Post your reader responses here: Choose a line from the text and explain why it stands out to you. Does this line shock you, confuse you, or seem important in some way? Does it make you ask a question? Can you make a connection to your life or another text? What is this line saying about people, or the world, in general?
Then, respond to someone else's post. Agree or disagree, but make sure that you add something new-- a new idea, a reference to another part of the book. Include textual evidence as you push the conversation forward. Ask more questions to keep the dialogue going...
"There was so many of us we were constntly hungry, scavenging for food in the empty refrigerator and cabinets." (66)
ReplyDeleteThis line stood out to me because throughout the whole chapter, he's basically describing how his life was in his house with 11 other siblings. It made me realize even more how hard it must have been for James' mom to take care of 12 children under one roof and provide them with basic needs such as food, water, shelter, and sending them to school everyday. But with this poverty life, I think that all of them realize and learned for this childhood experience. It probably made them realize not to take things for granted, which we commonly do now in 2012.
I agree, it must have been hard for James to live with 11 other children. But his mother had it more worse, she also had a job, had to feed each and every of her kid, and barely had time for herself. I was talking about it today with my partner how hard it must be to take care of 12 children. I'm surprised she didn't kill them or run away.
Delete"We watched in awe as Helen stood her ground...and survived a beating with the belt by Mommy without a whimper. She shrugged when Mommy was done."(Page 72)
ReplyDeleteThis quote made me really like Helen's character. She is a civil rights activist, and is extremely strong willed. Her character impresses me. If she can last a whole beating without crying or complaining, she deserves respect. Helen goes against most of her mother's rules. Such as; education is first, because she quit school. Religion and God is most important, because she quit playing for the church. And no fighting or cursing, because she had a fight with Rosetta. She's the only one brave enough to go against Ruth's rules.
I agree with you, but I'm not sure about how brave Helen is. She did, after all, run away from home and all of her problems there so she wouldn't have to face them. I understand how it took courage to stand up to her mother, but Helen did get beaten for standing up to her mother. As a side note, the beating of Helen made me wonder about Ruth's parenting: Ruth never seemed like the type of mother who would beat her children, considering the victimization her father put her through for many years. Why did she even beat Helen in the first place?
DeleteI agree, I think this shows a lot about Helen, and how strong she is. I also don't think that she ran away from her family, To me, it seemed more like she was running to fight in what she believed in, and she couldn't do that from where she was. In order to fight for what she believed in, in the world, she first needed to learn how to fight for what she believed in, in her own home.
DeleteI completely agree with you, and i thought that the line where she says that she shrugged when Ruth finishes beating Helen really made me like Helen. Shes my new favorite character! This quote also brought me to stumble upon a question of why is Helen so rebellious? I also want to know if maybe Rachel sees herself in Helen only in a better light, or more stronger,independant then Ruth?
DeleteHelen reminds me of her own mom when she was little. This is because in the beginning in the first few chapters, Ruth says that she didn't follow her mother's rules. So Helen is like a smaller image of Ruth and I think that she is going to continue to act like her mom without knowing, because she didn't know about her mom's childhood, yet alone life.
Delete" 'Please come home Helen. This is no place for you to be. Just come on home.' The peephole closed." pg. 78
ReplyDeleteI found this line incredibly interesting because it made me think about how both Helen and Ruth ran away from their homes. Ruth ran away because of the abuse she suffered and the restrictive rules of Judaism that just made her miserable. Helen ran away from home because of this radicalism instilled in her, but similarly to Ruth, the rules placed upon her that she had to follow. Ruth wants all of her children to put education and religion first, and Helen rejects these rules by quitting choir and school as well. This made me think about why people run away from their problems and conflicts, and also why people detest rules so much. I think people run away from their issues because that makes it easier to avoid them, and we put all of our effort into thinking about the problems in our life, we would all probably go insane. And I think people hate rules because while society teaches us to follow rules, there is another side that says it's "cool" to disobey these rules and you're not having any fun if you're just obeying these rules all your life.
