Values ​​are one of the most important traits passed down from parent to child. Parents often pass on lessons whether or not they intend to, unconsciously acting as conductors of a current that flows through their children and into subsequent generations. This is the case for Ruth, James McBride's mother and the subject of his memoir The Color of Water: Despite her disgust at the way Tateh treats her children, Ruth brings her values ​​to parenting, regardless of whether whether he intends to do so or not. One value Ruth instills in her children is the vitality of education which ultimately improves their lives. When expressing his opinion on how far some white people will go for money, he insists, “You don't need money. What is money if your mind is blank? Educate your mind!” (McBride 33). As evidenced by her prioritization of education over money, she is serious about raising her children to be above average. He sees a one-way street where a good education leads to money but not vice versa; the stability of education overcomes the ephemerality of money. This prioritization of wisdom over wealth mirrors Tateh's upbringing of Ruth when she was a child: "'That kind school won't teach you anything you can use[.]' [...] She paid for us to take private sewing lessons and knitting and record keeping[.] […] He was strict with his money, but when it came to that kind of thing, he wasn't cheap” (80). much more than Ruth, he is willing to pay more for his children to take private lessons in what he considers important, textiles and organization. Likewise, Ruth says she doesn't care that her children don't have a lot of money as long as they get a good education. Both Ruth and Tateh will keep and...... middle of paper ...... and on time or face consequences. Everyone has strict expectations of their children; expectations involves severe physical punishment. James McBride's mother, like Tateh before her, holds the values ​​of education and religion close; according to McBride's description in The Color of Water, she enforces them with an iron fist, instilling them in her children as Tateh did in her, Dee-Dee, and Sam, though more out of tough love than pride. Despite carrying forward Tateh's materialistic tendencies, Ruth maintains the balance by inheriting his recognition of the dominance of education and religion over wealth in terms of subsequent quality of life. Ruth and Tateh's worldview is passed on from generation to generation, from parent to child, like all values, regardless of whether parent and child agree to the continuation of the journey of morality through time or not.