In The Color of Water, the idea of confluence was often expressed. James McBride was a black boy who had to deal with racial matters. With his mother being white, he was often looked down upon by other blacks and was embarrassed of her. Throughout his book, he changed and evolved to cope with these issues. “Yet I myself had no idea who I was. I loved my mother yet looked nothing like her.” (Page 91). James went through many hard times, but in the end, he came out successful.

Everyone around James was black, including all his siblings and his stepfather. His

Eudora always had the love for reading and writing. “Yet regardless of where they came from, I cannot remember a time when I was not in love with them---with the books themselves, cover and binding and the paper they were printed on, with their smell and their weight and with their possession in my arms, captured and carried off to myself. Still illiterate, I was ready for them, committed to all the reading I could give them.” (page 6). Her ideas of confluence were true. People changed as they go through life, and nobody ever stays the same. Many learn through new experiences how to cope with disappointments and achievements. Everyone goes through confluence.

As soon as she had the chance, she got away from her family. Ruth moved to the ghetto and experienced hardships. She almost became a prostitute, but overcame it. Being the only white person in the neighborhood never seemed to bother her. All the nasty comments people would chant at her, blew over her head. Ruth let nothing get to her because she had to stay strong.

Listening for stories and clocks helped Eudora. “Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening, for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an early form of participation in what goes on. Listening children know stories are there. When their elders sit and begin, children are just waiting and hoping for one to come out, like a mouse from its hole.” (page 14). She learned from stories she listened for, about things that kept people interested. Eudora never took a story for granted. Another concept of listening, she possessed was for her clocks. Eudora’s house was home to many clocks. They were in every room, which kept her very in touch with time. It helped her develop a sense of chronological order. Chronological order is a key when writing. Everything in her life, relates to her growth as a writer.

“I wanted to read immediately.

Some topics in this essay:
Eudora Welty, James McBride, Ruth McBride, Changing Confluence, Color Water, check books, stories listened, white mother, color water, james mcbride, events occur, mother ruth, mother street, hated jews,