Color Of Water

Words: 947
Pages: 4
Open Document
Adults tend to believe that repeating simple phrases such as “Everyone is equal”, or “The color of your skin does not matter” will liquidate all their children’s thoughts relating to discrimination. Adults are convinced that by doing this, they are creating color-blind environments for their children; yet what they do not know is children develop this bias at an early age. In the memoir, The Color of Water, by James McBride, Mommy's theory of dealing with questions of race and ethnicity have a negative influence on James's search for identity. By refraining from having fully explained conversations about race with James, she is putting him in a position where he begins to differentiate whites from blacks and question what race he identifies …show more content…
This causes James to question what race he identifies himself as. In The Color of Water, the texts states, “Am I black or white?’ ‘You’re a human being,’ she snapped. ‘Educate yourself or you’ll be a nobody!’ ‘Will I be a black nobody or just a nobody?’ ‘If you’re a nobody,’ she said dryly, ‘it doesn’t matter what color you are.’ ‘That doesn’t make sense,’ I said” (McBride 92) This shows that Ruth is not giving fully explained information about race with understandable terms to James. Furthermore, in “See Baby Discriminate”, Bronson states, “To be effective, researchers have found, conversations about race have to be explicit, in unmistakable terms that children understand” (Bronson 53). Therefore, by not having these conversations fully explained, they are being proven ineffective, leaving him to continue questioning what race he …show more content…
Visiting these places has allowed James to obtain more background knowledge about Ruth and himself, mostly relating to his racial identity. In The Color of Water, McBride says, “A penetrating loneliness covered me, lay on me so heavily I had to sit down and cover my face. I had no tears to shed. They were done long ago, but a new pain and a new awareness were born inside me. The uncertainty that lived inside me began to dissipate; the ache that the little boy who stared in the mirror felt was gone” (McBride 229). This shows that the little boy James has been referring to in the previous chapters was slowly fading away; his identity is becoming clearer and clearer. Furthermore, in See Baby Discriminate, Bronson states, “They still didn't know what to call their skin, so they used the phrase ‘skin like ours.’ And this notion of ours versus theirs started to take on a meaning of its own. As these kids searched for their identities, skin color had become salient” (Bronson 38). This shows that lack of racial knowledge has made these kids go and search for their own identities. In this case, James took a trip to Suffolk to learn more about himself and his family history to discover his
Show More

Related Documents: Color Of Water

The Color Of Water Analysis

A memoir can open one’s eyes to the reality of many things. In the Color of Water by James McBride, McBride gives the reader an inside look at what growing up as a black man with a white mother was like. McBride highlighted the differences and similarities of what his life was like growing up in comparison to his mother’s as well as giving the reader an idea of the numerous joys and challenges living in America brought. James McBride’s mother, Ruth. grew up in Virginia born a white Jew in a predominantly…

Words 250 - Pages 1

Color Of Water Conflict

The Color of Water The Color of Water is a novel that depicts the life of author James McBride, but also the life of his white mother Ruth McBride Jordan. The life of this family is filled with struggles and obstacles, which the family overcame. A reoccurring conflict was the difficulty of losing a loved one. Although, the same issue, each time it transpired was different in a number of ways. Conflict #1: In chapter twenty-three, Ruth McBride is telling the story of when she and Dennis moved in…

Words 1478 - Pages 6

The Color Of Water Analysis

The Color of Water, by James McBride, tells the story of how a mother and a son share their difficult times and how they overcome the obstacles that they endure. Both James and his mother,Ruth have a hard childhood and have to deal with many difficult situations. Throughtout their life James and Ruth had to overcome horrible choices and tragedies. I was inspired by their strength and ability to overcome the trials and tribulations of their life. James, had some very hard times growing up that…

Words 777 - Pages 4

Nonchalance In The Color Of Water

Arianna Salcido Honors English 10 Period 1 27 August 2012 In the novel, The Color of Water by McBride tells us a story about his journey in finding his life. He slowly finds out that he doesn’t know who his mother so he goes on a journey to find his mother and along way he finds himself. As McBride explains his mothers opinion of life , he states , “ Her oddness , her complete nonawareness of what the world thought of her , a nonchalance in the face of what I perceived to be imminent danger…

Words 337 - Pages 2

Irony In Mcbride's The Color Of Water

“The apple doesn't fall far from its tree”. In, The Color Of Water by James McBride a mother and a son told the story of their childhoods. The mother who is a white Jew and the son who is a half black Christian have many differences, but it takes a strong eye to see the similarities they have, the two ways of life makes the whole book an analogy. In addition to analogy there is also irony in this book on the grounds that Rachel did many unexpected things that made people question her judgement…

Words 681 - Pages 3

The Color of Water Thematic Essay

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. Whenever Ruth or James McBride face any forms…

Words 1147 - Pages 5

The Color Of Water Identity Analysis

The Lost of Identity In the book The Color Of Water by James Mcbride is a child growing up in New York, with his mother Ruth, throughout the story both Characters have the question “Who am I? And what is my purpose?”. The idea of Identity is having a purpose in life and having a choice who you want to be, James and Ruth have troubles finding the identity that defines it. The Role of lost identity affected James's life, experiencing racism, identity lost, confusion and, it creates a problem how James…

Words 613 - Pages 3

Characterization In Mcbride's The Color Of Water

Prejudice against humans, according to some characteristic is a common social norm today and in the past. Exclusion forced many to change themselves so that society would either accept them or in the case of Ruth, to avoid trouble. In The Color of Water, McBride uses indirect characterization through internal thoughts to portray Ruth as adaptive illustrating the truth that exclusion can lead to a person evolving to avoid consequences. Ruth was forced to be adaptive to avoid conflict. She knows deep…

Words 449 - Pages 2

The Color of Water Essay example

the problem but I think she sent Ruth away because she cared for her. She knew Tateh would kill Ruth as well as Peter. Ruth learned what not to do from her parents, especially her father. Her father mistakes taught Ruth to not judge people by the color…

Words 415 - Pages 2

Discrimination In James Mcbride's The Color Of Water

James McBride’s memoir The Color of Water shows the McBride family and their struggles dealing with discrimination. You soon realize that James doesn’t live an ordinary life. With a step-father, eleven siblings, and a strong mother, you walk through James’s childhood and get a better understanding of both Ruth and James. James’s biological father, Andrew McBride died while Ruth was still pregnant with James. Ruth remarried and James and her other children regarded their new strong and good-natured…

Words 381 - Pages 2