I agree with the connection you made between Ruth and Helen both running away. You would expect Ruth to be easy on her children because she never had that for herself. However, the only difference is that Ruth was forced to obey her religious duties whereas Helen was expected to become an intellectual.
DeleteI really like your analysis of this quote. I agree with you that Helen is running away from her problems, but I don't think that the only reason was her interest in civil rights. That could have just been her excuse. I think that as she got older, Helen was starting to realize how much of an outcast in society she was because of her white mother and her 11 mixed siblings. Before she leaves, she says: "I'm sick of this house" (page 75). I think she means that she is sick of just ignoring the fact that her family was different, and she just couldn't stand living by Ruth's lifestyle anymore.
Delete" "They dont have a dime in their pocket and they're always laughing" But we had plenty money and we were all miserable." Page 61
ReplyDeleteI think it is extremely interesting that even at a young age, Ruth knew that money wasn't everything. I am also really really beginning to hate her father. How can the father of such a great person be such a terrible one? Ruth is able to see so far beyond the segregation and racism of her time. Her childhood must have played a role in that. She feels accepted in the black community because in the town they grew up in they were both looked down upon. Also, she was extremely envious of their happiness. If she hadn't seen other peoples happiness I don't think she would have left.
I agree! I think at a young age Ruth learned that little things don't matter in life it's the family that counts. I also really am starting to dislike her father, it just seems every chapter theres this new mean side to him.
DeleteI almost feel like this quotes makes her dad look like the stereotypical con-man. I don't know if the dad was miserable, because he was always getting his way, but I agree with all of your points.
DeleteAfter reading the first couple of chapters, I realized that Ruth has a special fondness for African Americans. In that time period they were so looked down upon that it was rare for a white person to look deeper into them and see the true kind person. I think Ruth stays away from her own race and likes being with African Americans because she doesn't want to blend in to the stereotypical white person of that time. And I total agree, Ruth is definitely way ahead of her time!
Delete"I always worried that Tateh's gun would go off and accidentally kill him while he was cleaning it. Although I was afraid of him. I didn't want anything to happen to him." (Pg.59)
ReplyDeleteThis quote stood out to me becuase it shows how caring Ruth is. Eventhough her dad who was a jewish rabbi and had done horrible things to her when she was little.This lowered her self-esteem. Ruths' father did things like go in to her bed and molest her.
I agree. I wondered why she would still care so much about him. He was so terrible to her, and yet she really did care about him. I shows how desent she is, and how different she is from her father. Although I wonder if she didn't want his to die because of her fear of death rather than her love for her father
Delete"I never did like dead people and I never did like guns. That's why I never let my children play with toy guns." (Page 60)
DeleteThis quote stood out to me because Ruth can really stand her ground sometimes, but now you get to see why she does certain things the say she does them. You can relate her fear of death to her grandfather. She really liked her grandfather so it made his death unbearable for her, a young girl at that time. Ruth even felt scared for the death of her dad even though he put her and her family through such hard times. From all her past experiences you can tell she would never want anything happening to her children. Violence also played an important in Ruth's childhood. She grew up in a segregated world with death and disease. That's probably why she emphasizes education to her children insisting that she'd never let them make wrong choices. Ruth does this because she never had anyone their to tell her whats wrong or right out of love and most kids during that time didn't either.
I think the only reason why Ruth stilled cared for her father even though he did horrible things to her is because she was young. I don't think it even matters at that age weather or not he's a rabbi, hes her father and kids never want to lose faith and trust in their parents.
Delete"Please come home Helen. This is no place for you to be. Just come on home. The peephole closed."
