Question 2

Race effects a person’s identity by putting the pressures or predigest on them. Lots of things can make a person think that they aren’t good enough to succeed and only a few people can take that and run with it. If you’re living in a multi-racial household it can be hard to see equality. James was living in a house with different races. It shaped him to see equality but also to better identify problems between races. He is more embarrassed by his mother who is white. He is proud to be black but to an extent. His white mom is a problem to how he sees himself and the world. In some ways it’s for the better and others it’s for the worse. He uses this race identity to learn more about himself and his family. It taught him about his family and about the human race more than others. 

color of water conflicts

In this book I believe that there are many conflicts pushed on Ruth her family and James. Ruth has to deal with her past. She has made peace with it but it has shaped her whole life and how she raises her family. How she treats others. And how she deals with loss. James has a different set of conflicts. His moms hidden past and the fact that she is white and he is black plays a huge role on how he functions and reacts in situations. Black power has run through his house hold taking almost all of his siblings with it in the fight. James was pulled in too. He was embarrassed by his white mother and didn't want to be seen with her. To counter act this feeling he turned to drugs such as reefer and drank too much booze. He started to fail school. With his addictions and his white mother he did not know who he was and if he was a proud black man with a white mother who he loved or if she was a stranger and his real black mother was still out there. Ruth had to push him to make the right decisions. She sent him to Kentucky. He got some sense knocked into him when his friend The Chicken Man offered some helpful advise. As the book continues some of the conflicts resolve and others grow. The many conflicts shape the way the family interacts with each other and is a very big part of this book.

color of water

I am reading chapter 12 of the Color of Water. I am really enjoying this book. It is not my normal go to read but I am enjoying it. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read.  I can't really relate to James and his family that much but I can relate to how he and his siblings interact. Having a brother myself I can relate to the "brotherly love" that they share. My brother is constantly driving me crazy with his antics. Ruth I can not relate to at all. I have not been in any of the situations that she has been in. Her life before she was a christian was terrible. I feel bad for Ruth but also admire her strength and ability to move on from such a horrible life.

What it Looks Like

In my book "Lord of the Rings" the setting starts out in Hobbition. The young Frodo Baggins and his elder Bilbo Baggins live. They live in the part of Hobbiton called the Shire. Many hobbits live in this part. It is a quiet place and not much and adventure is there.
Frodo is not that  into the domestic life but he cant bring himself to leave the shire. Bilbo has been to many places in middle earth and Frodo strives to be like him. The Shire is a sweet town filled with the great round doors of hobbit holes. The gardens are always neatly groomed and well put together. the hobbits there were nice and friendly but enjoyed a good scoop of gossip.
outside of the Shire there is adventures of the great kingdoms and the dangers of Mirkwood. Hobbits rarely leave the Shire and most of them don't long for the adventure that Frodo wishes.

The Book I Chose

I chose to read Lord of the Rings, the Fellow Ship of the Ring. It is a fantasy novel written by J.R.R Tolkien. I am reading the first book of the trilogy. I've seen the movies and I have always wanted to read the books. I enjoy fantasy novels and I love the adventure in them. I am a huge geek and I am ashamed that I haven't read one of the geekest books out there. I know that I will enjoy it.