The Color of Water discussion

The Color of Water, by James McBride, is a split narration between both James and his mother Ruth. James asks for his mother to write about her childhood because throughout his whole life, he did not learn about his mothers background. She later agrees, and the memoir is built around as a tribute for his mother. Ruth came to America when she was young and lived in Suffolk, Virginia. She was the only Jewish person in her town and faced many hardships. Her father, whom she called Tateh, both sexually and emitonally abused her, as well as, had an affair with her Mameh. She worked constantly in her family's store, and had only one friend. Ruth lived a miserable childhood. She began to learn that the only people she felt accepted by were African Americans. She fell in love with multiple black men, then permanently left her town and lived in Harlem. Doing this, her family disowned her and she never saw them again. In Harlem she met Dennis whom she married and had 8 children with, the last one being James. Unfortunately, Dennis died, which forever impacted Ruth. Later on, she remarries and has 4 more children with James’s stepdad Hunter

As for James’s story, he struggles with finding his identity from the constant judgment of people since his mom is white, while he is black. As well as, his fathers death has overwhelmed him with grief. This leads him to a path of crime and drugs. Though, he eventually gets his head straight and follows a career in music and attends college.

In total, the memoir was very good. It was an easy read with the writing style being informal, since it was a narrative. With that, there was not much plot nor follow ups, so it did not keep me hooked. Though I still enjoyed it, as there are not many books out that compare an African American to a Jew, and it was very interesting to see the divide and the separate hardships that are faced. I also liked learning about the upbringings of James’s family roots. Overall, I give this book 4 stars. It is very touching and interesting. As well as, it focuses on crucial themes of growing up, past versus present, and race and identity.