lives where they began to accept themselves for who they are. Moreover, this memoir is quite distinctive as McBride cleverly parallels his story to his mother, Ruth’s story using dual narration. This technique further helps contribute to the theme of self-identity. Throughout the novel, McBride searches for identity and a sense of belonging that derives from his multiracial family. By using two different narrations, McBride gradually establishes his identity and by integrating both narratives at the end, McBride also shows that although both narrators at the beginning had different upbringings, in the end they came together, and understood each other’s perspective.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between A Raisin In The Sun And A Doll's House

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story also focuses in on Ruth Younger the wife of Walter Lee, it shows the place she holds in the house and the position she holds to her husband. Walter looks at Ruth as though he is her superior; he only goes to her for help when he wants to sweet talk his mama into giving him the money. Mama on the other hand holds power over her son and doesn’t allow him to treat her or any women like the way he tries to with Ruth. Women in this story show progress in women equality, but when reading you can tell there isn’t much hope and support in their fight. For example Beneatha is going to college to become a doctor and she is often doubted in succeeding all due to the fact that she is black African American woman, her going to college in general was odd in most people’s eyes at the time “a waste of money” they would say, at least that’s what her brother would say. Another example where Beneatha is degraded is when she’s with her boyfriend George Murchison whom merely just looks at her as arm

    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

  • What Is Ruth A Hero

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    however, every newspaper article about her tends to have something positive to say. The Huffington Post and The New York Times gave her the nickname, The Notorious R.B.G. (compared to The Notorious B.I.G.), because like B.I.G. was the one who changed hip-hop music forever, Ruth changed America, forever. However, even before Ruth became the legend that she is today, she still has very positive reviews from the media. The New York Times stories on Ruth always talk about how she is attempting to restore the freedom to every citizen of the United States. Ruth’s goal as a justice is to make everyone equal, whether it concern marriage, payments, or even women’s reproductive lives. (Over Ginsburg’s Dissent) (Galanes,

    Read More

  • The Drowned and the Saved, by Primo Levi

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    In looking back upon his experience in Auschwitz, Primo Levi wrote in 1988: ?It is naïve, absurd, and historically false to believe that an infernal system such as National Socialism (Nazism) sanctifies its victims. On the contrary, it degrades them, it makes them resemble itself.? (Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved, 40). The victims of National Socialism in Levi?s book are clearly the Jewish Haftlings. Survival in Auschwitz, a book written by Levi after he was liberated from the camp, clearly makes a case that the majority of the Jews in the lager were stripped of their human dignity. The Jewish prisoners not only went through a physical hell, but they were psychologically driven under as well. Levi writes, ??the Lager was a great machine to reduce us to beasts? We are slaves, deprived of every right, exposed to every insult, condemned to certain death?? (Levi, 41). One would be hard pressed to find passages in Survival in Auschwitz that portray victims of the camp as being martyrs. The treatment of the Jews in the book explicitly spells out the dehumanization to which they were subjected. It is important to look at how the Jews were degraded in the camp, and then examine whether or not they came to embody National Socialism after this.

    Read More

  • A Raisin in the Sun Character Analysis

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ruth has an intriguing personality. She is very loving towards her family. She will do all in her power to improve the lifestyle of her family. When it appears that the deal for the house in Clybourne Park will fall through, she promises to dedicate all of her time to make the investment work. “Lena-I’ll work… I’ll work 20 hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago…I’ll strap my baby on my back if I have to and scrub all the floors and wash all the sheets in America if I have to-but we have to MOVE!” she pleads to her mother-in-law (Hansberry140). Her plan is unrealistic and idealistic, but the well being of her family is more important to her than anything. Ruth is also witty and sarcastic at times. She cracks jokes to lighten the mood of her family when they’re worried. “Well that’s the way the cracker crumbles. Joke. (121)” When Beneatha and Mama are stressing over the neighborhood they are moving into, Ruth makes a witty joke to improve the mood. Ruth supervises the daily routine and well being of her family. She makes sure that everyone does what they are supposed to and stays on track. ...

    Read More

  • On The Rainy River by Tim O'Brien

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    The relationship you have with others often has a direct effect on the basis of your very own personal identity. In the essay "On The Rainy River," the author Tim O'Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had effected his life so dramatically. It is hard for anyone to rely fully on their own personal experiences when there are so many other people out there with different experiences of their own. Sometimes it take the experiences and knowledge of others to help you learn and build from them to help form your own personal identity. In the essay, O'Brien speaks about his experiences with a man by the name of Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodge that O'Brien stays at while on how journey to find himself. The experiences O'Brien has while there helps him to open his mind and realize what his true personal identity was. It gives you a sense than our own personal identities are built on the relationships we have with others. There are many influence out there such as our family and friends. Sometimes even groups of people such as others of our nationality and religion have a space in building our personal identities.

    Read More

  • The Color Of Water by James Mc Bride

    498 Words  | 1 Pages

    “Black Power”, the word alone raises an abundance of controversial issues. Black power was a civil rights movement led by the black panthers which addressed several issues including segregation and racism. Black power had a different meaning to every member of the Mc Bride family, Ruth and James both looked at black power from a different angle. In “The Color of Water”, The author James Mc Bride admired the black panthers at first, but slowly he grew afraid of them after fearing the consequences his mother might face for being a white woman in a black community influenced by black power. James’ worries were baseless, black power’s motive was to educate and improve African American communities not to create havoc or to harm members of the white community.

    Read More

  • Characters Dreams Deferred in Raisin In The Sun

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ruth, whose dreams are the same as Mama’s, get deferred when the family are forced into there small apartment and there lack of money. Since she has no money she can not help her family as much as she would like to.

    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

  • 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

  • Analysis of Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...nspired to make a change that she knew that nothing could stop her, not even her family. In a way, she seemed to want to prove that she could rise above the rest. She refused to let fear eat at her and inflict in her the weakness that poisoned her family. As a child she was a witness to too much violence and pain and much too often she could feel the hopelessness that many African Americans felt. She was set in her beliefs to make choices freely and help others like herself do so as well.

    Read More

  • Impact Of Rosa Parks

    1583 Words  | 4 Pages

    If it was not for Rosa Parks, the United States would still have segregation in the world. She refused to give her seat up on the bus, to help get rights for African Americans. By not giving up her seat to a white man, Rosa Parks has started the cause of the civil rights movement in the United States. This helps all African Americans get rights in America. Rosa Parks got a lot of rewards and had a husband that felt the same way as she did about African Americans. Today, African Americans have rights in the United States, thanks to Rosa

    Read More

More about The Color of Water by James McBride

Open Document