What did Richie tell James the author about James Place in the family and how did this affect James?
When James asks his brother Richie about his mother’s light skin, Richie tells James it doesn’t matter, because he, James, is adopted. James’s family, because it is made up of mixed-race children like himself, feels like the only place where he truly fits in.
How did James react to meeting the boy who is the son of a Black Panther?
James sensed that the Black Panther would harm his mother, and he attempted, and failed, to call out to warn her. Feeling desperate and angry, he punched the Black Panther’s son in the face.
What happened with Hunter Jordan’s brownstone?
Hunter used his life’s savings to buy a house in St. Albans, Queens, but he chose to live by himself during the workweek in his Fort Greene, Brooklyn apartment. The city later tore down his beloved brownstone in order to build a housing project, which devastated Hunter.
How did Hunter Jordan SR treat his kids?
He treated Ruth’s eight children by Andrew McBride as his own, and was looked up to as “Daddy” by the youngest. He was an old-school man, always well dressed, and uninterested in small talk or discussing issues of race.
Who was the only white person who knew about Ruth’s pregnancy?
Chapters 9-12
| Question | Answer | Answer 2 |
|---|---|---|
| How many children did Hunter Jordan have with Ruth? | 7 | 4 |
| What was number one on her don’t list?! | Being friends with children outside of school | Drinking alcohol |
| Who was the only white person that knew about Ruth’s pregnancy? | Her mother. | Her teacher. |
Why does Ruth say dead?
Ruth explains that she has become, in her words, “dead” to her family as a result of her marriage to Andrew Dennis McBride, James’s African-American father. Ruth describes her father, Tateh, (the Yiddish word for father).
Why does James hate the boy in the mirror?
On the one hand, James needs the boy to reflect what he could have, but at the same time, he hates the boy because “he didn’t have a white mother, he never went hungry, he didn’t have to share his bed.” As an adult, James looks back on his imaginary friend as a symbol of what he has overcome.
Why did Ruth go back to Suffolk?
Mameh became sick, and Ruth temporarily returned to Suffolk to help out. Tateh became involved in an affair with a woman who lived nearby, and even took occasional lengthy trips out of town with her, leaving the running of the store to his wife and daughters.
What incident makes James worry for his mother’s life?
What Incident makes james worry for his mother’s life? her family wouldn’t allow them.
Who was the chicken man in the color of water?
Dennis was a violinist from North Carolina who Ruth met while working at her aunt’s leather factory. He was gentle and strong, and fathered eight of Ruth’s twelve children. He died from lung cancer at a young age.
How did McBride die?
Andrew Dennis McBride He died from lung cancer at a young age.
What religion is the shilsky family?
Born Ruchel Zylska to an Orthodox Jewish family in Poland, Ruth arrived in the United States when she was two years old. Ruth spent her early childhood traveling around the country with her family as her father, Tateh (or Fishel Shilsky), sought employment as a rabbi.
What advice does chicken man give James?
The quote is meaningful because Chicken Man had taught James a life lesson: if you don’t work hard and make something out of your life, then that life was wasted. “And nobody’ll give a damn neither!” Chicken Man snapped.
Why did Ruth stop going with Rocky?
Ruth gets a job at the Hi Hat Barbershop, which pays fifteen dollars a week. Eventually, she stops staying with Bubeh, because she reminds Ruth of her family, “what I was and where I came from.” She moves to Harlem and tells Rocky she’s ready to make money like his other girls.
Why didnt Ruth want James to be a musician?
Why didn’t Ruth want James to be a musician? Ruth knew that Dennis had a hard time being a musician, and she didn’t want the same for her son.