1) Ruth’s original name is Rachel Deborah Shilsky, a Jewish name – when she converted to Christianity after her mother’s death, she gave up that name, which “had to die in order to for me, the rest of me, to live,” most notably to avoid anti-Jew prejudice against her (McBride 2).
2) In this metaphor, Ruth likens her father to a fox – an animal that is extremely crafty and smart. By calling him ‘a fox, especially when it came to money,’ Ruth compliments her father for his intelligence and craftiness, presumably being extremely fiscally responsible and able to take advantage of opportunities.
3) James rebelled because his father had died, and he played hooky to go to movies and shoplift and snatch purses.
4) This comparison is appropriate because it feels very transactional, as if they trade much needed information about each other as a means of social discourse and greater understanding. In my family, my aunt (who does genealogy) has been the best source of information for my family, and she would always bring up interesting family facts at get-togethers.
5) James’ fear is somewhat justified, given his own issues with his own mixed-race identity. Because he does not feel fully black, he shies away from owning the confidence he sees in his mother.
6) James means that his mother was both a hard-working immigrant willing to contribute (the best) but someone whose ambition and love of money courted most people’s fears of immigrants being greedy and taking people’s jobs (the worst). His parents tempered knowledge with religion to become well rounded and get out of poverty.
7) Ruth’s quote references the intangibility of God, as we cannot see water. To that end, she tries to instill in her children a sense of gratitude and faith for God’s gifts, especially given her hard childhood.
8) Helen runs away to become a hippie and fight the establishment, a byproduct of her joining the counterculture and rebelling against her parents in the 1960s. Sam ended up dying in the Second World War. James resents Dennis for being successful and accomplishing things, making him jealous.
9) Ruth tore into public school with a voracious appetite, while James was ambivalent and hostile toward it. Ruth attended Jewish day school, while James attended public secular school. Ruth was also picked on mercilessly in school, while James was able to find a few friends in the school system.
10) She moved to New York in 1936 to be with Dennis, following him to live there and be in love.
11) She decides to move back to Suffolk in order to attend an easier high school, but is also terrified of having children and not ready to commit to a provincial life in the small town of Suffolk. She decides to move back to New York City, leaving Mameh, Tateh and Dee Dee behind to fend for themselves without her help.
12) ‘Lost in Delaware’ could refer to both James and Ruth – James struggles to find success in Delaware, but eventually finds it in his jazz music. Ruth, however, represses her own dissatisfaction with living in Delaware, making her arguably the character that is more ‘lost.’
13) When Tateh dies, Ruth understands that it is because she left her in Suffolk; Tateh had no more reason for living if Ruth was not to be in her life. For the second statement, Ruth felt her Jewish identity was tied to Tateh, and a little part of her would always feel Jewish even though she rejected it, as long as her mother was around.
14) Ruth felt Dennis showed her new things and ways of living that she never thought possible. This happens first by them moving to New York together (and spurring her love of the city), and their starting the New Brown Baptist Church together (cementing her deep Christian beliefs).
15) James expected to find something more about himself in writing the book, but instead found so much more about his mother and her way of life. James found it helpful to learn about his own heritage, and his writing helped Ruth come to terms with her own Jewish heritage, and make her feel free to enter a synagogue at the very end of the novel.
After Reading:
In The Color of Water, James McBride clearly critiqued the kind of racial and religious discrimination that is levied against both non-white people and Jews in America, particularly in the mid-20th century. James’ own ambivalence about his racial heritage is evidence of the shame he feels about being black, which is socialized into him by years of intolerance. Ruth’s own life traumas lead her to shy away from her Jewish faith and turn towards Christianity, wanting to skirt away from the stigma of being Jewish. However, in the course of the book, McBride effectively challenges this discrimination, and encourages himself, the mother and the reader to not get discouraged by it and to be proud of who you are.
Works Cited
McBride, James. The Color of Water. A&C Black, 2012.
