The Color of Water-Week 1, Post B

Dear James,
You must learn to allow your mother time. I know how much you want to learn about your grandparents and other distant relatives, but clearly your mother has a reason why she refuses to talk about them. You may be a young boy but you can still catch on to signals that your mother prefers to keep her past private. It is easy to assume that your mother experienced a horrifically difficult childhood by her abrupt dismissal of any conversation of her past. I ask you to please give her sufficient time. She is a strong woman who loves you unconditionally. She will tell you when she is ready.
James, you must also learn to accept the fact that your mother is different. Yes, she is a white woman raising 12 mixed race children on her own living in a predominantly black town. People will stare. People will gossip. This is a harsh reality of life that will take some getting used to. When you’re receiving these strange looks, rather than feel ashamed of your mother you should be proud of what she has accomplished and recognize her unfailing strength.
Finally, you need to learn to let your mother cope with situations in her own way. I understand that bringing up your successful brother Dennis when you seem to be faltering in your studies or behavior can be annoying, but think of how she must feel to have brought up a child by herself who is now on his way to medical school. “The heights he attained, heights we puny mortals could only dream of achieving, were trumpeted and crowed by Mommy in every corner of the house. Dennis had finished college. Dennis had gone to Europe. And now, for his crowning achievement, Dennis, oh glorious Dennis, oh mighty Dennis---Dennis! Dennis!---sought the highest, most wonderful, most incredible achievement any human being, any son, could hope to achieve.” (70) It’s normal to feel this way about your high esteemed brother but, you shouldn’t let your mother know how obnoxious she’s being when she rants about him. Let her have that moment to be proud of her self when she has devoted her life to raising you.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, be kind to your mother. Show her appreciation. Show her devotion. Make her proud to be your mother and never allow yourself to feel ashamed to be her son. It doesn’t matter what color she is, she is your mother and she loves you as any other mother would.

Sincerely,
Emily

The Color of Water-Week 1, Post A

Vocab:
-Fedora (6): A soft felt hat with a curved brim, worn with the crown creased lengthwise.
-Typify (7): To represent by a type or symbol.

Appeals:
"I still remember the smell of the South. It smelled like azaleas. And leaves. And peanuts. Peanuts everywhere. Planters peanuts had their headquarters in Suffolk...You could buy peanuts by the pound in Suffolk for nothing. There were farmers growing peanuts, hauling peanuts, making peanut oil, peanut butter, even peanut soap. They called the high school yearbook The Peanut. They even had a contest once to see who could make the best logo for Planters peanut company. Some lady won it. They gave her twenty-five dollars, which was a ton of money in those days." (39) This passage represents an emotional appeal because the reader feels a full understanding of life in a small town. This town had one aspect about it that made it unique and they truly embraced it. The reader can understand how living in this peanut-obbssessed town could drive a person out of their mind, which explains the reasoning for the sarcastic tone it is described with.

"The biggest event Suffolk had seen in years was a traveling sideshow that came through town on the railroad tracks, with a stuffed whale in a boxcar. The folks loved that. They loved anything different, or new, or from out of town, except for Jews. In school the kids called me "Christ killer" and "Jew baby." That name stuck with me for a long time. "Jew baby." You know it's so easy to hurt a child. (39-40) I feel that this is an emotional appeal. This passage struck me hard and the reader can feel a real understanding for how she was treated in this small and small-minded town. Any reader knows what is it like to be picked on by other children when they were young, even if it was a rare and a small experience. From those experiences we can easily agree that it is indeed easy to hurt a child.

"...but even as a boy I knew that God was all-powerful because of Mommy's utter deference to Him, and also because she would occasionally do something in church that I never saw her do at home or anywhere else: at some point in the service, usually when the congregation was singing one of her favorite songs, like 'We've Come This Far by Faith' or 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus,' she would bow down her head and weep. It was the only time I ever saw her cry...Mommy's tears seemed to come from someplace else, a place far away, a place inside her that she never let any of us children visit, even as a boy I felt there was pain behind them."(50) This passage also represents an emotional appeal. The reader has learned that James's mother is an extremely strong woman. One can assume that she would not be very prone to tears because she is too stong-willed to allow herself to appear weak in front of others. So when I read this passage I can truly understand her emotions she feels in church and how significantely they affect her.

Quote:
"A short silence. 'My mother died many, many, many years ago,' she said. 'My father, he was fox. No more questions tonight. You want some coffee cake?'" (25) This is the most information James has received about his mother's past at this point in the book. The statement "he was a fox." caught my eye. All James had asked was why he never met his grandparents and Ruth went on to tell him that his grandmother died, however, she then tells him his grandfather was a sly, untrustworthy man (aka, a "fox"). The reader knows the grandfather has also died and that is the reason James never met him, yet this is not the reply Ruth chooses to answer James's question. Clearly, Ruth feels very strongly about the kind of person her father was. This could possibly be the reason Ruth keeps her past an extremely private matter.

Theme:
Feeling ashamed of one's family is a theme that is quite apparent in this memoir. Ruth constately talks about her family in a sarcastic, embarrased tone. James displays this emotion as well when talking about his white mother and his 11 other brothers and sisters.