The Color of Water (Pgs. 231-285)

Summary:

During the denoument of The Color of Water, James, Ruth, and Dennis make certain decisions. They face a lot of descrimination while living in Harlem, for instance, when Ruth got punched in the face by the building manager for being white. Ruth and Dennis decided to move to an apartment in Harlem and informally live together as husband and wife. Ruth and Dennis attend the Metropolitan Baptist Church and they are very fond of Reverend Abner Brown. Ruth also made the decision to fully follow the Christian faith and become more involved in the church. She was married and living with Dennis in the same apartment at Harlem, where they had four children in nine years, which she recalled to be the happiest years of her life.


Quote:

 "If it takes as long to know Jesus as it took to know you, I think, I'm in trouble. It took many years to find out who she was, partly because I never knew who I was. It wasn't so much a question of searching for myself as it was my own decision not to look" (McBride 261).

Reaction:

I believe that this quote is very important and very relevant to the entire book because it embodies religion and identity. The entire purpose of the book is for James to find his mother's origin in order for him to better understand himself. James ultimately does know his mother because he is able to write about things, such as the diffcult time Ruth was facing when Dennis died. They were never able to get around the fact that they were Jewish because when they sought for help from their Jewish family, they got doors slammed on their faces.

The Color of Water (Pgs. 169-229)

Summary:

Most of this portion of The Color of Water is narrated by James McBride's mother Ruth. While in New York, Ruth lived with her grandmother, Bubeh, and worked in her aunt Mary's leather factory. Ruth got to the point that she could not stand her aunt, and thus, moved around looking for jobs in a motley of locations. Living in New York became execptionally expensive, therefore, the family was inclined to move to Delaware. James became caught up in being a Jazz musician, he had an adequate musical background, but poor grades and SAT scores. Ruth and Dennis were eventually accepted as a couple, however, shock was the first expression of Dennis' Family and friends. James went down south looking for his mother's past, in order to be able to understand his own.

Quote:

"College was my way out. My Eldest brother's wife, Becky, had gone to Oberlin college in Ohio and she told me I should apply because they had a great liberal arts school, a conservatory of music, and most of all, scholarship money" (McBride 188).

Reaction:

Again we see these two themes of education and money. James has found out his interest of Jazz music and would like to pursue a career as a musician. Fortunately for James, Becky has reffered him to a Oberlin College, a college that would allow him to pursue his career while potentially costing him little or no money. As we know, James' family is relatively poor, with his mother scavenging for jobs wherever possible, living a hand to mouth experience. Having to feed, shelter, and put clothes the backs of a copious family of 12 siblings did not appease their economic situation. James was accepted to Oberlin College, in spite of his poor grades and SAT scores.

The Color of Water (Pgs. 107-168)

Summary:

In this part of The Color of Water, James discovers Jazz and embraces it to escape from race tensions. Ruth falls in love with a black boy, who seems to show great affection for her, by whom she becomes pregnant; she was reluctant to divulge her pregnancy to white folks. Her mother finds out of her pregnancy by finding her bracelet in her and Peter's secret hideout and is able to both keep it a secret and acknowledge Ruth's need to leave town for New York. The reasoning behind it being ideal to leave town, was because by being together, both the black man and white female's lives were on the line. James' biological father, Andrew McBride, had died when Ruth was still pregnant with James. Hunter Jordan became James' stepfather, and throughout the course of living on his own during the workweek, he would visit his family. He suffered from a stroke and upon recovery went to have a word with James, and advised him to take very good care of his mother and his brothers and sisters; he died shortly after that.

Quote:

"My new friends and I shoplifted. We broke into cars. We snuck onto the nearby Conrail/Long Island Rail Road tracks and broke into freight cars, robbing them of bicycles, television sets, and wine" (McBride 139).

Reaction:

This quote got my attention, because the behavior described in the quote does not correlate with Ruth's previous account of 'most' blacks. Ruth says that she liked her black friends because they did not belittle her or ask her personal background questions. She had said that the negative images of black boys portrayed on TV weren't the majority. She said that most blacks are peaceful and trusting, as opposed to being stupid murderers with guns, and that was why they were made a fool of so easily. At one point Ruth has to give it serious though of whether to announce her affairs with a black man or not, in cynical hope of people to be rational and understand how kind and caring he was, according to her. The reality was, that something like that would never happen; they would not be accepted as a couple and a black man would not be accepted as her partner.

The Color of Water (Pgs. 58-111)

Summary:

This portion of The Color of Water opens up by identifying racial clashes, particularly between Whites, Blacks, and Jews alike. Blacks would run and hide low key when the Klan showed up, while Jews were perplexed because they weren't necessarily favored by the Klan either. The theme of "best fit" is continued in the McBride house; one's power was derived from who one could order around. Food became a mention-worthy subject, as he describes that tension rises among him and his siblings over food. McBride's siblings all had distinct interests, for instance, Dennis wanted to become a Medical Doctor, whereas Helen was the most artistic of his sisters. Helen also, however, quit playing the piano for the church choir and also quit school. She declared that, "The white man's education is not for me" (McBride 73), when in reality, this was a very eccentric way of looking at eduction.

Quote:

"Looking back, I realize that I never felt any kinetic relationship to Jews" (McBride 86).

Reaction:

Amazing! Although, this was evident from the beggining,  McBride did not really relate to Jews or their culture and their traditions. James admitted not being able to stand those 'Holy Sabbath' rituals, where he was to do nothing but sit around all day long. Actually, Jews did not seem like a proud bunch of people, as they changed their Jewish names upon arriving America. However, when we take into consideration the hisorical events happening during this time, it is probably in any Orthodox Jew's best interest to keep a low profile, if any profile as a jew at all. I'm asuming that events such as the Nazi genocides of Jews were occuring during the early to mid 1900s.

The Color of Water (Pgs. 1-58)

Summary:


In the exposition of The Color of Water, the main character, James, and the conflict of him not knowing much about his mother are introduced. James has experienced both his biological and stepfather's deaths, and now is part of a mix-raced Jewish and African American family. This Jewish White widow mother of 12 has tried to impress the importance of education, religion, and privacy upon her kids. She moved around frequently, including to places such as Springfield, Massachusetts, New York, and then back south to Suffolk, Virginia again. Mrs. McBride loved God and she would go to church each and every Sunday. At one point James asked what color God's spirit was and his mother replied by saying that God does not have a color; "God is the color of water" (McBride 51). Evidently, the theme predominantly carried out effectively throughout the text is religion. McBride wondered, "… Why God would climb into these people with such fervor [passionate enthusiasm]..." (McBride 50)

Quote:


    "My parents were nonmaterialistic. They believed that money without knowledge was worthless, that education tempered with religion was the way to climb out of poverty in America, and over the years they were proven right" (McBride 29).


Reaction:


I believe that this quote uses a very affirmative tone. I mostly agree with both of McBride's ideas about money being worthless without knowledge and that education was 'the' way out of poverty in America. At this point, it has become an American Dream endeavor to make money by means of an education, at least indirectly, and religion. I can't vouch for religion supplementing education when it comes to getting out of poverty, for I'm not a very religiously involved person. However, keeping in mind that McBride grew up among his Orthodox Jewish mother, religion is relatively significant for him. The word "climb" in the second sentence has a strong connotation of how big a struggle he and his family are facing in the memoir. That word gives the impression that the main characters are really struggling, such that they see themselves in a situation deep/low enough where they would actually need to 'climb'. I viewed this as an implication of their desires being too far from their reach; this desire being to satisfy his mother's inner peace.