Identity In James Mcbride's The Color Of Water

The desire to fit in is a ubiquitous quest. It is why many people conform to social standards or desire to be something they are not. For many, it is easy to find a community based on common goals, hobbies or religions. For others, it is difficult. James McBride’s novel, The Color of Water, intertwines the lives of James and his mother, Ruth, in an effort to compare their lives and the impacts they had on each other. Throughout the lives of James and Ruth, they struggle to fit in with their surrounding environments due to race and religion. Their experiences not only develop individual character, but also self-awareness and the ability to help one another. Their quest to become one with society eventually evolves into one of self-discovery.
Although Ruth and James differ in skin color, they both experience being the minority. Ruth’s family flees Poland during the reign of Hitler and the persecution of Jews. Instead of finding a safe haven in America, they face further racism. Suffolk, Virginia is symbolically divided by railroad tracks into two sections: one for blacks and one for whites. Ironically, Ruth’s father Tateh exhibits racist behaviors despite being a victim in Poland. Racism permeates the lives of his children; Ruth is not allowed to attend her graduation ceremony because it is in a gentile church. James also experiences racism as a child. Due to his mother’s strong emphasis on education, James travels hours to schools that are predominately white to receive the best education possible. One day in class, while reading about “negro history”, James’ classmates exclaimed, “’James is a nigger!’ followed by a ripple of tittering and giggling across the room” (McBride 89). Ruth knows that sending James to a better school where he is in the minority will be challenging. However, she is engaged and advocates for James throughout the story. When James asks whether he is black or white, Ruth responds, “you’re a human being. Educate yourself of you’ll be a nobody” (McBride 92). Ruth shows James that the best way to cope with racism is to be nonchalant. As a child, she deals with racism, and eventually learns to see past the
Despite being raised as a Jew, Ruth struggles to be comfortable with maintaining her Jewish heritage. The first sign of her shifting identity occurs when she changed her name from Ruchel Dwajra Zylska to Rachel Debora Shilsky to shy away from her Jewishness. Ultimately, she abandons Judaism and converts to Christianity. Likewise, James struggles with his self-identity because he does not know who he really is. He has no knowledge of his history as his biological father has passed away and his mother conceals her past. His mother’s unwillingness to divulge her background causes her children to trade, “information on Mommy the way people trade baseball cards” (McBride 21). McBride includes this metaphor to show how much Ruth’s children value the information. James truly wants to know what his mother has experienced and why he looks different than her. In his youth, views Jewish holidays as days off from school, unaware of the connection to his heritage. Ruth and James help each other establish their self-identities. Although Ruth rarely answers James’ questions, she does provide enough information for James to investigate her past. In talking to Aubrey Rubenstein, he learns a lot about his family, especially his Jewish heritage. James comes to terms with his identity by piecing together his life with his mother’s past. He helps