The Color of Water Blog Post #2 - Character Analysis

The main character's mom is an interesting person in my opinion. She has had a hard life growing up.   Her father would sexually abuse her, and he had no love for her or her mother. She fell in love with a black man when she was a teenager, who eventually wound up getting her pregnant. She felt trapped. If she told anyone that she was pregnant, there would be no telling if her life would be the same after that. But her mother knew something was up. She told her to go stay with her grandma in New York over the summer, where she was able to get an abortion. When she graduated high school, her father made her attend her graduation, much to her chagrine. She couldn't disobey her father, through, so all she could do was catch a bus to New York the next day. She wanted to get as far away from him as she could. Years later, she remarried to the main character's stepfather, who was a loving, caring man. He had a big house, and would bring the kids over to stay in it during the weekends and on days off. His health gradually started to decline, and he eventually passed away. This sent the household and its inhabitants into turmoil. The main character dropped out of school, and spent all day smoking and drinking, trying to escape the sorrow that comes with the death of a loved one. He didn't get punished for it. His mom totally shut down after his stepfather's death. She wouldn't do housework, leaving the oldest siblings to do all the work around the house. The problem was that the oldest kid in the house at the time was the main character, who spent all his time drinking and doing drugs. So, inevitably, the house went into turmoil.