The Color of Water--Discussion

Hey Bookworms,

I hope you enjoyed reading “The Color of Water” this past month. I found that I liked it much more and got more out of it reading it a second time. Here are some questions to think about and discuss!

1. What does James learn about himself through finding out about his mother's past?
What do we learn about ourselves by understanding more about our parents? I felt like this was a big part of the book, James trying to figure out who he was. He was constantly looking for some sort of identity. I think that through finding out about his mother’s past James was able to see why he is the way he is. He was able to see himself as a human being and not just someone that wasn't white or black. When we take the time to listen to our parents and find out more about their past and present we are able to understand more about ourselves and our identity.

2. Why do you think Ruth placed such emphasis on hard work and education?
Ruth's background as a poor immigrant likely contributed to her excellent work ethic. In addition, however, the motivation may have been her drive to achieve self-reliance. Ruth believed in freedom, and education and hard work were paths toward that freedom. When Ruth first left Suffolk, she came to New York, working long hours in tedious, even dangerous jobs. Ruth also enjoyed education for its inherent worth. Never a lazy woman, Ruth loved to use her mind.

3. Several of the McBride children became involved in the civil rights movement. Do you think that this was a result of the times in which they lived, their need to belong to a group that lent them a solid identity, or a combination of these factors?
I think that the McBride children became involved with the civil rights movement because of the time they were living in, and also because it helped to give them an identity. I feel that they were swept up with the civil rights activities. The movement made them feel like they were doing something good to benefit the black people, and also that they were a part of that race. It gave them something to work for and become a part of.

Here are a few major themes I pulled of the internet. ( I hope that isn’t cheating) :)
There is so much to this book. Please discuss anything you would like about the book!

Major Themes

The Color of Water
When James asks his mother whether God is black or white, he is a boy living in a predominantly black community with a mother who looks white, and is simply expressing his personal confusion about race. To add to the confusion, however, his mother simply responds that she is "light-skinned". When his mother explains that God doesn't have a color, and that God is "the color of water", the image converges questions of racial and religious division into an essence that is clear and universally spiritual - in other words, "human".

The American Dream
When the Shilskys immigrate to America, they find a safe haven from the turmoil of Europe. The immigrant experience is also marked by the pursuit of the American Dream, as the family eventually settles in Suffolk, Virginia. Tateh opens a store, and the generational rift between the parents and the children intensifies. The division is particularly strong between Tateh, who can speak English, and Mameh, who cannot.
When Ruth's name is changed from Ruchel Dwajra Zylska to Rachel Deborah Shilsky, she undergoes a formal "Americanization". In high school, when she first begins going by Ruth instead of Rachel to appear less outwardly Jewish, she also undergoes another kind of change. When she moves away to New York, marries, and begins raising a family of her own as Ruth McBride Jordan, she becomes the kind of American who actively chooses her own destiny.
Ruth moves with her husband and their four children to Brooklyn's Red Hook Housing Projects, a place that she describes as exemplifying the "real American life" she has always dreamed of. As each of her twelve children finish college, become teachers, doctors, musicians, and businessmen and raise families of their own, another kind of "American Dream" comes true for Ruth.

Education
According to James, his mother denied her Jewish history, but sought a Jewish-style education for her children nonetheless. When the brief window of opportunity came, Ruth seized the chance to choose predominantly Jewish schools for each of her children to attend. In the house, the emphasis lay on grades and on church. She consistently drummed into their minds that money was nothing without education, and that education was the only avenue to making something of themselves. Being the token black students in their Jewish public schools, James and his siblings learned to survive in the world by performing well.
To supplement his formal education, James sought a "street education" in Louisville, Kentucky, where he stayed during the summers he was in high school. In Louisville, he frequented "the Corner", where Chicken Man offered him good advice, dispelling his naive belief that being a man on "the Corner" was a desirable life. Chicken Man insisted that he concentrate on his education, and that he try to pursue a better life.