Color Of Water MIDTERM Review

Fishel Shilsky (Tateh)

Ruth's father. He was racist, demanding, harsh, unloving, and greedy. Against blacks. He sexually abused his daughter Ruth. From Poland and worked as a Store owner/Jewish Rabbi

Hudis Shilsky (Mameh)

Ruth's mother. Suffered from polio her entire life. Soft-spoken and meek. While she came from a well-to-do background, her family had little to do with her because of her handicap. Ruth felt that her mother was good to her, and suffered a lifelong sense of guilt for not taking better care of Mameh

Ruth McBride

The central figure of the memoir. She is the tough but big-hearted mother of James and eleven other children. A Polish Jewish immigrant, she is spiritual, intelligent, determined, practical, and brave. She stresses the importance of work, school, and God

Andrew Dennis McBride

 Ruth's first husband and James's biological father. Dennis was a violinist from North Carolina who Ruth met while working at her aunt's leather factory. He was gentle and strong, and fathered eight of Ruth's twelve children. He died from lung cancer at a young age

Hunter Jordan

Ruth's second husband and James's primary male role model. Hunter was a mechanic for the New York City Housing Authority. He met Ruth shortly after her first husband's death, married her, and had four children with her. Like Dennis, he was rather conservative. He shared Ruth's notions of the importance of God, family, and education. He died of a stroke when James was a teenager

Dee-Dee (Gladys)

Ruth's younger sister. Dee-Dee was a shy, pretty girl, less strong-willed than Ruth. She had fewer conflicts with her father than Ruth did, and she was more Americanized from a young age. While Ruth always envied her, later in life she realized that Dee-Dee had suffered sorrow and desperation

Sam

Ruth's brother, two years older than Ruth. Tateh was particularly hard on the timid, sensitive Sam, expects him to fulfill many duties at the family store. Sam found the burden too weighty and ran away at fifteen. He was killed in the army during World War II

Frances

Ruth's only childhood friend in Suffolk. Frances was sweet and accepting of Ruth, even though she is from a gentile family. Ruth's few good memories of Suffolk involve the time she spent playing with Frances

Bubeh

Ruth's maternal grandmother, she is one of her few family members Ruth recalls fondly. Bubeh allowed Ruth to stay with her in New York. While Bubeh tried to shape Ruth's behavior in some ways, she also gave Ruth some space, and seemed to accept her

**Aunt Mary, Aunt Laura, Aunt Betsy**

Ruth's aunts, and Hudis's sisters. They were wealthy, and generally snobby toward Ruth, although Aunt Betsy helps Ruth when she needs an abortion

**Peter** 

Ruth's first boyfriend, he was the first black person with whom Ruth was genuinely close. Because of the heated racial atmosphere of the times, Peter and Ruth had to see one another secretly. Ruth got pregnant by Peter during her adolescence, but chose not to have the baby

**Helen McBride**

James's older sister and Ruth's daughter. Helen is a strong-willed and pretty girl who runs away from home at the age of fifteen. Perhaps more than any of James's other siblings, her struggles with her background exemplify the political and racial turmoil of the 1960s. She eventually returned home, but her conflict with Ruth had a large impact on

Richie

James’ older brother. Asked Ruth what color is God?…”God is the color of water.”

**Jack** 

 James's older sister. James lives with Jack in Louisville, Kentucky for three summers during his teenage years. James regards her as sweet and fun, but she is also serious: she warns him seriously about his drug abuse and petty crime. Jack's opinion matters to James, and eventually he heeds her advice

Big Richard

Jack's husband. Big Richard is a tough and fun guy who introduces James to all the working men on "the corner"

Chicken Man

Part of the crew on "the corner." Chicken Man is endearing and intelligent, but he has done little with his life, wasting money and time on the corner drinking

What is a gentile?

person not of the Jewish Faith; Christians

Where did Ruth's family live when she was a child (in America)?

Suffolk, Virginia

The apartment project where Dennis and Ruth lived in?

Red Hood Housing Project

What was Ruth's name over time

Ruchel -\> Rachel -\> Ruth

Part of New York where Ruth and her children had their house (hunter bought house)

Queens

How many husbands did Ruth have?

2 - Andrew Dennis McBride and Hunter Jordan

How many children did Ruth have?

12

What does the Bike symbolize?

The bicycle is also a way for Ruth to escape her circumstances. **Unable to move to a new city or start a new life because of her massive family, getting out of the house and riding her bicycle is as close to running from her sadness as Ruth can get. Riding the bicycle helps her stay in a state of constant motion, which gives her less time to think about her unwelcome emotions**

Who is the Narrator of the story/Ruth's son

James McBride

How many children did Andrew (Dennis) and Ruth have? Who was the last one?

8 children; James

Who was Ruth pregnant with when Andrew (Dennis) died

James

What did James call Hunter Jordan

Daddy

How many kids did Ruth and Hunter Jordan have

4

Who does James get info from when he first goes to Suffolk

Eddie Thompson

Who's father took over the Shilsky's old store when they left

Aubrey Rubenstein

Who is James' friend who got married at the end of the book

David Preston

Ruth would only go to David's wedding if...

