Color Of Water
“The Color of the Water” which rested on the New York Times bestseller list for two years was written by James McBride who is an accomplished author, musician and screenwriter. “Miracle at St. Anna” (2004), “Song Yet Sung” (2009) and “The Good Lord Bird” (2013) are the other books he wrote. He has also worked a former staff writer for The Boston Globe, People Magazine and The Washington Post. His work has appeared in Essence, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. McBride is a native New Yorker and a graduate of New York City public schools. He studied composition at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and received his Masters in Journalism from Columbia University in New York at age 22. He holds several honorary doctorates and is currently a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.
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“The Color of Water” is the autobiography and memoir of James McBride published in 1995.
Also, the novel is described as a tribute to James McBride’s mother. The story is told by two narrators: James McBride and as his mother Ruth McBride Jordan. The novel switches between them so that they each narrate their own chapters. He tells his childhood and current life from his own voice while his mother is telling her early life with her own words, mostly taking place before James was born. Thus, the story keeps the audience’s attention by skipping back and forth in time, from James’s life to that of his mother. Although many time changes occur in the novel, they are easy to keep up
with.
The two main characters in the novel are the mother, Ruth McBride Jordan and his son, James McBride. Ruth was born in Poland, and raised in Suffolk, Virginia as the white daughter of an Orthodox Jewish family. Her father was a moving rabbi who was nasty and abusive while her mother was a loving and handicapped mother who cannot speak English. She abandoned her family when she was 19, moved to New York, married the black Baptist minister Andrew McBride, and changed her religion as Christianity. She was widowed two times, and raised 12 children in New York. She always emphasized the importance of education, work and God. Even though she had a life that was full of poverty and suffering, she sent all her children to college. She was a tough, resilient and right-minded woman. The other main character James McBride, who is the author of the book, also a journalist and jazz musician, grew up in a Brooklyn housing project with his mother. He had a big confusion about his roots, race and identity. After he decided to get on his life, and to go on with both music and writing as his career, he decided to learn who he was. Therefore, he attempted to discover her mother’s life history, and found his Jewish and African-American roots. Like his mother, he gave significant emphasis on his Christian faith and on family unity.
There are several themes that are discussed in the novel. First is about racism: the black and white relationship in the history of the United States, and how it was shaped by Black Power Movements. We read that James and his mother were subject to various prejudices in their lives. Ruth was insulted by the white Americans when she was going to Christian school in the South as a Jewish girl, and later by black people when she was living in the black neighborhood as a white woman. Also, the novel mentioned about the impossibility of interracial marriages at 1930s and 1940s, and the terrible racist group Ku Klux Klan that was visiting the black ghetto in Suffolk and murdering people because of their race. However, Ruth always ignored the insults, and liked black people because of their warmth and generosity, and even married to a black man though all the racist difficulties. On the other hand, James became ashamed of having a white mother when he was young because he and his most siblings were exposed to many ideas of the black movement and civil rights in 1960s, so he questioned her mother’s race. He was confused and uncomfortable because of his mixed heritage. He asked if God was black or white, and she replied God was no color. However, when he became an adult, he understood that racism is dangerous, and after he learned his mother’s past, he started to believe that his mixed heritage was a privilege for him. So, after I read this book, I learned that big tragedies, dead and destructions happened as related to racism in the history of America. I remembered again race doesn’t define us, and racism hurts people. We shouldn’t judge people according to their race or religion because we all are human. As a second theme in the novel, we learned the importance of education and as related to that self-motivation and self-confidence to open the door of success. We saw that Ruth always gave big importance to a good education. She sent her children to white Jewish schools instead of public schools even though racial prejudices in those schools, or saw off them to the colleges in the other cities. According to her, the only way getting freedom was having a good education, studying hard and getting self-confidence. So, all her children completed their degrees and progressed towards professional careers.
“The Color of Water” is the autobiography and memoir of James McBride published in 1995.
Also, the novel is described as a tribute to James McBride’s mother. The story is told by two narrators: James McBride and as his mother Ruth McBride Jordan. The novel switches between them so that they each narrate their own chapters. He tells his childhood and current life from his own voice while his mother is telling her early life with her own words, mostly taking place before James was born. Thus, the story keeps the audience’s attention by skipping back and forth in time, from James’s life to that of his mother. Although many time changes occur in the novel, they are easy to keep up
with.
The two main characters in the novel are the mother, Ruth McBride Jordan and his son, James McBride. Ruth was born in Poland, and raised in Suffolk, Virginia as the white daughter of an Orthodox Jewish family. Her father was a moving rabbi who was nasty and abusive while her mother was a loving and handicapped mother who cannot speak English. She abandoned her family when she was 19, moved to New York, married the black Baptist minister Andrew McBride, and changed her religion as Christianity. She was widowed two times, and raised 12 children in New York. She always emphasized the importance of education, work and God. Even though she had a life that was full of poverty and suffering, she sent all her children to college. She was a tough, resilient and right-minded woman. The other main character James McBride, who is the author of the book, also a journalist and jazz musician, grew up in a Brooklyn housing project with his mother. He had a big confusion about his roots, race and identity. After he decided to get on his life, and to go on with both music and writing as his career, he decided to learn who he was. Therefore, he attempted to discover her mother’s life history, and found his Jewish and African-American roots. Like his mother, he gave significant emphasis on his Christian faith and on family unity.
There are several themes that are discussed in the novel. First is about racism: the black and white relationship in the history of the United States, and how it was shaped by Black Power Movements. We read that James and his mother were subject to various prejudices in their lives. Ruth was insulted by the white Americans when she was going to Christian school in the South as a Jewish girl, and later by black people when she was living in the black neighborhood as a white woman. Also, the novel mentioned about the impossibility of interracial marriages at 1930s and 1940s, and the terrible racist group Ku Klux Klan that was visiting the black ghetto in Suffolk and murdering people because of their race. However, Ruth always ignored the insults, and liked black people because of their warmth and generosity, and even married to a black man though all the racist difficulties. On the other hand, James became ashamed of having a white mother when he was young because he and his most siblings were exposed to many ideas of the black movement and civil rights in 1960s, so he questioned her mother’s race. He was confused and uncomfortable because of his mixed heritage. He asked if God was black or white, and she replied God was no color. However, when he became an adult, he understood that racism is dangerous, and after he learned his mother’s past, he started to believe that his mixed heritage was a privilege for him. So, after I read this book, I learned that big tragedies, dead and destructions happened as related to racism in the history of America. I remembered again race doesn’t define us, and racism hurts people. We shouldn’t judge people according to their race or religion because we all are human. As a second theme in the novel, we learned the importance of education and as related to that self-motivation and self-confidence to open the door of success. We saw that Ruth always gave big importance to a good education. She sent her children to white Jewish schools instead of public schools even though racial prejudices in those schools, or saw off them to the colleges in the other cities. According to her, the only way getting freedom was having a good education, studying hard and getting self-confidence. So, all her children completed their degrees and progressed towards professional careers.