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Race and Racism are a massive theme in the book 'The Color of Water' written by James McBride; this book explores the intricacy of having a bi-racial activity, particularly in a period when blacks and other minorities are hated and segregated by the dominant white society. It attempts to reflect the domination of American society by the white man and attempts to discover his own identity by looking at his mother's past life. The first prominent theme in the novel is Racism. This paper is going to discuss the themes of Racism throughout the novel, and the two significant symbols represented in the book include Ruth's bicycle and the Boy in the mirror. This paper is also going to discuss how McBride uses symbolism to express the themes of Racism.
How can James hate whites when his mother is one? The predominant theme in 'The Color of Water' is Race and Racism. The novel's protagonist and author James Mcbride write both his biography also a tribute to the life of his white mother, Ruth McBride, a Polish-Jewish immigrant. Ruth is drawn to African Americans in New York because she loves the prominent families, and sees more love in them than in her cold Jewish family. As a kid, James never understood why he was black, and his mother was white. Ruth would never answer his questions, either. One afternoon on the way home from church, James asked Ruth whether God was black or white, and Ruth replies 'God is the color of the water. Water doesn't have a color.' (James McBride; Chapter 6). James spends his childhood feeling caught between two races. His siblings all have various ways of dealing with racial confusion; for example, his brother Richie sees himself not as black or white but as green like the Incredible Hulk, who in some ways could be seen as leading an aspirational life for a driven, intelligent, mixed-race child. Richie also looks to religion for some kind of mixed-race idol, wondering why Jesus, if he is not canonically white, is always painted that way.
James similarly wonders about his race and how his race relates to God, in whose image he is supposedly created. What James is asking here, then, is if he is black or white and if God would love him more if he were one or the other. Ruth herself finds solace in Christianity because it feels more expansive and accepting to her than Judaism. It follows that she sees God as neither black nor white, and therefore accepting of her mixed-race family.
After the death of her second husband, Ruth becomes depressed. She lets her already disorganized household fall into disrepair, fails to pay the bills, and struggles to discipline her rebellious children. For much of her life, Ruth has coped with tragedy and heartbreak by mentally (and sometimes physically) distancing herself from pain, and locking the memories away in the back of her mind. Now, however, after so much tragedy, she has difficulty moving on. As a child Ruth had been a runner, meaning she would run to try and clear her mind and escape her troubled home life. Now, as an adult, she uses her bicycle in the same way to get out of the house and clear her head. As James Mcbride talks about Ruth riding the bicycle 'Her oddness, her completer no awareness of what….white person in a black world.' (James Mcbride; Chapter 2)For Ruth, the bicycle represents a moment of freedom from the burdens of her life, but for James, the bicycle represents something else entirely. Ruth rides around, oblivious to how she looks, but when James sees her, he has stuck by the 'oddness' of his mother, full of contradictions a respectable middle-aged woman on a bicycle usually ridden by children, a white woman in a black neighborhood with mixed-race children. James is embarrassed by his mother and afraid of her. Her oddness makes him stick out, which he dislikes, but he worries that the attention she draws to herself will result in some violence, either from black or white people anyone who might dislike Ruth's blurring of racial boundaries.
James is torn because of his mixed-race, not knowing who he is or where he belongs.
For much of his life, James struggles to uncover his unique racial identity, but The Boy in the mirror is free from racial confusion. As he says 'I believed my true self was a boy who lived in the mirror….Hurry up! Get on out!' but he would never leave.' (James Mcbride; Chapter 10). As a child, James struggles to understand his mixed-race identity. One method he uses to cope is imagining that his reflection in the mirror is, in fact, another boy, a version of himself that is better and happier in every way. Whereas James aches to understand who he is and where he comes from, the Boy in the mirror feels confident in his identity. Whereas James's white mother causes him much anxiety, this Boy has a black mother who looks just like him. The Boy in the mirror also comes to represent everything James wishes he could have. James Mcbride lives in poverty, is often hungry, and frequently fights with his siblings, but the Boy in the mirror lives a full, perfect life. Although James intentionally spends hours in the bathroom playing with his perfect double, he also becomes jealous of the fantasy life he has created. The Boy in the mirror proves to be not only a tool for James to understand his identity but also a projection of all of his deepest desires.
In conclusion, 'The Color of Water' is trying to say that race in America is complicated. Although discriminatory attitudes are accepted and hold the potential to end the lives of the book's black protagonists literally, social Racism can be opposed on a personal level. As James got older, he noticed Racism in college and work. He did not know how to react to it because of his mixed heritage. However, after seeing where his mother came from and learning more about her life, he felt privileged to have come from two worlds.
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