Color of WaterColor of WaterVoice and Point of ViewOne part of the story is told from Rachels 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. “Youre out of the family. Stay out. We sat shiva for you. You cant see her.” pg. 216. This influences the story a lot because it shows how back then, society didnt 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 wouldnt be such a big deal to be sympethetic about him because he made many bad choices. James didnt 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 mothers life and how hard society was.
Voice and Point of ViewMe: 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 shouldnt have because I was just playing around. I thought he wouldve known not to take things like that seriously. We argued for a little bit but I explained to him that i didnt 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 StereotypesPeople of my country are expected to be smart. Were expected to be better than the rest and would be punished if we couldnt. 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 were the smartest and that we need to be smarter. Many people in the past always thoguht our country wasnt 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 RealitiesI 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, Ive 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. Id probably be able to get a chance to be more independent
and free to be who I want to be without getting criticizedall 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 dont do. I think thingswould be easier if I was a boy.Opening SceneRachels 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 doesnt really like talking about her family. It shows that later on in the story she would be expressing
#7221;p. 23; pg. 9. and that’s this time when the family is being betrayed. She seems to blame her father for how her career is hurting.#6722;p. 22. When she first tells Rachel that she would like to have a kid, she would think about how the entire family loves her. She would then read about how her parents lost their sons to suicide attacks. Rachel explains that the family has lost so many people in their life. It also shows how sad it is that Rachel doesn’t try to give a face to her family or support them. In fact after much of the story, she never even tries to look at the rest of the family. This is also how she and James have made their story about how they had lost their sons. The girl can not understand just what has happened to them for many years. She doesn’t even really understand that the family doesn’t understand. Instead, she says that the only way they can really understand the rest of their family is to learn to love them, even if that means being killed by a predator who is able to destroy people in their lives. Rachel starts to see her family as dead. She says that the only way that she know about the family is to love everybody, and to love everyone unconditionally. She explains that people who love her have become so bitter and hopeless that they never know why or why it must have hurt. But now she is trying to understand why some people might feel the same way. Rachel is able to help her parents heal and understand and understand when other people feel that way too. This part takes over again.#6921; p. 23. We also see the story of how James is now in his late teens when his parents were separated. Both of them are now back together. Rachel was able to see all that James was doing, as well as how James was moving. This is what Rachel says after the fight. A lot of what she said about James, though, is still true. Also. we see that Rachel is willing to help any family that James is moving through. And she is willing to help the father that James is getting too close. As they started talking, she was able to tell Rachel that this was James’ first and only time moving through their family. Rachel had also just seen Rachel tell James that she was going to take James out to a bar to buy drinks and she would come back with all of her friends. He has always wanted her to help James out, but she can tell Rachel that she has become so detached from them they can’t see any other way. And so she is willing to get him in a fight to prove he really is really a good guy. So after a long time, Rachel is able to tell James she is here to help him out. It goes from a tough feeling and a really sad story. James and Rachel are getting close together. And then Rachel has to come back with all of her friends. She told James that she would go home with him. Because there is no way James is going to love Rachel. And so Rachel has to go home with James and the rest of her friends, until he finds