ReplyDeleteI really liked this quote because Ruth is kind of realizing what she put her mother through and how her mother felt when her two children left. Ruth might regret leaving and putting her through all of that. I think that's another reason why to keep her kids focused on school. She doesn't want them to hear something bad and just run off forever like Helen did. Ruth doesn't want her kids to make the same mistake she did. Helen is also realizing that her mother went through the same thing that she is going through. Ruth feared that her children wouddo what she did. Maybe when Helen has kids she'll feel the same way and regret running from her mother. I do kind of agree with what Helen did. Ruth was basically living Helen's life for her. You have to let your children do there own thing sometimes no matter how much you disagree. If you don't let them be free and themselves they'll always be dependent on someone and never be happy. So why is Ruth doing the same thing to her children that her mother did to her?
“I never did like dead people, and I never did like guns.”
ReplyDeleteThis line stood out to me while I was reading because I think the bluntness of this quote really says a lot about her. I don’t think anybody likes dead people, or that most people, at least in our current time period, have never even seen a dead body, but she says it like dead bodies were something she saw often, and it was something that disliking, made her out of the ordinary. I think this does give a way a little bit about the time period, but it gives away more about her. Just from this it is clear that death played a big role in her life, and affected her in many ways. We already know her husband; her mother, her brother, her sister, and her grandparents have all died, not to mention how she said death was very common where she lived. We know that she has been exposed to all of this death, and we are still only at the beginning or her story. It seems that although sure she doesn’t like death, she accepts it. This reminds me a lot of Frank McCourt in Angela’s Ashes because he was also exposed to a lot of death, that he never really understood, and grew to the point where it wasn’t even a big deal.
I really like the connection you made between the two books. I completely agree with it. Frank McCourt seems to dismiss death and breeze past it while writing about it and so does James McBride's mother. Whenever she talks about death she talk doesn't dwell over it or talks about how good the person was in life and all that usual talk that you hear of people.
DeleteI wonder why their reactions to death are so similar?
Could it be due to James McBride's mothers religious beliefs? I think as the book continues we might get a better sense of it.
"I was always worried that Tateh's gun would go off and accidentally kill him while he was cleaning it. Although I was afraid of him, I didn't want anything to happen to him." (P.59)
ReplyDeleteThis quote really surprised me when I read it. Jame's mother is always going on about her father being this "fox" and she talked about how vicious and evil he was and how afraid she was of him. Yet through all that her instincts to love her family still push through. Even though her father was a bastard she still cared about him. Why? I can't even begin to imagine. I think that the only thing that makes her still care for him would be her instinct as a child to love her father and want to care for him. But I wonder if she still has this care for him and she obviously cared for her mom, then why did she leave them? I'm anticipating to see a final reason or action that makes her make that decision to leave her whole family.
I agree and I think it's interesting how she didn't want her father to die even after all the horrible things that he did and said to her and her siblings. I think that one of the reasons why she left later on in her life was because she was innocent when she was thinking about the gun going off and when she got older she saw even more of how bad her father was. I also wonder why she left home if she cared about her family. Maybe it wasn't because of her family but because of other people or the town she lived in and how society was, especially with all the seperation between white and blacks.
Delete"'Look at them laughing,' he'd say in Yiddish. 'They don't have a dime in their pocket and they're always laughing.' But he had plenty of money and we were all miserable." p. 61
ReplyDeleteThis quote stood out to me because I think it tells another reason why Ruth was so unhappy at home and why she wanted to leave so badly. I also think that this plays into how she raises her children. She puts her children's lives, safety, and happiness before hers because she wanted them to have a much better childhood than she did. This also reminds me of how when we talked about Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes and said that he could have seen how his father was and followed him or that could have inspired him to do something different. I think that is what Ruth is doing in The Color of Water.
I also think this was a reason that Ruth feels so comfortable in Church, the way she admired the black poor people getting happy and dressed up every sunday was something she really admired and I think that, too plays into the way she raises her children.
Delete"Although I was afraid of him, I didn't want anything to happen to him." (Page: 59)
ReplyDeleteThis line stood out to me because Ruth is able to care for those who have caused her pain. Even though her father had caused her so much trauma, she still worries for him. She doesn't want anything to happen to him even though he molested her many times. I think she only cares about him because she is so young, even though she knows what he did was wrong she doesn't want to lose faith and trust in her father. Later on in life she completely realizes what's going on and starts saying he is a fox.
well I picked the same quote, and we are on the same page. I agree with everything you said expect for the part about her being young; that's why she cares. I don't think it has anything to do with being young at all. I think it has to do with the type of person she is.
