Final Color of Water Blog

The final reading assignment opens with Ruth talking about her blooming relationship with James's father, Dennis. Dennis and Ruth start to get to know each more; however, their happiness is put on hold when Ruth's mother becomes sick. Ruth temporarily returns to Suffolk to help her family. Soon enough, Ruth's father's mannerisms around his own family start to disgust Ruth. He continuously demands Ruth's mother for a divorce, but she never acquiesces. Finally, he leaves home to get a quick divorce. Ruth does as much as she can; however, in the end, she decides to return to New York. This was a pivotal point between Ruth and her sister Dee-Dee. Dee-Dee pleads with Ruth to come back and live in Virginia. Ruth promises her that she would. However, Ruth breaks that promise, and this creates a painful tension between Dee-Dee and herself. 

Switching to James's point of view, James continues his story as he takes a road trip down South to seek out his mother's past. James is now at a place in his life where he is seeking to uncover the origins of his mother's family. He wants to understand his mother's past to better understand his own. Armed with only the location of his mother's old house, and her best friend's name, Frances, James heads into town. Rather than finding his grandparent's old store, he finds a McDonald's, and behind the McDonald's, he finds an old house. A sixty-six year old Eddie Thompson answers. When James questions him about the Shilsky family, Eddie Thompson recalls many memories of the Shilsky family. Later that night, James walks down to the river where he feels a remarkable connection to his family's past. As James continues to explore the city of Suffolk, he walks down the Nansemond River, imagining what it must have been like to live her life. Here, James experiences one the closest connection to his past. This connection allows him to pay tribute to his past and to move past it.

One of the most emotional chapters of the book for me was chapter 21. In this chapter, Ruth vividly captures the image of her crippled mother playing with birds and singing to them "birdie, birdie, fly away."  This image is such a symbolic point in the book. Mameh's warning never to catch "a bird who flies" seems to connect to Ruth's frequent wanderlust. Ruth is like a bird who flies and should not be caught. Just the image of Ruth's mother singing "birdie, birdie, fly away" continued to play in my head as I continued reading the rest of the book.

Finally, the book ends with both Ruth and James discovering themselves. James recognizes that of all the extraordinary elements of Ruth's life, her children are what most define her. In the end, the epilogue adds to the sense of closure and of having come full circle. Ruth's entrance into the synagogue marks her ability to accept her own heritage, while sticking to her own, different, path. This book is definitely one of my favorites. Both of James's and Ruth's stories will forever stay with me for the rest of my life. Their stories of self discovery are inspiring for all those who read this incredible book. I definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a good read!

The Color of Water (Part 2)

Chapters ten through eighteen focus on the ups and downs of both James's and Ruth's transition into adolescence. For example, James becomes more aware of his race and once again questions his mother whether he is black or white. Furthermore, James finally comes to the realization that it doesn't matter whether he is one color or the other. He quotes, "I thought it would be easier if we were just one color, black or white. I didn't want to be white. My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. I would have preferred that Mommy were black. Now, as a grown man, I feel privileged to have come from two worlds." James went from resenting his mother's race to feeling blessed to have come from a mixed race union. Also, through James's chapters, James shows how his mother emphasized the importance of education. She instills this emphasis in each of her children because after being suffocated by the strict rules of her family and religion in her past, Ruth naturally cherishes the freedom that education provides. Even though James went through a period of crime (ie. stealing), drugs, and alcohol, he soon comes clean and focuses more on his education. His mother's constant persistence to push her children to success led James to who he is today. 

For Ruth's transition into adolescence, she soon becomes close friends with a young girl named Frances and has a boyfriend named Peter. However, she later becomes pregnant, and her mom sends her to New York to live with her aunts and grandmother. After her abortion and graduation, Ruth realizes that Suffolk, Virginia, wasn't where she belonged anymore. Ruth's argument with her father about the location of her graduation ceremony was a pivotal moment. After her father told her she could not attend the ceremony, Ruth becomes determined to go. She ignores her father's prohibition, rather than seeking his permission. However, in the end, she never enters the gentile church. As she attempted to enter the church, Ruth realizes that even though she ignored her father's prohibition, she realizes that she has not completely shed her father's restrictive, religious faith. This realization is one of the key reasons why she leaves her family and moves to New York, trying to become independent. It is there where she meets her future 1st husband, Andrew Dennis McBride.   

