James and Ruth in the Color of Water

A detailed Summary of James and Ruth in the Color of Water

Although James and Ruth go through hard times, nevertheless, they learn a lot about the world because the people who love and care about them take care of them and turn the experiences into education.

The Color of Water is about a young boy's experience in 2 different worlds. James McBride learns a lot through his formal and informal education and his experience on the streets. James learns many things, such as his identity, the issue of racism, and family. The color of Water is also about Ruth, the white mother of James, who learns about faith and family. The learning is shown in different ways all around in the story.

The Color of Water shows a process of learning by describing the experiences of good things and bad of Ruth and James. One of the best ways to learn is by experience, in which James does a lot. James learns not do drugs and to believe in God from his bad experiences at The Corner. (150) Chicken Man revealed the truth to James, telling him that if "you want to drop out of school and shoot people and hang on this corner all you life, go ahead, It your life!" They learn about intangible ideas such as racism.

Racism is common is the time periods that James and Ruth lived in. James encounters racism in school, whe

James learns about his mom. His mother, Ruth is a mysterious character. We only know of her struggles because of her side of the story. James doesn't see much of his mom's struggles, he only sees the struggles that she has with the huge family. James sees many sides of his mom, such as when she goes to church and does something " I never saw her do at home or anywhere else: at some point in the service, usually when the congregation was singing one of her favorite songs,...she would bow down her head and weep." (50)James sees a weak side of his mom, a side he rarely sees. On the other hand, a side that James has more experience with is the side of his mom in which he is ferocious like a tiger. When James returned from the store with spoiled milk and a refusal for a refund, Ruth went "into the store, doing her "mad walk," ...thunder and lightning was coming... with the Billy Eckstein band blowing full blast behind him." (102) her mad walk is truly frightening, and James and his siblings are familiar with the angry side of Ruth when they don't do as they are told. A strange side of Ruth is her bicycle riding phase. "She would rid in slow motion across our street...it was her way of grieving... her complete nonawareness of what the world thought of her." (7) More than often, Ruth would show her thick skin, just brushing off insults directed to her, but when her children wer

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Approximate Word count = 937
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English