Delete"We watched in awe as Helen stood her ground...and survived a beating with the belt by Mommy...She shrugged when Mommy was done."pg 72
ReplyDeleteThis quote stood out to me because almost automatically I compared Helens character to Holden from The Catcher in the Rye. Helen standing there and taking a beating from her mother without complaining or crying shows me how strong she is as a person. Although I love Helen's charcater i wonder what her mother Ruth was thinking.I would think that she was angry, yet also surprised and happy. I think this because, since Ruth wasnt able to stand up for herself when she was living her tormented childhood, shes happy that Helen will probably never go through what she has given that she is so strong and not afraid to stand up for herself. This compares to the Catcher in the Rye because Holden was always hiding behind his real feelings to avoid judgement, yet his younger sister Pheobe didnt care. Holden looked up to that and thought of Pheobe aa an even more cherishable person becasue of that trait. Although the difference is that Holden compared this to innocence and childhood, being the reason why he didnt want any kid to grow up, not even himself. I just wanted to know why people look up to others that do what they wish they could do,yet never give whatever it is that they like a chance?
Pamela Yiadom
ReplyDeletePg.59 " Although I was afraid of him, I did't want anything to happen to him"
I really loved this line because it showed us that Ruth was a very caring person, no matter what the person did. Her father did so many unforgettable painful things to her, but some where in her heart ,she still worried about him and loved him. And that shows us the type of person Ruth is. It's just like when some one that's close to us like our parents or sibling but you still worry and care for them no matter what.
For the McBride family, there was a different livig in that house for each of the twelve siblings. Dennis managed to make it through the house, college, med school, while being a civil rights advocate. Helen felt she couldn't live there anymore and closed the peephole when she saw her own mother. It takes a grave hatred to close a peephole on your own mother, begging for you to come home. The variety of experiences living in a project with 12 kids shows so much, after all, everyone's different and having 12 different personalities in one house is tough because people are just bound to clash. We don't know what Helen's and Kathy's fight was about, but it must have been the straw that broke the camels back for Helen. It's also crazy that Ruth didn't make a life promise to give her kids the best life possible after having a terrible child with a non loving father and a disabled mother. You would think she would realize the it would be close to impossible to raise 12 kids as a single mother.
ReplyDeletesorry "the peephole closed" is my quote
Delete"We listened and never swallowed gum."
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a really funny quote. It made me realize that this is a real family. After the Mom tells the family that gum will clog up their "rear end", it reminded me of the tricks parents all over use to get their kids to stop doing stuff. Like saying "Making that face will make it stick forever." It really made me realize that this family isn't just a bunch of semi-violent teen characters, but an actual family.
I completely agree with you. I think that, as readers, we get drawn to the constant traumatic violence that is the world of Ruth and James, but sometimes its nice to connect something laughable to the readers experience. These moments are, I guess, sort of a happy reminder that this is still a real family and will always have its ups and downs.
Delete"But what always struck me about black folks was that every Sunday they'd get dressed up so clean for church I wouldn't recognize them. I liked that. They seemed to have such a purpose come Sunday morning." page 61
ReplyDeleteEven when she was young, Ruth had respect for blacks and also for the Christian church, despite coming from a Jewish family who hated blacks. Ruth also never was interested in Judaism, and she hated studying the Bible, probably because it was her father who was making her do it, and she was scared of him. But usually, children have similar opinions to those of their parents because that is how they were brought up. What caused Ruth to go completely against her father's (and even society at the time's) views? Maybe it was because she hated her father and the life that she was living, but still, her views were extremely radical for that time. Also, perhaps Ruth showed such great interest in Christianity because it was founded on the principles of love and compassion, both of which she was lacking in her home life.
