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Analysis Of The Color Of Water By James Mcbride

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“The Colors of Water”, written by James Mcbride, was published in 1996 by Riverheads Books. Even before McBride created the Color of Water, which was considered his most popular piece, he wrote many other realistic novels concerning realism such as “The Good Lord Bird”, which shares a common theme with the Color of Water having to do with racial tension and personal identity. The Color of Water was recognized for its alternation between two periods in time. The settings takes place in New York, and James tells the story of Ruth’s life which begins in the 1920’s, being considered as the “roaring twenties” in the South. He later puts great emphasis on the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s which was during the Civil Rights Era. During the roaring twenties, racial tension is at its …show more content…

The author’s main purpose throughout the novel is to tell the story of his mother Ruth, who was born Jewish and married an African American man in New York, and to relate the courage it required for her to have an interracial marriage and children which such racial tension going around. With the novel transitioning to the first person, being James, and the third person, being his mother Ruth, James major conflict is the struggle to come to terms with his racial identity and background.
Protagonists:
James McBride: Being our main character as well as our narrator of this piece, James describes precise moments having to do with his own personal life in order to bring highlight to his mother Ruth’s life as well. Like his father, McBride has talents for being a writer, journalist, jazz musician, and composer. Similar to his

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"The Color Of Water" is a memoir, written by James McBride about a biracial man, his white Jewish mother, their family, and their struggle from the early 1900s till the mid 1900s. The main characters in the memoir are the author and his mother; they tell their stories and alternate chapters throughout the memoir. the memoir begins with the author's mother explaining her earliest memories of her parents, the details of their marriage, and their coming to America. James's life was a chaotic mess, the only order in his life came from his stepfather, who was named hunter, Hunter was a strong good natured man who was the only father figure James had ever known.

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In The Color of Water, author James McBride writes both his autobiography and a tribute to the life of his mother, Ruth McBride. Ruth came to America when she was a young girl in a family of Polish Jewish immigrants. Ruth married Andrew Dennis McBride, a black man from North Carolina. James's childhood was spent in a chaotic household of twelve children who had neither the time nor the outlet to ponder questions of race and identity. Ruth did not want to discuss the painful details of her early family life, when her abusive father Tateh lorded over her sweet-tempered and meek mother Mameh.

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