For your final discussion about the book, please select an excerpt from the text- Chapters 11 to the End of the book- that jumps off the page. Why? Beautiful writing? Does it reveal a theme? Does it connect to your work with Greg? Write the quote and explain...try to dig deep and discern.
23 Comments
Briana Ellis-Gibbs
5/11/2013 12:05:12 pm
When I was reading the Color of Water there were many lines in the from the text that inspired me to think to take a step back and look at my life. One line that made me think about my own life is "[t]hat's why you have to say all your "sorrys" and "I love yous" while a person is living, because tomorrow isn't promise." This made me stop and think about all the people that I want to I love you to before they die. Also this quote made me realize how valuable my life is.
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Liliana D ^-^
5/12/2013 01:44:28 am
While reading the Color of Water, I was touched many times especially in chapter 25 because the chapter starts off talking about the moms death and his college experience. How he was confused with his race when he was younger but now hes not because he discovered what his mom's past was like, "As a boy I was confused about the issues of race but did not consider myself deprived or happy."(Pg261) The book ends on a happy note though when his wife recalls a story on Christmas. How everyone wanted to go to the movies but the wife said quietly she wanted to eat. Everyone quickly changed their mind and they ate together like a happy family. This shows that even through times get tough, family is there to help you get through it.
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Leslie :D
5/12/2013 09:37:33 am
After reading the Color of Water I felt that James told one of the most extraordinary stories about hardships, especially during an epoch like the 60s and 70s. Like other black-Americans, James had to experience that double face of America in which, like discussed in history class came to look at the world through a veil. When he tells the story of the time when he went through the phase of rebellion where he came to use drugs left his mother practically alone to deal with things after his stepfather died I couldn't help but feel sorrow for him. Probably he never really wanted to do it but his desperation to get away from reality led him to do what he did and therefore began robbing, selling stolen wine, drugs and becoming that stereotypical image that he knew some closed-minded white people had of blacks and he had once encountered in his childhood when a black man robbed his mother's purse. When i came across a quote on page 161, "You have to chose between what the world expects of you and what you want for yourself, "it reminded me of the identical message James Baldwin mentions in The Fire Next Time. Though we will face stereotypes and prejudices it is up to us whether we decided to act by them or change the way society perceives us by showing them they are wrong.
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Reyhan~
5/12/2013 10:10:33 am
I agree with you Leslie. Double consciousness, a topic we learned with Greg, is used in the novel from beginning to end. The quote you chose expresses the concept clearly in only a few words! Do you personally believe you also live with double consciousness?
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Yennifer Posada
5/12/2013 10:56:45 pm
I agree with both of you, Leslie and Reyhan. Throughtout the book we see Baldwin, his mom and siblings living with double consciousness and having to deal with it everyday of their life. In Greg's class, we read of people living with double consciousness and soon started to believe that they were the way people were viewing them. This affect and angered some. Do you think that Baldwin's mother was angered because she had to live with double consciousness her whole entire life? How can or should a person avoid double consciousness?
Nadia
5/22/2013 07:55:32 am
I agree with both Leslie and Reyhan because Ruth let James found out who he really was. She didn't tell him hey look you belong in this category. Which I think was a good thing because he then wasn't forced to live up to those expectations.
Reyhan A.
5/12/2013 10:07:44 am
In reading The Color of Water by James McBride, there were several moments that questioned my way of thinking and moments that I could connect to. Half the novel is said through James’ perspective, while the other half demonstrates James’ mother’s point-of-view. James’ mother grew up in a strict, Jewish, family but as she grew older she adjusted her lifestyle. James’ mother had always been outgoing, adventurous, and different but growing up she was restricted from being her self. As she became a woman, she drifted away from what her family had expected from her and began to follow her own aspirations as a strong, independent, intellectual. On page 236, Mrs. McBride affirms, “He [Dennis] came from a home where kindness was a way of life. I wanted to be in this kind of family. I was proud to join it, and they were happy to have me.” She expresses how she gradually made a change in her life because of a Dennis, a man she had loved. Dennis’ mother is relatable because similar to my family, I feel welcomed by the kindness my parents present me with. They limit me from doing certain things for my safety but they almost always support my decisions. They support and love me unconditionally and do everything to make me happy out of kindness. Like James’ mother, I am grateful for the family I reside with because I am comfortable and cared for.
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Hafsa
5/12/2013 11:29:18 am
When James states, “Mommy staggered about in an emotional stupor for nearly a year. But while she weebled and wobbled and leaned, she did not fall” (p.163), if I had to explain James’ mother I would use this quote to do so. His mother was abused, tormented, and wounded by her past life, but her marriage uplifted her. The loss of her husband added to Ruth’s timeline but her timeline ends with her children’s success. This success was due to Ruth’s strong character and her non trivial life. Not only is this quote beautiful and produces a strong emotional connection with James’ mother, it reveals a theme in the book. The theme that injustice will not prevail. And though James’ mother was aware that injustice existed, she did not accept it and become resentful, she instead valued her children and all the shades of color they contained, and relived her life through them. She was an old wooden table that wobbled but still managed to support and carry a family’s meal.
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Jessica Toro
5/12/2013 11:55:41 am
In the reading "The Color of Water”, James Baldwin mentions obstacles that he faces because of his background. James being both black and white makes him question his society often throughout the book. James wants to constantly know his moms background and does not seem to get a chance until she opens up. James looks us up to his mom and wants to go search her past. James mentions, “Like most of the Jews in Suffolk...as if there was no barriers between us.” Barriers is what separated blacks and white. This is an obstacle that still lives today; people judge others by their appearances. Appearances and skin color is what we base how people will act. James mom tries her best to not create those barriers; it is not easy to have kids who are both races because either way they will be discriminated. Why do you believe we judge each other so much and create towards other racial groups?