Kathy went with her

Ruth enjoyed David's wedding because it was

a Jewish wedding

What happened when they all left David's wedding?

Ruth looked back at the synagogue

What is the pattern of Ruth's religion throughout the novel?

She was born Jewish, turned Christian, then participated in a Jewish wedding

Who is David Preston's mom?

Helena

What's up with Helena?

she ran away from the Nazis and lived in the sewer

How long did Helena live in the sewer? Who fed her?

14 months; the three sewer workers

Who was the guy who hired Ruth as a manicurist?

Rocky

What did Rocky try to get Ruth to work as?

a prostitute

What did Chicken man teach James

Chicken Man recognized his failures in life, and urged James to educate himself and work hard.

What did Ruth's family do when she married a black man? Why?

They said shiva because she was dead to them

What is shiva?

7 days of mourning (a jewish funeral)

Why did Tateh marry Mameh?

because she could get him to America

What is reefer?

weed

Who put aside religion and education to become a hippy?

Helen

Who sponsored Ruth's family to come over?

Laurie and Paul Schiffman

Who was Ruth's grandma?

Bubeh

Who was Ruth's grandfather?

Zaydeh

Who were Ruth's siblings?

Sam and Gladys

Ruth never new how to do what until she became a Christian?

love

What was Ruth's nickname in Suffolk?

Jew-Baby

What happened with Richie at CCD?

Richie got mad at CCD about God's skin color and decided to stop attending

What did Ruth and her siblings do at night?

at night they had to memorize verses of the old testament

What did Ruth do when Helen ran away from home/What did Helen say when Ruth asked her to come home?

she called the police; she wouldn't

Why did Ruth call her Aunt/What did she find out/What did her aunt tell her?

for help with the kids/Sam was dead/You're out of our lives so stay out of our lives

How was the hierarchy in Ruth's home set up?

by age

Where did Ruth's Aunts live?

New York

Where did Ruth work in New York?

Aunt Mary's leather factory

Who did Ruth meet while working at the leather factory?

Dennis

Who had diabetes?

Bubeh

Shul

a jewish school

Who do we know taught in a jewish school? What did they teach?

Tateh taught hebrew lessons and bible study

When did James have an identity crisis/what did it represent?

looking at himself in the mirror/the freedom he didn't have

Where did Jack live?

Louisville, Kentucky

Where did Ruth decide to move?

Delaware

What did James have to do in order to turn his life around and go back to school?

had to stop drinking and smoking, but he had withdrawals from alcohol, weed, and LSD

What did James do so he could visit Jack and Big Richard in Kentucky?

purposely flunked out of school

Who paid for James to go to Europe for band?

Mrs. Dawson

What did Mrs. Dawson do that was important regarding James

She made him read poetry/talked to him about music

Where did James go to college

Oberlin College

What did James want to major in

music

Did the Oberlin give James a scholarship or did Mrs. Dawson pay for it

the school gave him a scholarship

Who was Ruth's bff who died shortly after Hunter Jordan died

Irene Johnson

What was up with Hunter Jordan's car?

his car was important to Ruth but it stayed in the driveway since she claimed to not know how to drive

What did Ruth drive when she was younger/Why didn't she drive in NYC

Ruth drove a truck with a trailer on the back when she was younger, but when she was in New York she never drove bc she didn't have a license

New York vs. Delaware: living expenses

New York: more expensive (housing, food, clothes)

What happened when Ruth called Dee-Dee?

she said "You promised you wouldn't leave, call tomorrow" and when she called the next day Dee-Dee's husband picked up and said "don't call here again"

Which of Dennis' Aunts really helped Ruth out?

Aunt Candice

What was the name of Dennis and Ruth's church?

New Brown Memorial Church

What illness did Dennis have?

lung cancer

When Ruth was pregnant with her 8th child what did she and Dennis decide to name them/why?

James after Dennis Uncle Jim

Where was Dennis buried?

North Carolina

Two important things Ruth emphasizes?

Education; Religion

Who was Ruth's friend that originally married a black man until he left her?

Lily

Who did Ruth meet in Aunt Mary's factory?

Dennis McBride

Ruth had to go out and buy refreshments because who was having an affair with Aunt Mary?

Mr. Stein

What was the name of James' band

New American Youth Jazz Band

Why did Mrs. Dawson fire James?

He didn't always do the job properly and was found sleeping somewhere???

What did James major in?

journalism

Where did James get his graduate degree?

Columbia

Where did Ruth meet Hunter?

rib dinners at the Church

How did Hunter Jordan die?

stroke

When Ruth saw her mother for the last time, what did her mother give her?

her passport

Where did Ruth want to get a job when she moved to New York?

Harlem

What did Ruth do when she worked for Rocky?

manicurist

When it became too expensive to live in New York, where did they move?

Delaware

Who was Jack's husband?

Big Richard

Where did they hang out when they visited Big Richard and Jack?

the corner