Color of Water

Voice and Point of View

One part of the story is told from Rachel's point of view. Rachel tells her story in an interview of her past life. She describes the hardships she went through as a child all the way until she became an adult. Her voice of sadness and despair are in her words. It would be right to be sympethetic to her autobiography because not many people go through the pain she did. Rachel suffered through racism and being shunned by her family. "You're out of the family. Stay out. We sat shiva for you. You can't see her." pg. 216. This influences the story a lot because it shows how back then, society didn't give people much of a chance to be independent

and how hard it was.

Another part of the whole story is told from James' point of view. James tells his story as he if he were describing his childhood and his adolescent years. He describes all the racism he faced and how he would be able to deal with it. It was fairly hard for him to grow up with a white mother and at some points of his life, he did drugs. It wouldn't be such a big deal to be sympethetic about him because he made many bad choices. James didn't have to do drugs and defy his mother even when she loved him. But James story affected the whole story because it shows how his life compared to his mother's life and how hard society was.

Voice and Point of View

Me: One time, my friend Anthony and I went to a party and hung out. We were all joking around and I said something but I meant it as a joke. Anthony started getting mad but I thought he shouldn't have because I was just playing around. I thought he would've known not to take things like that seriously. We argued for a little bit but I explained to him that i didn't mean it and he finally believed me. Then we made up and joked around again. This time no one took anything seriously.

Anthony: Yea, the only time I ever got mad at Janet was when we went to this one party and everyone was joking aorund with eachother. Janet said somethin bout me that offended me and it got me mad. I told her about it and she understood how I felt. Then I believed that she was just messing around with me. I forgave after that and I told her that everything was okay. Then everyone decided to keep telling jokes and no one got mad. It was pretty fun.

Community Beliefs, Values and Stereotypes

People of my country are expected to be smart. We're expected to be better than the rest and would be punished if we couldn't. Our people always strives for the best. Society puts us in this position. Especially the students or the little kids. Our parents constantly think that we're the smartest and that we need to be smarter. Many people in the past always thoguht our country wasn't that smart so they would take advantage of our import items. Because of our past problems our country has been divided also. One third Muslim, one third Christian, and one third Buddhist. Many riots in my country and almost every Indonesian person knows to watch out when they walk down the streets. Our country has been known to be very dangerous and smothered in poverty not knowing that it holds much riches and beautiful islands.

Political and Social Realities

I think if I was a boy instead of a girl I would be treated way differently with my mom. She always htinks that boys are stronger than girls so they can go wherever they want and never get yelled at. As a girl, I've always been treated like I would get raped any second when i walk out my door. Therefore, my own house would be my jail cell. I'd probably be able to get a chance to be more independent

and free to be who I want to be without getting criticized

all the time by my mom. People would also take me more seriously when I tell them I can do sports and other things most girls don't do. I think things

would be easier if I was a boy.

Opening Scene

Rachel's opening story was very sad. One of the first lines talk about how her family has shunned her. "You want to talk about my family and here I been dead to them for fifty years." pg. 1. This shows that Rachel will probably talk about much of her hardships growing up. She also explains how her father is stubborn and would have a heart attack if he saw James. Rachel explains how she feels dead to the family. It shows that Rachel is a very quiet lady. And that she doesn't really like talking about her family. It shows that later on in the story she would be expressing