The Color of Water Characters

Ruth’s older brother. Tateh was harder on Sam than on his daughters, and as a result Sam ran away from home earlier than either of his sisters, moving to Chicago and then joining the Army in World War II, where he was killed.

Mameh’s mother. She was elderly and diabetic. She was also the only one in Mameh’s family who was kind to Ruth and treated her as a person instead of an obligation or burden.

Mameh’s father, who died when Ruth was a young a girl.

James’s oldest sibling. Goes by Dennis.

James’s second oldest sibling, and his oldest sister.

James’s third oldest sibling.

James’s older brother.

James’s older sister.

James’s older brother. Goes by Richie.

James’s older sister.

James’s younger sister.

James’s younger sister.

The third youngest of James’s siblings.

The second youngest of James’s siblings.

The youngest of James’s siblings.

Andrew Dennis McBride’s daughter from a relationship prior to his marriage to Ruth. The wife of Big Richard.

Jack’s husband.

The minister at the local church during James’s childhood. Rev. Owens had difficulty reading, and gave stuttering sermons. He was also a barber, and cut many of Ruth’s children’s hair.

One of Hunter Jordan’s brothers.

One of Hunter Jordan’s brothers.

One of Hunter Jordan’s brothers.

One of Hunter Jordan’s cousins who lived down in Richmond.

A childhood friend of James.

A childhood friend of James.

Mameh’s sister. She and her husband Paul owned apartment buildings in the Bronx and Harlem. She was the richest of all her siblings.

Aunt Laura’s husband, and Ruth’s uncle.

Mameh’s sister.

Mameh’s sister. She owned a leather factory where Ruth worked some summers, and where Ruth eventually met her first husband, Dennis. Mary was mean to Ruth, but ran her business efficiently, which Ruth sees as a forgivable root cause of her cruelty.

Aunt Mary’s husband. A shoemaker.

Mameh’s sister. She was separated from the family, and no longer speaks to her sister Berndadette, although Ruth never discovers why.

Mameh’s youngest sister.

One of James’s friends as a teenager. Together they drank, smoked, snatched purses, and robbed trains.

One of James’s friends as a teenager. Together they drank, smoked, snatched purses, and robbed trains.

One of James’s friends as a teenager. Together they drank, smoked, snatched purses, and robbed trains.

One of James’s friends as a teenager. Together they drank, smoked, snatched purses, and robbed trains.

One of James’s friends as a teenager. Together they drank, smoked, snatched purses, and robbed trains.

One of James’s friends as a teenager. Together they drank, smoked, snatched purses, and robbed trains.

An alcoholic who lived in Louisville, Kentucky, and spent most of his day on the Corner outside the liquor store. James befriended him during his summers in Louisville. Although he was often intoxicated, when sober Chicken Man offered James helpful life advice.

A good friend of Big Richard. He and James stole car batteries together during James’s summers in Kentucky.

Andrew McBride’s father.

Andrew McBride’s mother.

A man Ruth’s Aunt Mary had an affair with.

A barbershop owner and a pimp who hired Ruth as a manicurist before beginning to groom her for prostitution.

A music teacher who organized the American Youth Jazz Band in which James participated.

James’s music teacher at Du Pont High School.

An older white man who sponsored James’s American Youth Jazz Band trip. He and his wife Ann Fox Dawson employed James one summer.

An older white woman who sponsored James’s American Youth Jazz Band trip. She and her husband David H. Dawson employed James one summer.

A black woman who worked for the Dawson family.

A family friend of Dennis. Husband of Minnie Ware.

A family friend of Dennis. Wife of Curtis Ware.

Dennis’s aunt.

An older black man from Suffolk who remembered Ruth and her family when James visited the town in the 1980s and 90s.

The reverend at the Metropolitan Baptist Church who married Ruth and Dennis, and helped Ruth convert to Christianity. The New Brown Memorial Church’s namesake.

James’s cousin who closely resembled James’s father, Andrew Dennis McBride.

Formerly “Karen.” A model James briefly dated.

James McBride’s wife.

A Jewish woman who in 1942 fled her Polish hometown and spent fourteen months hiding from Nazis in the sewers of a neighboring city. Her son David Lee Preston and James became best friends in their thirties.

A Jewish man who befriended James at the Wilmington News Journal where they both work. The story of his mother Halina’s escape from Nazi occupied Poland helped inspire James to dig more deeply into his mother’s family history.

David Lee Preston’s wife.

A Jewish family in Suffolk that helps James on his journey to uncover Ruth’s past.

A Jewish family in Suffolk that helps James on his journey to uncover Ruth’s past.

A Jewish woman from Suffolk who helps James on his journey to uncover Ruth’s past.