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April 19, 2006
puzzle pieces
McBride, The Color of Water (1996) -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
"for as she laid her life before me, I reassembled the tableau of her words like a picture puzzle, and as I did, so my own life was rebuilt."
I wonder if James' siblings needed this as much as he did and how it changed them to read this book. It seems that James couldn't integrate the parts of himself without knowing where he came from and that he almost knew that what he would find out would be a rich history that would give him a new way of thinking about himself.
Posted by JenniferDiFulvio at April 19, 2006 02:50 PM
Comments
Maybe he suspected his family had a rich history because he was so amazed by his mother's strength of character.
Posted by: ChrisU at April 20, 2006 02:03 AM
I agree with Chris comment, maybe he thought that it would bring his family closer if at an older age they looked back at what things where as the were growing up.
Posted by: Melissa Lupari at April 20, 2006 12:11 PM
You know, I lit upon nearly the same passage. I guess I also got the vision of James seeing his mother behave in certain undescribable ways throughout her life and never being quite able to explain it. All of a sudden those crazy actions (like when she'd haggle in Yiddish with the merchants) made some sense.
I suspect this gave his trip to Suffolk, Va., a greater purpose than just his book.
Posted by: MattHampton at April 22, 2006 08:32 PM