What's The Difference?

James McBride's writes and epilogue called The Color of Water that resembles the same ideas as Secret Life of Bees in many ways. The main thing would be the search for identity. James struggles to find out why his mother and his 11 brothers and sister look nothing alike. His mother is white and he is black. He doesn't come to realize that he is different from his mother until he starts school. His mother has raised her children to not see the difference in skin color; it is simply just a skin tone. As Ruth says, "God is the color of water. Water doesn't have a color"(McBride 50-51). When James asked her if she was white she would say she is just 'light skinned.' James also searches for information about his mother’s past, he knows nothing about it. He is curious about her parents and where they are now/are they around. Within the story though, there are two narrators that are separated by chapters and fonts; Ruth, James's mother, and James himself. While in one chapter, he is asking himself and his mother questions of her past, she is answering those questions in the next chapter where she is the narrator, by telling stories of her past. It is almost as if she is writing a journal or a long letter directed for James.

Between James and his mother’s past, they have many similarities. One would be their siblings. Ruth’s bother, Sam, had run away from home as well as James's sister, Helen. They had enough of their life at home and wanted a change. I have a family member who did the same, but her father didn't care that she left. He took advantage of her and didn't support her like a father should. She ended up on her own at age 16 and pregnant with her first child at 17 years old. She has grown up to be a wonderful person and a great mother, and her past is dead to her just like Ruth’s. This epilogue relates well with The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Lily and James are both seeking identity in the same way. They both wanted to know more about their mothers, yet, James's mother was alive and in his life. Now-a-days, we still see situations where teenagers run away from home because they can't live up to their expectations and for love. It isn't a thing we hear about every day but it is still common. Also, people don't seem to care about skin color, we have gotten past that. Skin color is simple a skin tone. It doesn't tell someone if you are a bad person or a good person at all. All people are equal. Think about it. If we were all blind, could we tell who was black or white? I don't think so.