James McBride’s stunning book tells the story of how his white mother was capable of successfully raising twelve black children. Coming from a Jewish, cruel, and dark past where her dad was not loving or caring towards her or her mother and sister, James’ mother, Ruth, finally opens up to his son after decades and decides to tell him the story of how she managed to run away from home, find happiness, and deal with strong emotions. Ruth lives through a lot of tragedies, sorrows, prohibitions, judgment, and little compassion or love. It was hard for her to manage with these feelings, yet she was able to find a-- successful but unhealthy-- coping mechanism: keeping her feelings to herself and keep her mind busy. She hid everything from her family:
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In the text, there is an example of how his mom affected his personal choices. James is a tight spot where he is supposed to wait for his mother. However, his mother is not coming, which leads him to panic. Bystanders stop by to see if he is okay and if there is any way they could help him find his house. Other people ask where he lived so they could help him, yet he does not say anything because he was “afraid to tell them. In [his] mind was Mommy’s (Ruth’s) warning, drilled into all twelve of [the] children from the time [they] could walk: ‘Never, ever, ever tell your business to nobody’”(13). Ruth successfully taught her children to be secretive and keep things to themselves, just as she does with them about her past. James explains how her mother never spoke about herself or anything that explained where their mother came from. Even if they asked, she would say “No more questions tonight. You want some coffee cake?” (24-25). This shows that Ruth was, in fact, quiet. She would not reveal herself to anyone and try to change the subject of the conversation to more interesting one so her children would mind their own business, and she was been doing so ever since she had her first child to the every …show more content…
After his stepfather passed away, he started taking part of a risky lifestyle that he did not let anyone know about. He could not stand being at home with his mother and the chaos that formulated after Dennis’ death. He skipped school until he was a dropout, shoplifted, lied, got high and drunk, and overall carried on a whole different life that his mother did not know about until she called the school to check on James’ grades. He says he wanted to keep his “life as a punk a secret from [his] mother”(142). This shows how James is in obvious pain and grief due to his step father’s death, the repercussions and his mother’s reaction because living his “punk life” was the only way he could cope with what just happened in their lives and he could not let anyone know that he is hurting; just as his mother did with his family when she got pregnant by accident and could not tell any of her family members. He did not only try to keep his mom away from his other life and strong emotions, but he also was hiding his feelings from himself. He says, “I was obviously hiding, and angry as well, but I would never admit that to myself” (140). Just as his mother in her family, he is not capable of opening up and talking about his feelings, which leads him to have nothing else better to do than run away from his emotions and hide,
In the text, there is an example of how his mom affected his personal choices. James is a tight spot where he is supposed to wait for his mother. However, his mother is not coming, which leads him to panic. Bystanders stop by to see if he is okay and if there is any way they could help him find his house. Other people ask where he lived so they could help him, yet he does not say anything because he was “afraid to tell them. In [his] mind was Mommy’s (Ruth’s) warning, drilled into all twelve of [the] children from the time [they] could walk: ‘Never, ever, ever tell your business to nobody’”(13). Ruth successfully taught her children to be secretive and keep things to themselves, just as she does with them about her past. James explains how her mother never spoke about herself or anything that explained where their mother came from. Even if they asked, she would say “No more questions tonight. You want some coffee cake?” (24-25). This shows that Ruth was, in fact, quiet. She would not reveal herself to anyone and try to change the subject of the conversation to more interesting one so her children would mind their own business, and she was been doing so ever since she had her first child to the every …show more content…
After his stepfather passed away, he started taking part of a risky lifestyle that he did not let anyone know about. He could not stand being at home with his mother and the chaos that formulated after Dennis’ death. He skipped school until he was a dropout, shoplifted, lied, got high and drunk, and overall carried on a whole different life that his mother did not know about until she called the school to check on James’ grades. He says he wanted to keep his “life as a punk a secret from [his] mother”(142). This shows how James is in obvious pain and grief due to his step father’s death, the repercussions and his mother’s reaction because living his “punk life” was the only way he could cope with what just happened in their lives and he could not let anyone know that he is hurting; just as his mother did with his family when she got pregnant by accident and could not tell any of her family members. He did not only try to keep his mom away from his other life and strong emotions, but he also was hiding his feelings from himself. He says, “I was obviously hiding, and angry as well, but I would never admit that to myself” (140). Just as his mother in her family, he is not capable of opening up and talking about his feelings, which leads him to have nothing else better to do than run away from his emotions and hide,