“I was always worried that Tateh’s gun would go off…although I was afraid of him, I didn’t want anything to happen to him”. –pg. 59
ReplyDeleteThis quote really shocked me and reminded me of none other than Holden Caulfield and the irony that is his life. Ruth has confused feelings about having to love her father and wanting to love her father. When I think about the countless trauma that Ruth’s seen in her life, it’s just very scary to me. Ruth has seen her mother running in the Holocaust, her father is abusive, and she had to experience racism and the horrors that come with it (KKK, Black Panthers). However, her respect lies with many African Americans so much because they can stand up for themselves when their world gets tough, but Ruth can’t stand up for herself because of the undeniable fear that she still carries with her. Ruth may also love her faith of Christianity because she feels a part of something bigger, whole, and stronger when put together.
I agree that Ruth has confused feelings about having to love her father and wanting to love her father. I think she feels obligated to love her father but her fear of him abusing her prevents her from doing so.
Delete"Cursing was not allowed. We weren't even allowed to say the word lie, we had to use 'story.'" P. 69
ReplyDeleteThis stood out to me because his mom was very strict and their home had many rules that were unrealistic in today's day. The children were reaching adolescence and it was common to hear cursing at that age. I wondered why McBride's mother would be so strict about cursing. Their family was very religious so it made sense that she didn't want her children cursing because it is against God's word, but the world "lie" wasn't allowed and that is very awkward. Ruth McBride probably knew her kids would experience lots of verbal hate so she wanted to make sure they wouldn't hurt others
I agree with your point. ith their mother at work and twelve children of various ages responsible for their own well-being in the house, obviously discipline must be upheld. A strong part of that is proper language and behavior. If there was only chaos their very survival would be in jeopardy.
Delete“My brothers and sisters were my best friends, but when it came to food, they were enemies. There were so many of us we were constantly hungry, scavenging for food in the empty refrigerator and cabinets.” Pg. 65-66
ReplyDelete“If you were the first to grab the purse when she got home, you ate. If you missed it, well, sleep tight.” Pg. 67
This quote stood out to me because it shows the struggle James had to go through when he wanted a meal. He constantly had to fight his siblings for food because there was never enough for all of them. I think Ruth let her children fight for the food instead of splitting it evenly between them because she wanted them to learn how to survive on their own and be independent like she was when she was younger. I think this is also part of the reason why James and his siblings wouldn’t complain when they didn’t get the purse, because they knew that the person who got the purse wouldn’t share the food. These two quotes bring up the question of whether looking out for yourself in times of struggle is considered selfish.
"Just come on home. The peephole closed."
ReplyDeleteThis quote to end the chapter was a bit of a cliffhanger for me. I wonder whats going to happen. Either Helen closed the peephole because she had to unlock the door so that she could come home to her mother, or if she closed the peephole because she didn't want to go back home or even talk to the mom. Maybe it wasn't even Helen at all. I think it was stupid for her to run away. Shes only 15. Who knows what kind of trouble she could be getting into. I expected her to run away for one night and then just come back the next morning. The brothers should have broken up the girls before things got out of hand. I wonder what they were fighting about?
"Car after car drove by, so many it was like a parade. "What the heck is that?" Dee-Dee asked. "I don't know" I said."
ReplyDeleteThis line stood out to me because it showed how much that these girls didn't know about the world around them. And this was of no fault of their own, as we know from earlier chapters their father was a very close minded person and wouldn't want his children affiliating with anything that wasn't jewish. And this carries on through ruth's adulthood , she tells her children to include themselfs anything that has nothing to do with them
I agree with what you that Ruth carries on her mindset of not interacting with anyone or anything that doesn't have to do with herself and passes it on to her children. Expanding on this idea, I feel like this closed off mindset is what perks lots of her children's curiosity in things like the civil rights movement. So, by trying to control her children, she ended up sparking a rebellion among them.
Delete"Helen didn't come home that night. Nor the next day. Nor the next. She was 15 years old," (p. 76).
