The Color Of Water

The Color of Water is a good memoir because the author, James McBride, describes his life in vivid detail about the unique situation he grew up in. As an African American child growing up in the 1960’s he was exposed to various levels of racism, prejudice, and judgement. Though this book does consist of topics of hate such as racism, you never get the sense that McBride has any feelings of reprisal or wants the reader to feel contrite because of what he has experienced. His mother also contributes to the novel sharing many of her darker stories which I consider being borderline bad memoir topics but explains them in a way that you get the sense she is not looking for people to feel sorry for her. Throughout the novel McBride and his mother shared the lessons they learned, questions he has asked, and experiences they have gone through to help piece together his story and thus, making it a good memoir.

The protagonist and author of The Color of Water clearly had an uncommon upbringing which consisted of his two fathers (after one died and his mother remarried), eleven African American siblings, and a white mother. He spent a lot of time throughout the book contemplating whether he was part of the white or black community. He had a different view of each race as he shares his description of his father “Whatever he believed, he believed. It didn’t matter to him whether it was really true or not. He just changed the truth till it fit him. He was a real white man.” He described his story throughout the book not as a depressed child lost and not knowing where to turn but rather as a curious boy trying to experience as much as he could to help him figure out who he is. His mother also had trouble figuring out who she was at his age. She resented her father for treating her mother so poorly and looked for someone that would respect her views. With her search she found the open minded African American community throughout her life. “...in fact that’s what I liked about black folks all my life: They never judged me. My black friends never asked me how much money I made, or what school my children went to, or anything like that. They just said, “Come as you are.” Blacks have always been peaceful and trusting.” Like his mother,  McBride wanted that sense of belonging. To try to find answers he would ask questions to mainly his mother and siblings all of which who would give him a vague answer. “I asked her if I was black or white. She replied ‘You are a human being. Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!’” Though he was confused, he never stopped asking those questions and searching for answers in a way that kept the reader from getting the sense he felt sorry for himself, but rather that he was open to new ideas and concepts.

McBride, as well as his mother, also shared many of the mistakes and lessons they both have experienced personally and witnessed from others. He explains this in a way that neither exploits nor shows any sign of retribution towards another person except for one instance on the mother's behalf. This instance consisted when the mother was a young child and the father acted on her in an inappropriate manner. This shows what a repulsive human being this man was and in my opinion McBride’s mother Ruth has every right to resent him for being such a sick person. Besides this rare event the rest of the book shows both mother and son taking full responsibility for their actions and trying to learn from them which is another sign of a good memoir. For example, when Ruth was pregnant with her African American boyfriend, Peter’s child she never tried to place the blame on anyone else. “What a fool I was to believe we could get away with it!... ‘We are lucky no white folks knew about us’ I was sure no one knew.’”  This shows how she never tried to pin the blame on Peter or anyone else and took responsibility for her own actions. This is a major part of a good memoir.

Throughout the book both Ruth and James share many of their experiences good and bad with the reader. Most of the time the anecdotes shared involve an experience consisting of a time where the objective that was thought to be the right thing to do at the time turns out to be completely the opposite. Take, for instance, when young James McBride became disarranged and he began flunking most of his classes. “...while I had been a good student in ninth grade, the following year I more or less dropped out. I failed everything. I left home in the mornings and simply didn’t go to school.” Later he admits that the choices he thought were the best decisions then were the wrong ones looking back. Though he does acknowledge and regret his decisions  he does not dwell on them which always is a big component of a good memoir.

The memoir The Color of Water is a good memoir because it contains the proper elements such as honesty, integrity, humility, and modesty. These traits of James McBride’s book show that it is in fact a well written memoir. As I read this book I rarely, except for a few times, felt any feelings of hostility towards any of the characters in the novel. If anything this shows that his mother and McBride have both learned from their past and have a better sense of who they are today.