In this memoir, the author chooses to have two narrators, himself as one, and his mother as the other. This style makes for quite an interesting story, skipping back and forth in time, from the child's life, to that of his mother. Although many time changes occur, they are quite easy to keep up with, as the two narrator's of the book, James, and his mother, alternate chapters. For this reason, it is also very easy to compare the childhood of each of the main characters. Although the chapters aren't always during the same time periods of the respective characters, they are close enough that similarities can be seen, and parallels can be drawn. This is one of my favorite parts of the novel, seeing the main character, James, grow up with his mother Rachel.
In summary, the author tells the story of both his mother, and himself growing up. His mother was raised Jewish, but became Christian before James was born, which was thus the religion he was raised in. Both had very strict discipline, in their respective religions. The memoir focuses more ...
... middle of paper ...
... he is, and can give many readers much more than that; valuable lessons in life. To grade this book on things such as structure, vocabulary, and even sales would be to miss the entire point of the memoir. Read it as a memoir with great insight and a damn good owners manual on how to get along in this world, and I can guarantee you won't be let down; in fact, you will probably be quite impressed. But if what you're looking for is a book that needs to live up to the standards of a great piece of literature, you're looking in the wrong place.
[to view the full essay now, purchase below]
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In the novel "The Color of Water" by James McBride, the two characters Ruth and James grieve over the death of James's stepfather's death, Jordan Hunter, in completely different ways. Ruth's way of grieving for her husband was very different than how her son chose to grieve his departure. James said after the death of his stepfather's death he just started to misbehave and resulted in him skipping school a lot and going to the movies with his friends. "I virtually dropped out of high school... failing every class. I spent the year going to the movies ... with my friends" (pg 6). His siblings joked about the way he dealt with he grieved saying things like "James is going through his revolution"(pg 6). Skipping school was not the only thing…
- 338 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The purpose of the repetition in the book, when Ray repeats the word running three times was for the reader to get the understanding that Ray realizes himself being comfort around One Eye making him feeling free. He explained that as he encouraged One Eye to keep running and as Ray was running as well he was exhausted he hasn't had a bond with anyone or anything like he is having with One Eye. Ray has found company he has never had which, has effected him in his life with a lack of social skills. Both One Eye and Ray are living freely together as neither of them have ever experienced such happiness.…
- 815 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In The Color of Water James McBride devoted an entire chapter to his mother’s bicycle. An old-fashioned bicycle that was brought home by her late husband right before his death the bicycle was a coping instrument to his mother. She would ride the bicycle around town constantly, as if the constant motion would allow her to ignore what was happening in her life.…
- 407 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
is the bestselling memoir of James McBride, a biracial journalist, jazz saxophonist, and composer whose Jewish mother gave birth to twelve children, all of whom she raised in a housing project in Brooklyn. His mother witnessed the premature death of her first husband, a reverend, and through sheer force of will saw each of her children graduate from college. Her basic household tenets rested on the importance of academic success and the church, and many of her children moved on to earn graduate and professional degrees.…
- 362 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Another factor that impacted his identity formation was his family. He respected his father and always listened to him. He did not like was his adopted grandmother, though. He wrote that she was, “nasty to me, too, and nagged and scolded day after day.”4 Both…
- 786 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
relies on the development of her character in the time set before the novel begins. Her father’s…
- 1465 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
“The Color of Water”, written by James McBride, is a memoir. The book was introduced to us in 1995. The main narrator, James, born in the year of 1957 to an African-American father and a Jewish mother. James, at that time, was not to keen about the black power in the sense he had a white mother. During the Civil Rights, his stepfather had passed away. From this point on; James realizes the true responsibility of himself towards his friends and family. He unveils his true self to the world with his memoir entitled “The Color of Water”. His mother’s name was Ruth McBride. Her story was also compelling. Ruth, born in Poland in the year of 1921. Ruth was an immigrant to the United States. Later in her life, she met her black husband Andrew Dennis…
- 810 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
James mother never tells him the truth about her background as a child. McBride states in the novel, “When I asked her where she was from, she would say, “God made me,” and change the subject. When I asked her if she was white, she’d say, “No. I’m light-skinned,” and change the subject again. When his mother and his friends’ mothers were, around each other he tries to compare her to them. McBride says, “Gradually, as the weeks passed and the terror of going to school subsided, I began to notice something about my mother, that she looked nothing like the other kids’ mothers. Then one day he hears his mother speak another language. She could speak in Yiddish.…
- 613 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
James McBride, in writingThe Color Of Water, does so with a clear purpose in mind. In his book, through various rhetorical strategies, he makes it clear that his ethnicity does not matter. It does not matter if he is considered Jewish or Christian. It does not matter if he is considered black or white. He is simply “happy to be living.” He slowly comes to this realization as his story progresses and the…
- 1351 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
He grow up inside a family with deep faith and religious beliefs, which had been inherited to a new generation. The usual practice of religion were a very common task for this boy, but he had lack of deep acknowledgments of the Christian religion do to his family not explaining things how really were. To differentiate between Jesus Christ legacy, and the fanaticism…
- 579 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
I think that the relationships between each people are literally superficial, since even mother and child don't know well each other, the mother even does not tries to under stand, for instance when Mrs. Hopewell finds Joy's philosophy book in her room, she feels " it seemed to her " an evil incantation in gibberish" In this story, the distance…
- 545 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In this memoir, James McBride where interviews his mother, Ruth, about her past. This memoir tells an intertwined story of James’ childhood and Ruth's life. While James’ stories were long ant told in detail; Ruth’s stories were short and blunt.…
- 726 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Sam, the brother, we used to call him Sparky.....’ ” (McBride 207-208). The quest to find himself through his mother occupied James most of his early life, but once he had answers, he was able to start to form himself. He had always been adept at writing and was a talented saxophonist. He went on to write books, including The Color of Water, but before that he had several jobs in journalism, each short lived. He played saxophone and married Stephanie Payne. To find one’s self, one must discover one’s past. James had to uncover the details of his past for himself, through his mother. That was not easy, sohe had to form himself in some other way. He chose to form himself through music and writing, and used his mother’s past to enhance his understanding of himself. He learned that a person is not their past, but what they make oneself. Self-identity is not what one has been, but what one makes oneself. It is the parts of one's past that one chooses to take and make a part of oneself, plus the parts of oneself that one takes and develops into an identity. It is taking parts of one's mother, father, guardian, and everyone who has helped to raise that person, and putting them together to form an entirely different identity, an entirely…
- 561 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
On the other side of how James handled his abuse; it is surprising that such a young boy can show so much courage when he is being so abused and suppressed. After the attempts of murder on his life by his mother, as well as his…
- 1254 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
If I were to grade this book, I would give it an A++ because this is a very good book and shows that humans have the will to push through any obstacle. Even though they have gone through all of that God did not give them a break and show them mercy. Despite their hard troubles, they pushed through all the sadness and despair and turned it around to help other people not make the same mistakes as them.…
- 977 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays