Passion is a strong and barely controllable emotion. “She refused to divulge details about herself or her past,” says James McBride, in the search of his identity. James and his siblings are in an endless search to find their mother’s identity. James along with his sibling’s, trade and share information amongst each other like “trading playing cards.” Ruth is very discreet and enigmatic about her past, which sways her children’s place in the world. In James McBride’s memoir, The Color of Water, James writes about how his mother Ruth, refuses to reveal her past. James questions his race and speculates why his mother is “light-skinned”, but his mother never tells him why. He uses his mother’s denial to find his place in the world as well as …show more content…
Ruth’s rejection to reveal her past leaves James in confusion which results in poor decision making. James disregards school frequently and squanders with his friends at “The Corner,” which influences him on drinking and smoking weed for the first time. Since James refrains from church and avoids his godparents, he says “I was the first kid on my block to smoke cigarettes and reefer” (138). James matures during a time where many teenagers begin to smoke and drink. Since James avoids his home as much as possible, Ruth is left with no other option, but to shriek at James. In addition, Ruth causes James and his siblings to be puzzled mainly due to Ruth’s secretive past. James struggles to find his identity and deals with the hardships of his race which causes him to use weed to escape from reality. Ruth’s refusal results in James using weed to forget the truth, James says “Weed was my friend, weed kept me running from the truth” (163). James uses weed to forget that his mother is falling apart. He tries to quit from weed, but he continues because weed helps him move on with the truth. Ruth’s refusal persuades James to search for his identity through smoking refers and forgetting the truth. James finds himself lost in the world due to his mothers mysterious
In life, we face and overcome many challenges and struggles that help to define and build who we are. According to Orrison Swett Mardon, "Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them." Ruth, Jade, and Marie do exactly that. Ruth McBride-Jordan in The Color of Water is a Jewish immigrant in America who desperately struggles to search for her identity in a time of great prejudices. Breaking free from her abusive father and religious intolerance, Ruth undergoes trials and changes that create the extraordinary life she leads. Love Medicine's Marie-Lazarre-Kashpaw experience's a difficult life full of responsibilities, but despite the destruction around her, she manages to keep her head up high. In The Fifth Chinese Daughter, Jade Snow Wong is a young woman trapped between her traditional Chinese teachings and the American beliefs. Jade's longing for independence and knowledge pushes her to defy the odds against her. These spectacular women from different backgrounds, despite their many differences, share similar struggles. Ruth McBride-Jordan, Jade Snow Wong and Marie Lazarre-Kashpaw each come to a crossroad of difficult decisions as they face troubles with their family, and lose a loved one, in order to grow into the strong, independent women they are.
Identity is a prevalent theme in John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace. Each of the four main characters, Gene, Finny, Leper, and Brinker, questions their values and have their actions molded by their identities. As Shahram Hashmat wrote in "Basics of Identity", "Identity relates to our basic values that dictate the choices we make (e.g., relationships, career). These choices reflect who we are and what we value" (1). The identities of each character are influenced by their values and beliefs, but they can change based on their surroundings. Bob Edelstein wrote in "Authenticity and Identity", "... out authentic identity changes throughout our life in response to the impact of our life experiences" (1). All four of the main characters deal
James McBride’s mother, like Tateh before her, clasps the values of education and religion close to her; according to McBride’s depiction in The Color of Water, she enforces them with an iron fist, instilling them in her children as Tateh did to her, Dee-Dee, and Sam, though more out of tough love than for pride. Despite carrying on Tateh’s materialistic tendencies, Ruth keeps the balance by inheriting his recognition of the predominance of education and religion over wealth in terms of resulting quality of life. Ruth’s and Tateh’s worldview is passed on from generation to generation, from parent to child, like all values, whether or not parent and child consent to the continuation of the morals’ journey through time.
Unknown, to James at this point he did not realize that he was having a problem with a psychological theory called behaviorism. Now this theory is one that is saying human behavior is developed through learning experiences which in this case would apply to James. His behavior as an adult was reflected by the way he was treated as a kid by his father and mother because they fought all the time. They never truly paid any attention to him, which in terms taught him how to stay out of their way and learn how to steal and burglarize places without getting caught. Therefore, within the psychological theory of behaviorism Behaviorists saw crime as something that is a learned response to life’s situations such as James situation which led him to a life of crime because of his parents. Although, he was never truly mistreated, he did not receive his father attention due to the fact of the way his father was treated as a child growing up an abusive household. Therefore, he did not want to place his son in the same situation. There is also the fact that James could be suffering from the psychodynamic theory which says that a person’s personality can be controlled by their unconscious mental process and that is grounded in them in early childhood. These entire things such as the id, ego, and superego
Everybody on earth faces some type of hardship at some point in their life. Regardless of religious preference most people seek guidance and find comfort through practicing their faith. This is exactly the case for Ruth McBride-Jordan, James McBride’s mother. In the novel The Color of Water, James sends the messages that a strong faith in God can overcome any obstacle and is the foundation for a happy, prosperous life through the story of his mother’s life.
