Color of Water: a Double Portrait

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Color of Water Essay By Jon Dubin James Mcbride’s Color of Water, a double portrait of both him and his mother Ruth, they both come from different backgrounds, but ultimately their stories become interconnected. Ruth left her abusive father, Tateh, at 18 and moved to Harlem and married a man of color despite her father’s wishes. James, Ruth’s son, struggles with his identity of being born of inter-racial parents, one being Jewish and other black. While both character come from different backgrounds, they were both subjected to strict backgrounds. But what made one successful and the other damaged? Overall, Ruth succeeds as opposed to her father because she created a liberal, structured, and loving home. One of the major lessons Ruth passes to her children is that of racial blindness. This is seen throughout the book as a means to advance in society and overcome challenges that have affected those of color for many years. Ruth demonstrates this lesson by responding to the claim of g-d’s lack of race by stating that “…g-d is the color of water”. This metaphor echoes throughout the book and differentiates Ruth’s home from her father’s home, showed racial prejudice through his price gauging tactics against those of color and his ill opinions of them. By and large, Ruth creates a home where as James puts it “… privileged to come from two words [races]”. Likewise, Ruth imparts structure in her home through emphasis on education. The importance of education is indicated in one of Ruth’s sayings, “Education … was the way to climb out of poverty.” Ultimately, this saying proves true for Ruth’s children because all of them graduate from college and consequently lead successful lives. Evidently, structure in form of education the home structure brings success in a home setting while disarray and inconsistency exhibited by Tateh’s infidelity lead to a broken home.

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