The color of water

Color of Water

Society means an extended social group having a distinctive cultural, religious and economic organization, but inside there is not only one culture or religion, there are alsodifferent ways how people think and many beliefs that differ from one to another. Having this diversity of thoughts is what make conflicts between people and generate social problems as racial andreligious racism.

In The Color of Water, James McBride writes a tribute to his mother, Ruth McBride. Ruth came to America with her family as immigrants when she was a girl, during his life she had toovercome many prejudices of the society and achieved them thanks to her determination, intelligence and courage. In the other hand James McBride was born months after his father death, therefore heregarded his stepfather as “Daddy”. James grew up questioning about his own identity and he had to experience many social issues since he did not know his background. The book relates both stories Ruth’s andJames’s and shows how both want to hold on certain parts of their lives and hope to forget others. As I was reading this memoir, I found a relation between what was happening with Ruth’s and James’slives and what is happening in our daily life.

For example, after James’s stepfather died, he began to do badly in the school and furthermore he fell into drugs and crimes because once more hefound confusion over his identity but later he became aware of the importance to stop and take a role in his own life and future. The same occurs to many of the adolescents in our society. Sinceadolescence is a time for trying new things; teenagers use drugs for many reasons, including curiosity. It seems to feel good, to reduce stress, to feel grown up or to fit in. But at the end of this is justa way to show that something in their lives is bothering or simply that they are not clear of whom they are. Unfortunately, not all of our teenagers realize that they are erroneous as James McBride...