ReplyDeleteThis quote stood out to me because I thought Helen running away from home was similar to when her mother, Ruth, ran away from her parents. Ruth felt forced to escape her family's strict rules, and her sexually abusive father. Helen, though not sexually abused, was feeling the pressure to do well in school and behave which Ruth placed on her, and couldn't bear it anymore. If they also ran away for similiar reasons, one would think that Ruth would be understanding of her daughter? Yet quite ironically she continues to pressure Helen to come back home. Although, at least Ruth tries to bring her daughter back home, as opposed to her own parents, who saw her as dead to them.
I think you prove a good point. Both of them ran away but for different circumstances. I feel like Helen is going to come back though because she knows that she has a family that actually loves and is willing to come after her unlike in Ruth's situation with her parents who proclaimed that she was dead to them when she left.
DeleteI think you prove an excellent point on how Ruth is almost biased on why her daughter ran away. Even though its not right and dangerous, Ruth wanted to run away from her abusive father and Helen wants to run away from the pressures from her mother and school. Ruth should be more accepting and see how daughter's point of view, before she just demands for her to come home.
Delete"They didn't complain about it. Who would they complain to? The cops?...Their families were together and although they were poor they seemed happy." Page 61
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote is significant because it shows how what Ruth sees when she looks at a person. She judges people based on their personality and their character not their appearance. This page talks about what black people in the book had to go through in Suffolk, Virginia, and the difficulties they had to face. I think that the fact that she saw black people as people who don't complain and alway seem happy could have been one of the reasons for her to marry a dark skinned person and why she feels more comfortable around black people and the good feeling that they bring her instead of white people who she calls the "white man". I think that a lot of people in the world also judge someone based on the inside not the outside, just like Ruth. People base their views on experiences they have been through. In the book you can see Ruth doing this. Her family life, such as the the things her father did to her affected who she is now and what her views are.
I agree with you on every point. I think that she loves their ability to really appreciate what they have, even if they live in waterless, non-electricity housing and are poor and have to work hard 24/7 they are truly happy. And although she had a "fortunate" life as a child, she was miserable. She wished she could have the happiness that they had. That is probably why she always acts as if she is a black woman and says things like "oh those white people! when are they gonna learn?" She just wants to keep on running until her father can't see her anymore. And as an adult with 12 children who she is all proud of, she might've finally run far enough to escape his control.
Delete"We learned to eat standing up, sitting down, lying down, and half asleep, because there was never enough places at the table for everyone to sit." (Pg.67)
ReplyDeleteJames McBride gives you a insight of what it is to grow up with deprivation but which is balanced by the sheer joy of having twelve brothers and sisters. It seems like a lab observing the dynamics of human behavior. Obviously it's not all fun and games, the proof of that is Helen's reaction of total alienation. Religion and idealism can only go so far and in Helen's case it makes me wonder what was the final straw?
Great question, Gila! Someone try to answer this! What made Helen decide to run away? Wasn't it equally hard for everyone? What made her stand apart? What was her final straw?
Delete"Our furniture consisted of two beautiful rocking chairs that Ma bought from Macy's because on television her hero John F. Kennedy use one to rock his kids, a living room couch, and an assortment of chairs, dressers, and beds." -page 68
ReplyDeleteThis quote tells the reader a lot about Ruth. Ruth loves John F. Kennedy who was one of the most popular leaders with blacks because he brought hope for better things to come for blacks. He also supported the Civil Right's movement. Ruth grew up Jewish and married two black men and both groups faced inequality so John F. Kennedy represented a better future and overcoming inequality.
Ruth brought furniture at Macy's one of the most expensive stores at the time. She didn't have a lot of money so it shows how much money she put aside to buy nice things for her family. She bought things that allowed to her to talk and communicate with her family.
