Ruth Outcast Analysis

Ruth’s Jewish background, her conversion to Christianity, and James’ childhood influence James’ confusion with his identity. Ruth was born Jewish and lived her life experiencing multiple situations of discrimination growing up. Jews and Blacks were hated upon during that period and by her marrying a black man, it attracted even more discrimination towards her. James experienced discrimination when he was younger because he was black. James knows nothing about Ruth’s past because she had kept it a secret from him and his siblings since they were young. Ruth had taught them a mindset that is set to focus only on education and religion, not focusing on anything else so they couldn’t question other ideas Ruth did not want them to see. When Ruth was living in New York with her husband Andrew McBride, Ruth found out that her mother

To be entirely honest, I’m really tired for some reason and thus too lazy to get quotes. So instead, I will paraphrase. Ruth grows up with her orthodox Jewish family, and her father specifically abuses her and molests her, which is pretty screwed up. He’s also a racist and hates black people, which probably gave Ruth an inclination to trust them, if only to spite her

Ruth and James had different experiences when they attended school. Back in the days, when Ruth attended school in Suffolk, there was a split between “white folks’ school and a black folks’ school and a Jewish school,” (McBride 79). The school Ruth attended was not actually a real school, but instead a synagogue, where they did not get a good education compared to what other students were learning in school. In contrast, James “was the only black kid,” (McBride 89), attending in his classroom and he would get called many names because he was the only black kid.

Ruth led a life broken in two. Her later life consists of the large family she creates with the two men she marries, and her awkwardness of living between two racial cultures. She kept her earlier life a secret from her children, for she did not wish to revisit her past by explaining her precedent years. Once he uncovered Ruth 's earlier life, James could define his identity by the truth of Ruth 's pain, through the relations she left behind and then by the experiences James endured within the family she created. As her son, James could not truly understand himself until he uncovered the truth within the halves of his mother 's life, thus completing the mold of his own

Ruth was a source of knowledge that James trusted growing up. James, being a mixed child, is confused about what skin color God would have, so he asks his mother,”

Firstly, Ruth is a mature woman who can make decisions on her own. Ruth tries to get an abortion, “I think Ruth is thinking bout getting rid of that child”. Ruth is an independent mature lady, she makes a decision to get an abortion which was unlikely for Ruth to other family members. Ruth’s family has been struggling with money and relationship with each other, bringing

Ruth seems to be subjected to a lack of experience that has led to emotional hardships. She is financially well off, but this may have added to the sorrow that she has felt. This is because she is more accustomed to the life of having resources and does not understand what it is like to come up in the world and the struggles that come with this. These struggles can make a person stronger emotionally because through those experiences it is possible to learn how to deal with a variety of problems in life. Ruth’s privilege caused her to have a major lack of exposure to the world. This made it hard for her to come up with solutions to her problems. She fails to have the knowledge from travels and the individuality to deal with many problems which has hindered her personal growth and emotional stability. She relied a great deal on her father for happiness which

Warren St. John’s ‘Outcasts United” is a story consisting of the difficult yet moving journey of Luma Mufleh. Luma was born in Amman, Jordan, and was full of brightness and potential. However, the environment of Amman was poor and didn’t provide enough education to create a successful future. Because her wealthy father, Hassan, had very high hopes of his daughter, him and his wife Sawsan decided to send her to the United Sates for college. After experiencing the amazing opportunities and freedom offered in the U.S, Luma decided to stay there, even if that meant being permanently cut off from her loving Jordanian family and the wealth that came along with them.

The middle of the book takes more of a look of some of the prejudices that both Ruth and James went through during their upbringing. Ruth begins to talk about the difficulties that came with being Jewish and living in the South during that time period. She was always the target for mockery by her peers, but fortunately met a girl named Frances who truly accepted her for who she was. They would spend a lot of time together, most of the time at Frances’ house due Tateh’s discern for gentiles. James also faced similar prejudices at school. Since his mother put so much of an emphasis on schoolwork, James and all of his siblings would have to go to predominantly Jewish schools and were the objects of ridicule for the other students. There was one instance in particular in which James was asked by his classmates to dance because of a predisposed idea that because he was black he could dance. He danced for the class, but conflicting thoughts were rushing through his mind. He felt accepted by his peers, but also ashamed that he stooped so low to gain that acceptance. This example as well as other instances that occurred with his siblings showed the racial tensions that were filling the air at that time.

The name Ruchel Dwarja Zylska is significant because during this time, Ruth didn't fit in with others. Since she had a Jewish name, she was an outcast which leads up to the first name change. As a young girl, Ruth didn't really understand the aspects of life. In The Color of Water it states, “In school the kids called me “Christ killer” and “Jew baby”. The name stuck with me for a long time” (pg. 31). Clearly, this was a

Reba’s aunt, Ruth Foster, has a name that is also associated with a character in the Bible, also named Ruth. In the Bible, after her husband died, Ruth faithfully stays with her mother-in-law, refusing to leave. One of Ruth’s most notable quotes from the Bible is as follows: “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” (Ruth 1:16-17). In this quote, the reader can see that Ruth is willing to stay by her mother-in-law’s side no matter what, even claiming that she would even die with her. Naomi, her mother-in-law, is a constant reminder of Ruth’s husband, and she refuses to leave her because Naomi is the only reminder she has of her late husband. In Song of Solomon, after

Ruth offers James confusion as he grapples with his racial identity as a younger boy, but she offers him clarity as a young adult. When James was young, Ruth would answer any of her questions and that bothered him but he knew not to push her to her limit or he would get the belt. He does not know what half of his race is, he know he was black from his father but knew nothing about his mother’s race. Ruth was not ashamed to be a Jew, but she did not support Judaism because of her father, Tateh. She was not hiding the fact that she was a Jew from James but she did not want to think about everything that she ran away from when she

The relationship between Ruth and Tateh was not one of love, but was instead fraught with fear and abuse. “God I was scared of him,” lamented Ruth (42). While growing up, Ruth’s family experienced prejudice and exclusion because of their Jewish background. Ironically, Tateh also treated the black people that frequented his store very poorly. Because she rejected Tateh’s racist demeanor and terrible treatment of his family, she set out to find a husband who would respect her as well as her children; someone who would be a good fatherly example.

In the bible The Book of Ruth follows the story of the widowed Naomi and her two widowed daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. Throughout the story, the three experience life during biblical times. Although the time frame of this particular passage of the bible is widely debated amongst scholars, most believe that it took place during the Period of the Judges. Through reading about these ordinary people, one can tell that their everyday life was generally uneventful. People often worked in fields to provide for their families and for generations to come. The women of the Book of Ruth lived simple lives, placing high value on loyalty to the family, the continuation of family lines, and marriage.

Ruth’s mother set a feminine guiding line that was characterized by a serious devotion to principle, righteousness, duty, and her husband.