Through the straightforward prose style and transitions between James's and Ruth's stories, this book has allowed me to jump right into storyline. With every page flip, I am eager to learn more about both James's and Ruth's lives. Contrary to popular belief, I find The Color of Water a great book. Rather than focusing on the minor details, one should focus of the big picture: James's and Ruth's lives. Each of their stories are bits and pieces that, when put together, tell a remarkable story of a bi-racial family who succeeded and achieved the American dream, despite the societal obstacles placed in its way. 

The Color of Water (Part 1)

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother is significantly different from Stephen King's On Writing. Whereas King's On Writing focuses on the process and technicalities of writing, The Color of Water is an autobiography. James McBride, the author, writes this book as a tribute to his mother, Ruth. The novel parallels between the story of the author's mother's young adulthood with the story of his own young adulthood, manipulating time so that the reader can compare Ruth and James at similar ages.

The book opens with James's mother describing her early life. Ruth was born into a Polish Orthodox Jewish family with firm religious beliefs. Ruth explains to the reader that she has become "dead" to her family as a result of her decision to marry Andrew McBride, James's African-American father. She states, "My family morned me when I married your father. They said kaddish and sat shiva. That's how Orthodox Jews mourn their dead..." Ruth then describes her parents as polar opposites. Her father, an Orthodox rabbi, was as "hard as a rock", whereas her mother was "gentle and meek".

The next chapter switches views as James tells his story. James begins his story describing his mother's two new hobbies: riding the bicycle and playing the piano. James particularly focuses on his mother's love for riding her worn out, blue bicycle around the neighborhood. Her care free mood as she rode up and down the neighborhood street was an enigma to James; he couldn't figure out why his middle-aged mother was doing such an activity in the middle of the day. He believed that it was her way of grieving after her second husband died. However, I think that her bicycle has more significance than just a way to part ways from grievance. I think that her bicycle shows her constant need for movement. From the day James's mother was born, she was always on the move. After migrating to America in her early childhood, her father's job of a traveling preacher made her family move often. Ruth describes, "Tateh (her father) would sign a contract with a synagogue and after a year the synagogue wouldn't renew it, so we'd pack up and move to the next town." Her family moved everywhere from Glens Fall, New York to Suffolk, Virginia. Therefore, these constant moves became instilled in her, and the bicycle symbolizes her need to be constantly moving.

The next seven chapters continue to transition between James's childhood and his mother's. Each chapter hits a major point such as religion and racism. Also, I have to admit, this transition becomes rather confusing. Every time I start a new chapter, I have to remind myself that the chapters in italics is Ruth's while the other font is James's. However, with every page turn, I learn something new about James and his mother's lives. Even from the first nine chapters of this book, both James and his mother have endured more than many people have endured in a lifetime. I look forward to what the rest of the book has in store for me!

On Writing Essay

As Stephen King so bluntly stated, "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." Throughout King's novel, On Writing, King emphasizes the importance of reading and writing to become a good writer. King seems to believe that aspiring writers can only "learn" to be good writers by the very act of writing and rewriting. In the CV, King uses several personal experiences as examples to further his argument that if one wants to write well, one must write abundantly. 


In his early years, King published The Village Vomit, his own interpretation of his school's newspaper. This newspaper showed King's satirical, witty humor for writing fictional stories. Soon enough, his love for writing fiction developed. This early development allowed King to focus on what he loved most: writing. He wrote and wrote until he was satisfied. From contributing articles to his brother's newspaper, Dave's Rag, to his first published novel, Carrie, Stephen King never gave up on his dreams of becoming an accomplished, published writer. King's continuous perseverance through tough times shows his dedication to his writing. Furthermore, after receiving one rejection letter after another, King's determination to pursue his passion continued through his childhood and into his adulthood. 


Even through a dark period of drugs and alcohol, King overcame this endeavor with not only with the help of his family and friends, but with his rational thinking and dedication to writing. His dedication to writing allowed him to overcome one of the darkest periods of his life, but this dark period has formed King to who he is today. King shows that despite the many potential pitfalls in his life, he is still a very much active writer, writing almost everyday. 


Throughout On Writing, King allows the readers to see writing in a new light. He shows the audience how words and phrases are bits and pieces of a meaning that can create a whole new world. However, one must constantly write to achieve such an accomplishment. King definitely changed the lives of those who read On Writing, and he will continue to change the lives of those who will read this book in the future. His use of personal experiences and literary advice continues to support his theory: to write well, one must write abundantly. As King asserts, "Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up."