"The Color of Water"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines James McBride's book "The Color of Water" and how the leaving of home by both Ruth (the author's mother) and James (the author) is an event full of mixed causes, motivations and effects. It analyzes how both are leaving unpleasant home and family environments and how both are frightened and hopeful about finding a new and better life. It evaluates how Ruth's own leaving home and her forcing her children to leave the nest, were vital parts of their success later in life and how the life lessons learned by James were difficult since he easily could have succumbed to a life of crime, but he and her other children proved her right by living independent and successful lives.

From the Paper:

"In fact, it was one of Ruth's habits to push her children out of the nest as soon as possible, to allow them and/or force them to learn to live independent and self-sufficient lives. Ruth herself had experienced the repression and oppression of a dysfunctional family, and she had fled that family despite the fact that her mother needed her. She had seen for herself that one can be trapped by family obligations and that one can lose one's own life by trying to fulfill those obligations. In addition, she must have sensed in some way that she would not be able to save her mother from her father, and that she would likely lose her own self in the process of trying. She saw that one must save oneself and that the way to save oneself is to get away from the family life which would otherwise drain one's spirit sooner or later."

More papers on "The Color of Water":

• Book Review # 74324 : "'The Color Of Water': McBride"
• Analytical Essay # 29543 : "The Color of Water"
• Analytical Essay # 16091 : "The Color of Water"

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