Indicating between the middle and end as the story progresses towards its climax conflict regarding Ruth’s marital situation and the very subtle discrimination prevalent in the American South. As shown in part to Ruth’s unfortunate predicament within the story her husband being a continuous danger to her as he is on more than one occasion proves such. While at one point as Ruth is gathering her belongings and packing to leave with Idgie due to how her husband had been treating her he arrives confronting her angrily grabbing and pulling her as Idgie is left futily struggling to help to no avail. Eventually although able to leave after this confrontation in part to the aid of their friend Big George later on after the birth of Ruth’s child shortly following was the unpleasant reappearance of her husband Frank. As this time although he did so only to frighten her this reappearance of his however led harm to fall upon Big George at the hands of fellow unsavory discriminatory individuals. The next and last time as he is seen in the story is when on his own he sets out to take Ruth’s child only to be killed at the hands of Big George’s mother in self
The novel, The Color of Water follows the author and narrator James McBride, and his mother Ruth’s life. It explores their childhood—when they were both embarrassed by their mothers—through the part of their lives where they began to accept themselves for who they are. Moreover, this memoir is quite distinctive as McBride cleverly parallels his story to his mother, Ruth’s story using dual narration. This technique further helps contribute to the theme of self-identity. Throughout the novel, McBride searches for identity and a sense of belonging that derives from his multiracial family. By using two different narrations, McBride gradually establishes his identity and by integrating both narratives at the end, McBride also shows that although both narrators at the beginning had different upbringings, in the end they came together, and understood each other’s perspective.
James' family of a rainbow of color perplexes the ideals of race for James, causing questioning and insecurities within himself, noting that "being the token Negro was something I was never entirely comfortable with" As James begins his search for identity, he is halted by his mother's avoidance of racial issues, causing him to question his color and the expectations he found in society.... ... middle of paper ... ... By uncovering Ruth's earlier life, James could understand his own singularity, thus creating the identity he sought his life to achieve.
The novel, The Color of Water follows the author and narrator James McBride and his mother Ruth’s life, through their childhood—when they were both embarrassed about their mother—through the part of their lives where they began to accept themself for who they are and became proud of it. Moreover, this memoir is quite distinctive as McBride cleverly parallels his story to his mother, Ruth’s story by using dual narration which further helps to contribute to the theme of self-identity. Throughout the novel, McBride searches for identity and a sense of self that derives from his multiracial family and through the use of two different narrations, McBride slowly establishes his identity. Plus by integrating both narratives at the end, McBride also shows that although both narrators at the beginning had different upbringing, in the end they come together and understand each other’s perspective.
As her "daddy's daughter", there is little doubt that a form of love exists between Ruth Dead and Dr. Foster; however, such love is not truly love because as evidenced by Ruth's subsequent life, the filial relationship better resembles an emotional dependence that Ruth took for granted (67). The great emotional schism within her that is the result of her father's death leaves Ruth dysfunctional: she is unable to emote towards other, especially her family. Instead, ...
Throughout literature and truth there is always a steady progression of sexism and gender roles. A tradition of fathers passing it down to sons and them passing down to their sons and so on and so forth, however, the trend does not stop there, with women being taught to be docile and meek, while men provide, there is a mentality that is taught along with it. In The Color of Water, McBride's mother describes being raped by her father, the provider and protector of the household. She recalled, “Anytime he had a chance he’s try to get close to me or crawl into my bed with me and molest me… But it affected me in a lot of ways, what he did to me. I had very low self-esteem as a child, which i kept with me for many, many, years.” (McBride 43). Because
What the texts suggest about the relationship between how an individual sees themselves vs how the individual is seen by others, is through the concept of identity. An individual’s identity is shaped by many factors: life experiences, memories, personality, talents, relationships and many more.
People with cancer often begin to define themselves based on their experience with their illness, this self-definition through one’s cancer is one that the characters fear in John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. The novel shows how the characters strive to discover their identities, but despite that are still identified by their illness. The novel also makes the argument that young people with cancer are not any more virtuous or different than other kids rather, they are just normal kids living with an illness. Augustus wants to be remembered and also be more than just a boy who battled cancer, but despite his efforts is still identified by his illness.
Identity is primarily described primarily as what makes a person who they are. While it is seen as an individual asset, one’s identity can be shaped and persuaded not only by life experiences, but by society as well. Bryan Stevenson speaks on several controversial issues and proclaims certain societal problems and the typical behaviors noticed in response to them. How one approaches the issues that are spoken about may expose their true identity. Stevenson argues that how one reacts to racial inequality within the criminal justice system may regulate their identity. In addition to that, how dealing with the nation’s history may force a growth on one’s identity, eventually bringing peace and acceptance to the nation. Lastly, how one views the
By analyzing his thoughts and emotions and others' feedback, one can also discover where he fits in relation to society when he experiments with different groups of people. McBride felt that his mother's color was hindering him, so he began his "own process of running, emotionally disconnecting [himself] from her" (138). Though he was previously an outstanding student, he dropped out of school and began his search for someone with whom he could identify.