Summary
The Color of Water is James McBride's tribute to his mother, Ruth. As a child he never questioned why his mother was lighter than him, until he noticed that all of the other black children at him school had dark parents too. When he asked his mother why she didn't look like the other mothers, she replied that she was "light-skinned", which led to James questioning his own identity. McBride writes this story between his mother's narrative and his own.
Ruth McBride Jordan was born in Poland to an Orthodox Jewish family that immigrated to the United States when she was two. Her name then was Rachel Shilsky, and her father was an abusive man who worked as a traveling rabbi. He eventually forced them to settle in Suffolk, Virginia. This was an aggressive and dangerous time: The schools were segregated and everyone held a hatred for Jews and people of color. Tateh, Ruth's father, opened a grocery store, and became rich off of his black customers. Because of her Jewish heritage, Ruth went through an extreme amount of harassment from her peers at her largely Protestant school. At home she described her life as "bereft of love". She was embarrassed of her heritage and of her family themselves. Ruth's mother had been crippled on the left side of her body as an effect of polio in her childhood. Her mother could not speak English either, and Ruth was ashamed of this. However, she still acted as her mother's eyes and ears in America.
Ruth graduated from high school and moved to New York City to work at her aunt's leather-goods factory. After learning that her mother was ill, she went back to Suffolk, but ultimately decided not to stay. She traveled back to New York and fell in love with a black man named Andrew McBride, in 1942 they were married. Ruth's mother had passed away at this point and she was not told by her Jewish family because they had disowned her. From then on she was as good as dead to them. She converted to Christianity and dealt with her grief and guilt in the new religion. Ruth and Andrew moved to Brooklyn and raised eight children. They funded the New Brown Memorial Baptist Church and Andrew became the church's first reverend.The importance of school and the church was instilled in each of the children, and they were strongly disciplined and well-loved. Ruth insisted that they go to Jewish public schools and perform well, as they were the "token" black students in the classrooms. As each of the children grew older, Ruth insisted that they go away for school so that they could learn to survive and flourish.
When Hunter Jordan died James was 14, and he began rebelling against his mother, drinking and doing drugs. Soon, his grades began to plummet. When Ruth moved the family to Wilmington, Delaware, however, James started afresh and eventually won a scholarship to Oberlin College to study music. Afterwards, he pursued a journalism degree at Columbia and initiated a career in both jazz composition and performance and writing.
Ruth McBride Jordan was born in Poland to an Orthodox Jewish family that immigrated to the United States when she was two. Her name then was Rachel Shilsky, and her father was an abusive man who worked as a traveling rabbi. He eventually forced them to settle in Suffolk, Virginia. This was an aggressive and dangerous time: The schools were segregated and everyone held a hatred for Jews and people of color. Tateh, Ruth's father, opened a grocery store, and became rich off of his black customers. Because of her Jewish heritage, Ruth went through an extreme amount of harassment from her peers at her largely Protestant school. At home she described her life as "bereft of love". She was embarrassed of her heritage and of her family themselves. Ruth's mother had been crippled on the left side of her body as an effect of polio in her childhood. Her mother could not speak English either, and Ruth was ashamed of this. However, she still acted as her mother's eyes and ears in America.
Ruth graduated from high school and moved to New York City to work at her aunt's leather-goods factory. After learning that her mother was ill, she went back to Suffolk, but ultimately decided not to stay. She traveled back to New York and fell in love with a black man named Andrew McBride, in 1942 they were married. Ruth's mother had passed away at this point and she was not told by her Jewish family because they had disowned her. From then on she was as good as dead to them. She converted to Christianity and dealt with her grief and guilt in the new religion. Ruth and Andrew moved to Brooklyn and raised eight children. They funded the New Brown Memorial Baptist Church and Andrew became the church's first reverend.The importance of school and the church was instilled in each of the children, and they were strongly disciplined and well-loved. Ruth insisted that they go to Jewish public schools and perform well, as they were the "token" black students in the classrooms. As each of the children grew older, Ruth insisted that they go away for school so that they could learn to survive and flourish.
When Hunter Jordan died James was 14, and he began rebelling against his mother, drinking and doing drugs. Soon, his grades began to plummet. When Ruth moved the family to Wilmington, Delaware, however, James started afresh and eventually won a scholarship to Oberlin College to study music. Afterwards, he pursued a journalism degree at Columbia and initiated a career in both jazz composition and performance and writing.
Themes
Death and RebirthRuth begins her story by saying that she is dead. After marrying a black man, her Jewish family disowned her and declared her to be dead to them. She is then "reborn" in the Christian faith and she and her husband even build a church together. Even though she had lost her old family, she build her new life from losing them.
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HeritageJames McBride said that his mother denied her Jewish background for a long time, but wanted her children to attend a Jewish school even after being removed from the faith. In many ways she filled her life with pieces of her Jewish roots.
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The american DreamIn coming to America, Ruth's family grew further from each other. Her father could speak English while her mother could not and her mother was eventually treated like baggage. Ruchel Dwajra Zylska became Rachel Deborah Shilsky, and in many ways their family lost their own identity to Americanization. In the end, Ruth held on to "the American Dream" and shaped it into her own idea: choose your own destiny.
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Quotes
"Folks were poor, and starving. And I have to admit I never starved like a lot of people did. I never had to eat turtles and crabs out of the wharf like a lot of folks did. I never starved for food till I got married. But I was starving in another way. I was starving for love and affection. I didn't get none of that" (83).
This quote meant a lot to me because there are so many children that grow up in homes that are stable and healthy but void of love, and to see Ruth's reflection on the lack of love in her home made me think about that. While she had food, clothes, a bed, and everything that a child might need, she was never really loved. I think that this showed even more when she was disowned by her Jewish relatives. If you really loved someone, I doubt that you could just remove them from your life like that. Ruth carried on her own experiences to her future family. She loved each and every one of her children and did everything in her power to help them succeed.
This quote meant a lot to me because there are so many children that grow up in homes that are stable and healthy but void of love, and to see Ruth's reflection on the lack of love in her home made me think about that. While she had food, clothes, a bed, and everything that a child might need, she was never really loved. I think that this showed even more when she was disowned by her Jewish relatives. If you really loved someone, I doubt that you could just remove them from your life like that. Ruth carried on her own experiences to her future family. She loved each and every one of her children and did everything in her power to help them succeed.
Essay
In the story, Ruth speaks about how color should not have an influence on how people are allowed to live because they are all God's children. When James asks her how everyone of all those different colors are all God's children, she says that God is the color of water. My essay is about how different Ruth's life would have been if everyone had had this mindset.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dYEY-VA8Jv754ayOsvFLB399bs0Eon6rpYWTtt8G-Q/edit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dYEY-VA8Jv754ayOsvFLB399bs0Eon6rpYWTtt8G-Q/edit