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Jessica Toro
5/13/2013 02:51:12 am
Why do you believe we judge each other constantly? Why do you create hate towards other racial groups ?
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Leslie
5/13/2013 03:32:40 am
Because stereotypes are passed to the next generation but it is also based on how someone is raised to view the world with a close or open mind and it is up to people to choose if they will follow the stereotypes they are labeled or prove society wrong.
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Yennifer Posada
5/12/2013 10:52:29 pm
As I was reading the "The Color of Water," James Baldwin intrigues the reader by telling personal stories that can be relatable to the audience. His race often discourages him from opportunities and from people. By Baldwin being Black and White made his life double complicated. This was because his race was Black but his mom raised him to not care about race and be himself but as he grew up it mattered to him. People would treat him different because of his race. It was affecting him. Even though he was treated unfairly, he says, "Yet the color boundary in my mind was and still the greatest hurdle." (pg 262) This demonstrates that even though he was raised in a Jewish White home where race didn't matter, people and society made it matter and you were judged by it. It determined what you could and couldn't do. Baldwin was more aware of race and finally accepts the fact that race does matter but only if you want it to be important. Anyone can overcome if they take that extra push to not let it stop you from what you dream to do.
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Emily X
5/13/2013 02:49:49 am
After reading The Color of Water by James Mcbride it has shown me a bunch of quotes that really change the theme and the moral of the story. In the book on page 266 he states "There are two worlds bursting inside me trying to get out. I had to find out more about who I was, and in order to find out who I was, I had to find out who my mother was." This quote stuck out the most because it says a lot. He's saying that he doesn't even know who he is/doesn't even know his mother. I like how he's showing us that he wants to know who he is, he's also starting to believe that race does matter in this world because in this world we are all being judged and it will never change.
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Jodecy R
5/14/2013 03:34:32 am
During The Color of Water by James McBride there were many quotes that were eye catching too me as a reader. One quote that stood out to me was "This is, after all, the nineties, and any black man who loiters in front of a building for a long time looking it over is bound to draw suspicion from cops and others who probably think he's looking for an open entrance so he can climb in and steal something. Black males are closely associated with crime in America, not with white Jewish mothers.." This quote shows how discrimination still goes on since the beginning of the book.
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karina NICOLAKIS
5/18/2013 07:01:17 am
i think that chapter 23 really important, this is the chapter where you get you see the real dennis, and get to see his life style. But this chapter isn’t all about Denis, it shows how Ruth was after Dennis dies, and how strong she was to keep her life going and raising the 8th child all on her own, This chapter shows the importance of Dennis’s and Ruth’s relationship, and how of a strong couple they are. ‘’Andrew and Ruth are not accepted as a couple by many people around them, but they love each other and that's enough for them’’. This is a good quote that shows the relationship between them two, and after not being accepted by so many people and being picked on, they stayed strong till the end.
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Nadia Espinoza
5/22/2013 07:53:39 am
When James starts to change his behavior he's mother sends him to Kentucky. There he meets Chicken Man, and he tells James that its better to have an education. When James goes back home he realizes that he's mistakes may hurt people and that bad things would happen if he didn't change. When James goes to Virginia he discovers his moms roots. He finally sees that his mom is Jewish. I think that Ruth did a good job of letting her kids discover who they are instead of telling them what category they fall under. On page 161 it says yjay "you have to chose between what the world expects of you and what you want for yourself." This reminded me of James Baldwin because he said that blacks didn't need to live up to White's stereotypes because that would only prove the stereotypes to be true.
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Tashi Wangmo
5/28/2013 05:15:12 am
"Mommy's children are extraordinary people, most of them leaders in their own right." pg. 276 This quote is important because all the struggles that James McBride and his family faced, it resulted to them having a good life. James' mom worked hard to keep her children educated and to have morals. Their environment didn't affected them at the end although when James and his siblings were younger, it affected them because they were treated differently due to his mixed race.
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Samantha
6/6/2013 07:15:19 am
I agree with you a 100% Tashi! Do you think that people still get treated differently because of their race??
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Samantha
6/6/2013 07:56:26 am
While reading the Color of Water there were many lines throughout the text that made me reflect and think about my own life, it also made me realize how special life really is. One line that made me think about my own life is "[t]hat's why you have to say all your "sorrys" and "I love yous" while a person is living, because tomorrow isn't promise." This quote really stood out to me because it shows you how precious life is, and that you should't go to bed mad or upset with anyone because you don't know what will happen the next day. You should also say i love you to anyone at any point of the day just to let them know. This made me realize how important everyone in my life really is and that I should never take anyone for granted.
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Vaso Platis
6/6/2013 11:35:51 pm
“I asked her if I was black or white. She replied "You are a human being. Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!” This is one of the most important quotes in the book. As a child, James was always treated differently not only because of his skin color, but because it was different than his mother's. When his mom tells him you are a human being, she is trying to explain to him, no matter what anyone says to him, everyone is the same.
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Muslima M.
6/10/2013 12:44:40 am
Through out "The Color of Water" Baldwin focuses on his mother's happiness a lot. Even though it is not one of the main themes, it comes up many times. I think his mother's happiness was mostly present when she was with her first husband Andrew Dennis McBride. She states 'My world expanses because of Dennis. He taught me about things I'd never heard of." (pg.234) She later goes on to explain that Dennis helped her become a new and happy person. When Dennis died it was obvious a part, a huge part of her also died. The last letter written by Ruth in the book was about Dennis. The chapter was also named Dennis. I think that it was her last entry because she had said everything she had to say. When Dennis died he took her words with him too.
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This book is terrible. The theme was predicted by the middle of the book at least ch.11. If you want a good book try "to kill a mocking bird"
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