In The Color of Water by James McBride the stories of Rachel/Ruth and James who are in two different families are told. Each story explains the expectations and values, the difficulties, the changes and the lesson learned from both Rachel/Ruth and James. Rachel went through many struggles with leaving her Jewish family and starting alone to raising twelve children using some of resources she still had from her family. On the other hand, James hardships came with having a white mother and himself being black and not being able to identify himself with one group or the other.
Rachel Shilsky was born in Poland an orthodox Jew, at the age of 2 she was brought to America and faced several hardships in the years to come. Her background had a huge …show more content…
He uses his mother in order to answer his own questions of his identity and solve the mystery behind his family, as he was always curious about his background. Growing up with a white mother made several difficulties for James because he didn’t identify himself with either the white side or the black side, it made him different from his peers. Rachel/Ruth never really answered any questions he had about his background, which made him struggle to come to term with his racial identity and his parents background. As well, there was a time where black power was rising and it was hard for him to balance that and that he had a white mother who was in danger. Throughout all his difficulties and the questions of his mother’s background, James still was given several resources. His mother gave him an emphasis on education, hard work, and church. In addition, she always encouraged him and her other children to be self-sufficient, as she had raised all of them mostly by herself. She opened the doors for James to look into his Jewish side when she revealed to him the facts of her life (McBride, pg. 269). James created his own resources, which included, staying away from the color boundary (McBride, pg. 262), expressing himself by writing books and composing/playing music (McBride, pg. 266), and by traveling (looking into his mother’s past). James background had a huge impact on his life even if he didn’t know it until later because he had been raised somewhat like his mother
Rachel Shilsky was born in Poland an orthodox Jew, at the age of 2 she was brought to America and faced several hardships in the years to come. Her background had a huge …show more content…
He uses his mother in order to answer his own questions of his identity and solve the mystery behind his family, as he was always curious about his background. Growing up with a white mother made several difficulties for James because he didn’t identify himself with either the white side or the black side, it made him different from his peers. Rachel/Ruth never really answered any questions he had about his background, which made him struggle to come to term with his racial identity and his parents background. As well, there was a time where black power was rising and it was hard for him to balance that and that he had a white mother who was in danger. Throughout all his difficulties and the questions of his mother’s background, James still was given several resources. His mother gave him an emphasis on education, hard work, and church. In addition, she always encouraged him and her other children to be self-sufficient, as she had raised all of them mostly by herself. She opened the doors for James to look into his Jewish side when she revealed to him the facts of her life (McBride, pg. 269). James created his own resources, which included, staying away from the color boundary (McBride, pg. 262), expressing himself by writing books and composing/playing music (McBride, pg. 266), and by traveling (looking into his mother’s past). James background had a huge impact on his life even if he didn’t know it until later because he had been raised somewhat like his mother