Identity In Mcbride's The Color Of Water

Throughout the time we are given to serve our purpose on earth, we as humans are given options of how we choose to live our life due to our daily surroundings, and are often criticized for our decisions by our fellow peers. For example, in James McBride’s novel, “The Color of Water”, the author’s mother, Rachel Shilsky, lived against her father’s rules throughout the time she lived with her family, which resulted in her becoming a better person in the long run, despite being ridiculed for dating a man of color and eventually being kicked out of her own family. As said by Lord Henry in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” (Wilde 5) which shows the issues people tend to deal with when keeping secrets as opposed to telling them, but in the end, can result in a change for the better. …show more content…
Based on the novel, “The Color of Water” and its uses of statements that were racially stereotyped by members of the Shilsky family, unlike in Ellison’s novel, “Invisible Man”, where the comments thought or said by outsiders affect one’s character throughout the reading, the negativity given off towards Rachel Shilsky (Ruth McBride Jordan) instead, creates an overall positive personality for her regardless of her outsiders views and impacted her relationship with God, simply because she remained true to herself and her preferences of how she wished to enjoy her based on her surroundings and chose to go after what she truly wanted regardless of her family members