Ruth McBride

... made the river flow, the ocean swell, and the tide rise, but it was a silent power, intractable, indisputable and thus completely ignorable" (McBride 94). James McBride writes this in his memoir speaking of how race plays a role within his family. This quote shows that there is an underlying sense of race in ... stating that the power of the moon is a silent power. This indicates that McBride knew that race was an underlying force controlling his family; however, it was not talked about. It was silent. This silence was continued because Ruth kept her past from the children, believing tha...

• Word Count: 1711
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The Color of Water tells the remarkable story of Ruth McBride Jordan, the two good men she married, and the 12 good children she raised. Ruth, born Rachel Shilsky, a Polish Jew, immigrated to America soon after birth; as an adult she moved to New York City, leaving her ... people. Her situation of being with a black guy was pretty conflicting because blacks and whites didn't go together. Ruth had been married twice in her lifetime. She married her first husband Andrew McBride and had eight children with him. He was very special to her because he helped her out when she was ... wailed, the s...

• Word Count: 1012
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... the Jewish faith. "There was no turning back after my mother died. I stayed on the black side because that was the only place i could stay." (McBride, 232) To Ruth the only ideas she wanted in her children's" heads were getting a good education and faith in God. She raised her twelve black children in the ghetto of ... how she got on this earth. When i asked her where she came from, she would say, "god made me," and then change the subject." (McBride, 21) Ruth didn't want race to become an issue in her house. She tried to ignore it and the rest of the outside world. The kids never found ...

• Word Count: 2057
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the Jewish faith. "There was no turning back after my mother died. I stayed on the black side because that was the only place i could stay." (McBride, 232) To Ruth the only ideas she wanted in her children's" heads were getting a good education and faith in God. She raised her twelve black children in the ghetto of ... how she got on this earth. When i asked her where she came from, she would say, "god made me," and then change the subject." (McBride, 21) Ruth didn't want race to become an issue in her house. She tried to ignore it and the rest of the outside world. The kids never found ...

• Word Count: 2057
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... so and didn't mind if in the process she hurt your feelings. These characteristics, among many others are what made Ruth McBride such a wonderful mother. The one quality that is most significant in Ruth McBride was her unbelievable dedication to her children's education. The reasoning behind her dedication stems back to her religious up bringing. ... other people, He was tight with his money, but when it came to that kind of thing he wasn't cheap "(Ruth McBride, 80). Tateh did more than just care about book smarts. Hands on learning was the key. Tateh owned a small grocery store were he e...

• Word Count: 1156
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... only white person there, and how odd and exaggerated Reverend Owen's sermons were whenever going to Whosoever Baptist Church. One afternoon at Church, Ruth McBride was weeping after hearing her favorite songs, like, "We've Come This Far by Faith," or, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus.& ... ." But in the midst of all this, she did not stop moving, and persisted, as if her life depended on it. Ruth McBride then began the habit of riding her bicycle through the all-black neighborhood she and her children lived, oblivious to everyone's opinion. The bicycle is a symbol, ... representing Ruth ...

• Word Count: 1571
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

"The Color of Water" The Color of Water is an autobiographical book that parallels the life of the author, James McBride, and his mother Ruth. The story is about a man who is confused about his identity. As a young boy James realized that was not ... Jewish faith. They ate kosher, which was different meals and place settings, and every Friday at sundown they had to light candles and pray to Sabbath (McBride, 17). Ruth's family traveled a lot when she was a child. When she was eight, they moved to Suffolk, Virginia. This is where her family settled and her ... in the neighborhood seemed to enj...

• Word Count: 1631
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... /Jordans and the Shilskys are two extraordinarily unique families. However, the one element that binds the biracial, Brooklyn-dwelling McBrides/Jordans and the Polish immigrant, Jewish Shilskys together is James McBride's mother, Ruth. The characteristics and basic principles of these families differ in almost every way. Each family model is held together by its own system of values, relationships, and unwritten rules ... appears that there is no order at all. Yet the few rules that exist are deftly and strictly enforced with the threat of Ruth's anger. The McBride/Jordan family, under t...

• Word Count: 998
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... Bob and twenty eager young women abandoned their daily lives to go on national television and bare their souls, all for the purpose of finding real' love. In James McBride's Color of Water, Ruth McBride Jordan had a childhood without love. Her tyrannical father, a wandering rabbi who became a shopkeeper in Suffolk, North Carolina, sexually molested her and eventually abandoned her ailing mother. She never ... the first time, and for the first time in my life, I began to smile. I was loved, I was loved, and I didn't care what anyone thought- (McBride 112). Naturally, the reader questions...

• Word Count: 3150
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School