The Color of Water

       The Color of Water, by James McBride, is a black man's tribute to his white mother. James and his eleven other siblings live in Brooklyn, New York in an all-black neighborhood. James' mom is the only white person in the entire area and James knows his mom is different. One day, when James was very young,  he asks her how she could love him if they were different "colors". The mom responds that "love is the color of water". This book touches on the issues of race, religion, and identity and gives insight into what family really means.
      The purpose of James McBride writing this story is to pay tribute to his determined and eccentric mother. She raised twelve kids in a dirt poor neighborhood and managed to put them all through college. The exigence of this book is James recognizes the rare breed his mother is, and he wants to let her know he appreciates the mother she was. This book is geared towards an audience of teenagers to late adults. They would be the age group that would best be able to grasp the impacting information this story has to offer.
     James McBride uses many rhetorical devices, but I think the most important one thus far is structure. The way he organizes his book is very interesting and keeps things fresh for the reader. One thing James does is every other chapter he adds a story about his mom from her point of view. For example, the first chapter is the mother speaking in first person about how she is dead to her Jewish family because she married a black man. The second chapter is in James' point of view and he described a distinct memory he has of his childhood. The third chapter is another story from the mom and the book continues in this pattern until the end. I think this is a successful way to organize the book because it allows the reader to gain insight into who the mother really is by the stories directly told by her. Then, it allows the reader to see James' thoughts and feeling towards the mother and the rest of his family through the stories told by him.
    Thus far he has accomplished his goal. Through the first two chapters, he has established that his mother is one-of-a-kind. He makes sure the reader knows that his mother is different and that she made it her single most important job in life to raise her children right. She has a difficult time associating with the women around her because they looked at her like she was an alien. She was an outcast for her most of her adult life, but she did not let that stop her. James makes sure the reader knows this before the reading on. After the first two chapters, I already look up at James' mother with high regard, respect, and sympathy.