"I still know those verses, but I learned them out of... not out of love for God but just out of ... what? ... I don't know. Duty. My father was a rabbi, right? Shouldn't his kids know the Old Testament? We hated those sessions." Page 62
ReplyDeleteThis quote really stood out to me because it explained her reason for converting to Christianity even more. She talks about it earlier in the book as well, how a lot of the things her family and her did had nothing to do with love. Her parents' marriage wasn't based off love AT ALL. Her father needed the money, and her mother needed a man to support her and her children. It is exactly the same with this quote. Her relationship with her 1st religion isn't healthy. Religion is about faith and hope and compassion. If she practiced Judaism because her father made her, and it was her duty as a CHILD and a DAUGHTER in the 1930s to listen to her father. No matter what he said or did to her, she was taught to just accept it and move on. She grew up seeing so much hate. Blacks hiding with the fear that they could die any day. She didn't like this world of "MUST DO'S" and "NEEDS." She wanted to live a life, where she was happy, she didn't care about having ALL of the money in the world. She focused on her children's education, well being, and HAPPINESS (very much unlike her father), went against all of what was expected in those times and married a black man, and converted to a Christian to seek a faith, a God, a group of people that would say, you can be here if YOU want to be. It is ironic that she is so strict about it with her children, however that may just be out of the hope that they'll learn something out of it and be proud to have had a mother that loved them so much to make them succeed and have faith in life and succession.
Atticus, you put out an interesting irony here: Why do you think Ruth is so strict with her own kids when clearly she wanted to establish an independent identity herself?
Delete"Although I was afraid of him. I didn't want anything to happen to him."
ReplyDeleteThis quote about Ruth's dad really stood out to me. I found this quote interesting because earlier on, Ruth had said she didn't know how to love until she became a christian, though all her life she had been an extremely empathic, and caring person. This shows that she had had the love and capability to forgive others all along, she just didn't know it.
"I had seven kids and was pregnant with you.. I called one of my aunts to ask for help and she said, "Your brother died in the war." I asked her what happened, and she said "Stay out of our lives. You've been out. Stay out."
ReplyDeleteThe last sentences on the end of Chapter 7 stood with me for a long time. The mean and cold-hearted aunts Ruth has is shocking. They won't help their pregnant niece because of their prejudice and simple minds. I think they wont Ruth because she married a black man and probably defied all her family to find her happiness.
Oscar Belkin-Sessler
ReplyDelete11/29/12
The Color Of Water
Blog #3
“My brothers and sisters were my best friends, but when it came to food they were, my enemies.” (PG. 65-66)
This quote isn’t very long nor does it have much of a deeper meaning but it does have some importance. This quote is one of the details that showed us how the McBride family lived. This gives us a sense of how hard growing up in this household really was, and looking at it from a Psychological stand point it gives us hints of what James will be like in adulthood. This quote also shows us a bit about his relationship with his siblings, because of this lack of food it divided them but it seems that when you take the food away, they are all each other have. James goes on to talk about how it didn’t matter that the T.V. was always broken because he had his siblings to keep him company. Another interesting thing about his siblings was how different each one was. It seems that everyone was unique in there own way, and for the younger kids such as James, this shaped his characteristics.
"They dont have a dime in their pocket and they're always laughing" But we had plenty money and we were all miserable." Page 61
ReplyDeleteI chose this quote because it shows how Ruth feels about money and she realizes that money isn't everything even at a young age. Ruth worked hard at her father's store she saw how much money they made and she still her clothes were worse than poor people. She was miserable and she sees how people that don't have money and should be worried are happier than her. i think this changes Ruth completely and maybe that's why she isn't rich now having 12 kids. She rather be happy with her children than be rich and miserable like she was. ( Sorry i posted so late it wasn't working but I had it written down so i'm catching up)
pg 59 "Although I was afraid of him, I didn't want anything to happen to him."
ReplyDeletei think that this quote from the book really shows how you can love someone yet hate them at the same time. i am not necesserily implying that she loves her father but that she is emotionally connected to him through being a part of her family. i mean he still is her father and she can't change that. For example you can connect this to, two siblings when they are fighting, they may yell at each other that they hate them but in the end they always are connected in some way.