The Color of Water is an autobiographical memoir by James McBride that details his life growing up as the son of a Jewish man and a black woman who identified as white. The book explores themes of race, identity, family, and belonging through the dual narratives of McBride and his mother Ruth. One of the mysteries explored in the book is the question of who fathered Ruth’s first child back in 1941.
Ruth’s Early Life
Ruth was born Ruchel Dwajra Zylska in Poland to Orthodox Jewish parents. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was a young girl and settled in Suffolk, Virginia. Ruth was raised in a deeply religious household and attended Yeshiva school, where she studied the Torah and prepared for her bat mitzvah.
As a teenager, Ruth began to rebel against her strict upbringing. At 14, she stopped attending Yeshiva and transferred to public school. It was around this time that she became pregnant with her first child.
Who Got Ruth Pregnant?
In The Color of Water, Ruth purposefully obscures the identity and background of her child’s father. She refers to him only as “that boy” and reveals little about him. Based on the limited details she provides, there are a few possibilities of who the mysterious father could be:
Peter, her boyfriend
Ruth mentions having a boyfriend named Peter who attended medical school in Virginia. She describes him as tall and handsome. Peter seems the most likely candidate to be the father of Ruth’s child given their romantic relationship.
Someone from her high school
Ruth indicates she was the only Jewish girl in her public high school. The father could have been one of Ruth’s non-Jewish classmates or acquaintances. As she rebelled against her upbringing, Ruth may have become involved with someone outside of the Jewish community.
A stranger or casual encounter
Given her sheltered upbringing, the circumstances under which Ruth became pregnant remain unclear. She may have had a forced or nonconsensual encounter resulting in her pregnancy. Or she could have had a casual relationship or brief fling with someone she chose not to identify.
Why the Secrecy?
Why did Ruth steadfastly protect the identity and background of her child’s father? Here are some possible reasons:
- Trauma or painful memories from the experience
- Protecting her Jewish family from shame due to an interfaith relationship
- Allowing her child to craft her own identity disconnected from her biological father
- Emphasizing that family bonds transcend blood relations
The pregnancy derailed Ruth’s religious upbringing and educational path. She was sent away by her family to deliver the baby in secret. Her strict Jewish community would have considered her pregnancy outside of wedlock to be shameful. Ruth may have wanted to shield her child from being stigmatized by the identity and religious background of his mysterious father.
Ruth’s First Child
Ruth gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in 1941. In her memoir, Ruth refers to the baby only as “my daughter.” After delivering the baby secretly, Ruth was sent by her parents to live with relatives until giving the child up for adoption.
Ruth describes feeling little connection or maternal instinct towards this first child. In her words, she “never saw her, never held her, never looked at her.” She insisted the adoption records be permanently sealed and made no attempt to seek out or contact her firstborn child later in life.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1941 | Ruth becomes pregnant with her first child |
| 1941 | Ruth gives birth to a daughter and gives her up for adoption |
Ruth saw the pregnancy as a transitional point marking her split from her orthodox Jewish upbringing. After the adoption was completed, she cut off contact with her family and set off on her own path, eventually settling in New York City and establishing a new identity.
Ruth’s Later Children
The identity of Ruth’s first child’s father remained secret even from her other children later in life. Ruth went on to marry Fred McBride, a black man, in the late 1950s. They had eight children together, including author James McBride.
James McBride describes being intrigued by the mysteries in his mother’s past as he grew up. In The Color of Water, his joint memoir with Ruth, he recounts searching for clues about his biological half-sister and urging his mother to open up about the father of her first child. But Ruth kept that information private even from her son.
Conclusion
The question of who fathered Ruth’s first child in the early 1940s haunts The Color of Water as a remaining riddle from her enigmatic past. Ruth protects the identity of the father, perhaps to shield her firstborn daughter from stigma related to the circumstances of her conception. While the details are sparse, the pregnancy marked a definitive turning point for Ruth as she broke away from her Jewish roots and embarked on a new life path. Though the father remains unnamed, Ruth’s daughter connected her with the African American community which became her new family through her marriage to James McBride’s father. Ruth demonstrated that while bonds of biology can be profound, chosen kinship bonds can run just as deep.
