ipl-logo

Ruth Character Analysis

721 Words3 Pages

“As usual, she was broke, dumping single dollar bills, change, pennies on the counter to pay for the one-way ticket to Ohio. As I stepped on the bus she squeezed a bunch of bills and change into my hand. ‘That’s all I have,’ she said. I counted it. Fourteen dollars” (McBride 189).

Throughout the book Ruth’s support for her children is shown in multiple ways. Ruth takes on difficult, poorly paid jobs that require her working through most of the day and night in order to supply her family with food and a proper education. In this quote Ruth gives what little money she has left to her son, James, as he leaves for college. Being able to give up the little money she makes to provide for James and support her family is proof of her ability to support others, a trait that …show more content…

Instead of giving in to the man’s racist ways, Ruth holds her ground and honors her husband by displaying her pride for him and their relationship publicly. She was undeterred by the possible negative outcome of her bold actions, which is key in an effective leader. Her courage and confidence lead her to making daring decisions, like marrying a black man, moving away from home, and helping her husband create a church from scratch.
“‘What color is God’s spirit?’ ‘It doesn’t have a color,’ she said. ‘God is the color of water. Water doesn’t have a color’”(McBride 51).

Ruth is a very wise person. In this excerpt, she teaches her son that skin color doesn’t matter by telling him that God doesn’t have a skin color. Because James is bi-racial, during his childhood he was confused about where he belonged. When Ruth tells him that their all-powerful God has no skin color this shows him that he is not any different from everyone else.
Affectionate
“I loved that man. I never missed home or my family after I got married. My soul was full” (McBride

Show More
Related
239 Words | 1 Pages

She entrusts her son with sixty five hundred dollars (about $61,000 today) because she trusts her son will use the money well. ”that leaves sixty-five hundred dollars... it ain’t much, but it’s all I got in this world and I'm putting it in your hands”(107). This

Read More
561 Words | 3 Pages

James McBride wrote a memoir, The Color of Water, to tell his life story and how he arose through a difficult childhood into a successful member of society. During The Color of Water James tells how he finds himself, a mixed boy, in a very segregated world. In this memoir some of James’ most important turning points would be when his stepfather died, His time in Louisiana, and when he was accepted into Oberlin College. The death of Hunter Jordan, James’ stepfather, devastated James in his early teen years. This event started James on a path of drugs and terrible grades making him fail classes and eventually drop out of school.

Read More
1152 Words | 5 Pages

Ruth tells James about her past although she avoided and ran away from it for many years. She passed on her actions and reactions to her children, especially James, as she formed a family. James learning about his mother's past made him realize that he resembles Ruth in many ways. They both grieved on their own, but how they grieved was similar. Whether it was drugs or a bike ride, they both had their own way to run.

Read More
710 Words | 3 Pages

Ruth lived a very sad life with her father, she admire the Black folks they were poor but they appeared happy. Ruth states, “If there was one thing Tateh didn’t like more than gentiles, it was black folks”(McBride 107). Tateh hated black folks so much that after Ruth married Dennis James’ father a black man, he disowned her. Keeping that a secret was better off for her kids but James wanted to know where was his mother from, who was her family, so James went to Suffolk, Virginia where his mother was raised. To find out that his grandfather was a racist, horrible person.

Read More
1099 Words | 5 Pages

According to Ruth, she states, “ My life was the store” (107) discussing that she was not able to love, have nice clothes, or even a date. Religion was also significant part of James life growing up. He is require to go to church and Sunday school every Sunday. According to James it says “Mommy loved god. She went to church every Sunday”(45) explaining that Ruth was extremely religious.

Read More
1451 Words | 6 Pages

Have you ever felt that you didn’t know what type of person you were, or maybe have even felt like you were going through an identity crisis? In the book The Color of Water, by James McBride, the main character, James, has the struggles of having to realize who he is and where he fits into the world. The main issue he has is that he is black, but his mom is white, and at first he doesn’t understand why. James goes through an identity crisis because of his race, his life on the streets, and living in a world run by whites.

