Where are quotes about identity in James McBride's The Color of Water?
The idea of learning how to find one's identity is quite personal, as every person travels a different journey. James McBride in his book The Color of Water searches for his identity both in heritage and faith. His father was black and his mother is white; his father is a gentile, and his mother spends most of her life hiding (and trying to forget) that she is Jewish. That is not a typical journey of discovery.
Because identity is so personal, the best way to find meaningful and applicable quotes for yourself is to read and discover what resonates. There are a few general life-application things which might be helpful.
In chapter 14, James is spending his days loitering (and getting high) with a bunch of older black men, and one of them--known as "Chicken Man"--tells James that he has to go make something of himself because the world is not...
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going to care enough to seek him out to discover his value. Though Chicken Man does not follow his own advice, it makes James think about what unique gifts and talents he has to offer the world; eventually he does move forward to showcase those.
In chapter 25, James shares his concluding thoughts about the journey of discovery he has been on, realizing he took the path of least resistance (in this case, claiming only his black heritage and ignoring his white). He also understands that what seemed to be a better world, in this case the white world, also had problems and issues which made life difficult. He concludes by saying he did not know who he was for so long because he chose not to look.
Finally, chapter 6 is the chapter in which the title "color of water" is explained. Ruth tells her inquisitive son that God does not pay attention to color because he is not a color--because He is spirit, He is the color of water. This is an important concept regarding identity in terms of faith and race.
As you read, you will undoubtedly find more specific quotes which are applicable to your life; however, these are good general concepts for a discussion about identity.
How is the theme of self-identity developed in The Color of Water?
Author James McBride explores the intersecting roles of race, family, and community in The Color of Water, his memoir of growing up in a biracial family. As this is his memoir, self-identity is developed primarily through reflecting on his own experience, but he learned that his mother’s journey was also particularly relevant.
As one of twelve children, coming of age for McBride meant asserting a definite role in a highly hierarchical structure, which the children, more than their parents, enforced. In an unusual family dynamic for the time, McBride’s mother was white, and his father was black; after his father died, she remarried, and her second husband was black as well. Because of segregation, they lived in a black neighborhood, and his mother rarely associated with other white people.
While the question of race was generally paramount in James’s mind, his mother downplayed it. She gained acceptance in their community, in part because of communal recognition for her strong role in raising the children. Despite acknowledging the differences in their appearance, his mother preferred not to talk about skin color, noting when she did that each of the children was a somewhat different tone and emphasizing their similarities to water, which constantly changes color.
In the turbulent 1960s, as James’s coming of age coincided with the Civil Rights Movement, he became intensely aware of race. Venturing out of his community, he first came to understand how these issues affected his position as a black man navigating a primarily white world. But he also had to confront the unusual situation of his own family, which included hard questions that he posed to his mother. As she told him of her difficult childhood and revealed that she was Jewish by birth and upbringing, he realized what huge steps she had taken in leaving home, converting to Christianity, and loving and marrying an African American pastor. James’s own journey to self-identity depended heavily on trying to understand his mother’s earlier life as well.