The Color of Water:A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother is the autobiography of James McBride; it is also a memoir for his mother.The chapters alternate between James McBride's descriptions of his early life,and first-person accounts of his mother Ruth's life,mostly before James McBride was born.The novel depicts the conflicting emotions that James endures as he struggles to discover who he truly is,as his mother narrates the hardships that she had to overcome to educate her children.The novel also depicts the emotional struggle James has with uncovering his true identity only through discovering his mother's past.