Read More
555 Words | 3 Pages

• He tried to abort Milkman but Ruth was successful in her pregnancy • Milkman is a tiny victory in her life and therefore she needs him on her side • Both women are powerless to and dependent upon men o Ruth cannot leave her husband despite all that he has put her through • Before she met Macon, she relied on her father • She does not work, she relies on him for money and status o Ruth never really developed a personality of her own, she was always just someone’s daughter, wife, or mother • Hagar describes a list of chores that she is jealous that Ruth gets to do for Milkman o She hates that Ruth has been involved in his life for longer, watched him grown up, knows the intimate details of his body and his life o She does not say she is jealous of the bond between mother and son but rather that Ruth got to clean up after Milkman’s messes o Ruth has served Milkman more than Hagar has and that makes her jealous with rage o Hagar is so blinded by her devotion she admits she is willing to kill Ruth

Read More
838 Words | 4 Pages

At first glance, Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz are opposites to one another, but as Edna has yet to conclude, both are responsible for the decision of Edna longing to become a single woman again. A foil is defined as “a gauge by which to judge the behavior of both characters better by putting their actions into perspective,” according to the English Companion. In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, written in 1899, the author presents the readers with a pair of foils. The contrast of Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle supports the theme of The Awakening by proving that women cannot obtain societal norms without the elimination of their independance. Madame Ratignolle is the textbook perfect mother.

Read More
728 Words | 3 Pages

In the memoir, The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother, James McBride illustrates this concept when he questions his mother Ruth about her past. At the beginning of The Color of Water, James McBride’s mother Ruth goes on to introduce particular aspects about her upbringing. She mentions how she grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family and begins to describe both her parents. Ruth’s father

Read More
623 Words | 3 Pages

Cathy Ames has been criticized because she is completely evil. It has expressed throughout the novel that Cathy is inhuman. She has no emotion, no feelings, and no good in her. Many state that she is a symbol for Satan or a witch, who is pawn of Satan. People go so far in declaring that she is one of these evil spirits because even from birth she was filled with extreme evil and darkness, lacking characteristic that make up a human.

Read More
1170 Words | 5 Pages

“When I asked her if she was white, she’d say, “No. I’m light skinned,” and change the subject again.” (Ch.4, pg.15) Ruth’s changing the topic of racial issues caused even more perplexity and insecurities within James. Because of his uncertainty, it was very difficult for James to decide how he fits into his conservative society. Also, in his community it was only the McBride siblings who seemed to come from the interracial family which made them partially feel like

Read More
780 Words | 4 Pages

Ruth the Perpetual Foreigner and Model Minority by Gale A. Yee illustrates how the story of Ruth and the

Read More
1368 Words | 6 Pages

In the narrative, Oates recalls her high school years in which she reconnects with Ruth Weidel, who gave teachers the implication that “something had happened” and how they “treated her guardedly” (Oates 561). This ties into the theme of the individual versus society. When she lived with her family, Ruth and the rest of her family were treated as outcasts and were talked about behind their backs. Now in high school, she remained alone until Oates worked up the nerve to befriend. Something had caused her to mature quickly and in the midst of that growth, Ruth created a barrier to protect herself from anymore pain.

Read More
963 Words | 4 Pages

Ruth is willing to work harder and harder if it means she works for what her family wants and needs. Ruth Younger is motivated by working for her family’s and her goals to get what they dream

Read More
898 Words | 4 Pages

Yet, at home, she devotes love and curiosity to her family. This contrasts to multiple other characters, as the relationship between Ruth and her single mother is inspiring. Accordingly, she respects her mother, who provides encouragements like, “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” With pure gratitude, Ruth seeks to apply her mother’s words. When bullies trouble Philip, Ruth can empathise with him.

Read More

More about Ruth Character Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document