Ruth In Judith Guest's The Color Of Water

Ruth May narrates how God is watching her all the time. Because God is monitoring her, she tries to avoid bad thoughts. Ruth May, who is only five years old, is already fearful of making a mistake because she fears making God mad. The idea of always being observed, and the fear of getting punished for bad actions came from Nathan, “So if we suffered in our little house on the peanut plain of Bethlehem, it was proof that one of us had committed a failure of virtue.” ( Kingsolver, 200) Orleanna shares how her husband believes that any unfortunate event is a punishment for their sins.

When established, overcoming narratives can manifest themselves in various ways. In Simon’s text, the root of the overcoming narrative lies in Beth’s relationship to the theory of self-determination. As previously mentioned, Beth, as a character, remains static in her development; in fact, with the narrative model that Rachel presents, Beth isn’t actively overcoming anything in the span of the text, but has already overcome the impediments which have plagued her. It is Rachel who is grappling with her sister’s behavior and, consequently, the ideals of self-determination Beth lives by. Rachel eventually finds security in this theory, insisting that “Beth is living by her own choices” and that “she is, in many ways, the embodiment of self-determination”

From there, it is a loveless marriage where her father constantly abused Ruth’s mom. Ruth’s father also ran a tight ship where while Ruth could come over to her one friend’s house, her friend could not come over to hers, because she was a gentile. Readers can see that Ruth knew what it was like“[…] when people laugh at you walking down the street, or snicker when they hear you speaking Yiddish, or just look at you with hate in their eyes” (80-1). With James, he grew up in a time where there was a lot of tension between white people and black people. He was afraid that “These people will kill Mommy” (27), with these people referring to the Black Panther, but at the same time, his older siblings supported black power.

Ruth would not associate the Jewish religion with white people so it made her children think that they were very different. James stated that he and his siblings took this feeling into adulthood (McBride 87). This affected him in a couple good ways including a better understanding of the Jewish people and their relationships with blacks. James said that he understood the relationship to the bone as an adult (McBride 87). These religious values also have some ties with the racial problem referenced in the

Ruth lived a very sad life with her father, she admire the Black folks they were poor but they appeared happy. Ruth states, “If there was one thing Tateh didn’t like more than gentiles, it was black folks”(McBride 107). Tateh hated black folks so much that after Ruth married Dennis James’ father a black man, he disowned her. Keeping that a secret was better off for her kids but James wanted to know where was his mother from, who was her family, so James went to Suffolk, Virginia where his mother was raised. To find out that his grandfather was a racist, horrible person.

She started dating black guys and ended up marrying a black man. During the 1900s, interracial marriages were unacceptable but to Ruth marriage had nothing to do with race. “See, a marriage needs love. And God. And a little money.

38 From the quote, I am assuming Ruth considers Christians to be better than Jews. This is because in the text she states, “Being Jewish and having a handicapped mother. I was ashamed of my mother, but see, love didn’t come natural to me until I became a Christian.” When she converted to Christianity, Ruth discovered love. Although she had no appreciation for her mother, once she became one she understood how it felt to be one.

Ruth and Isabel are both slaves who are attending the funeral of their previous owner Miss Finch. Both of them are excited when they realize they will be free once their owner dies, as stated in her will. However Miss Finch’s brother Robert doesn 't approve of this. He instead sells them to Anne and Elihu Lockton who are Loyalists currently during the Revolutionary War. Anne makes the girls call her Madam and is very cruel to them.

Yet, at home, she devotes love and curiosity to her family. This contrasts to multiple other characters, as the relationship between Ruth and her single mother is inspiring. Accordingly, she respects her mother, who provides encouragements like, “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” With pure gratitude, Ruth seeks to apply her mother’s words. When bullies trouble Philip, Ruth can empathise with him.

Can someone’s loyalty to you change the way you treat them? In the Book of Ruth, Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi and God gave her what she wanted which is a husband. Loyalty was presented in so many ways in this book. Ruth was not only loyal to Naomi and God, but Boaz was loyal to Ruth by going to marry her through every circumstance. Those are the 3 instances in the story where loyalty is prominent.

In the narrative, Oates recalls her high school years in which she reconnects with Ruth Weidel, who gave teachers the implication that “something had happened” and how they “treated her guardedly” (Oates 561). This ties into the theme of the individual versus society. When she lived with her family, Ruth and the rest of her family were treated as outcasts and were talked about behind their backs. Now in high school, she remained alone until Oates worked up the nerve to befriend. Something had caused her to mature quickly and in the midst of that growth, Ruth created a barrier to protect herself from anymore pain.

The latter is described as being pretty and lively whereas Mrs. Wright lives the life of an outcast, keeping to herself. The loneliness in the two women’s lives adds a dark atmosphere to the respective stories as well as an undeniable gloom. In conclusion, Ruth Warren and Mrs. Wright share many life experiences and struggles, but what makes them different is the way in which those struggles shape them. While Ruth Warren retains her cheerful attitude despite her gloomy situation, Mrs. Wright becomes a shell of her former self, yielding her happiness completely to her

When Ruth lets Walter win the arguments, he thinks he is right, even though most of the time he isn’t so than with him thinking he is always right, they argue more because Ruth knows he isn’t. In conclusion, Ruth and Walter are the characters who influence the plot the most because they are always arguing and complaining to each other. Ruth and Walter are a married couple and disagree about things which causes conflict between the

Ruth is willing to work harder and harder if it means she works for what her family wants and needs. Ruth Younger is motivated by working for her family’s and her goals to get what they dream

The only woman in the world who will still cradle you in her arms even if you've stabbed her loving heart is your mother. The short story “Teenage Wasteland” by Anne Tyler is about guilt and reveals mother’s feelings towards her children. A loving mother will feel guilty for anything that happens to her children, and even for that how they feel. Mothers is the person who cares the most about her child. The story “Teenage Wasteland” tells about a common situation many families experience: a misunderstood child creates problems to his parents, not by fault, but because he feels unwanted.