We would not have been a successful family without my father and stepfather, who were working-class men with better dreams for their children. We just wore them out.
James McbrideRead
It would be nice if we redefined what we meant by 'war story.' If you're making $15,000 a year living in a certain area of Portland, trying to make it with three kids and no husband, that's a kind of war.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that personal struggles can be viewed as battles worth telling, akin to traditional war stories.
James McBride's quote challenges the conventional notion of a 'war story' by highlighting the daily struggles and hardships faced by individuals, particularly those grappling with financial difficulties and family responsibilities. He emphasizes that these personal battles, which may not fit the standard definition of wartime experiences, are equally significant and deserving of recognition and dialogue.
Themes
War StoryStruggleFamilyIdentityCourage
In practice
Example use cases
During a community meeting, someone quoted McBride to emphasize the importance of sharing personal struggles.
More from James Mcbride
All quotes →Writing for me is cutting out the fat and getting to the meaning.
James McbrideRead
I felt like a Tinker toy kid building my own self out of one of those toy building sets; for as she laid her life before me, I reassembled the tableau of her words like a picture puzzle, and as I did, so my own life was rebuilt.
James McbrideRead
Sometimes it seemed like the truth was a bandy-legged soul who dashed from one side of the world to the other and I could never find him.
James McbrideRead
I'm trying to get Americans to see that we're all pretty much the same. I believe it; I was taught God doesn't have a color. I want to better the planet a little bit.
James McbrideRead
When my mother left home, her family sat shivah for her, more because my father was not Jewish than because he was black.
James McbrideRead
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