In the book, The Color of Water, Ruth says that all her father wanted was money and to be American. Did he achieve those goals?I need this answered...

In the novel The Color of Water
Ruth's life choices are deeply affected by her childhood and the attitudes of her father
as well as the treatment she receives from her father.  She recognizes all her life that
her Jewish faith separates her from the society a little bit.  She grew up in a time
period of greater anti-Semitism than is seen today, yet she still had wonderful
friendships outside the Jewish community.  Her father struggles with finding a place to
settle in and bounces the family around as he loses various positions in various temples
across the eastern seacoast states.  He is an American in the sense that he can freely
practice his religion and that he can take whatever steps he wants to achieve financial
and social success for his family, but his Jewishness and his bad behavior always leave
him on the "outskirts" of whatever local community he lives in.  He runs his store and
keeps kosher products for his customers, but he treats his customer's poorly and acts in
ways that perpetuate negative stereotypes about Jewish business practices (ie. his
attitudes about credit and pricing).  To answer your question, I think he would say he
achieved his goals, but at what expense to his family's happiness and connectedness?
 Ruth runs away from the family (at her mother's behest) as soon as she can and she ends
up living a very fulfilling life as a Christian woman married to a black man in Harlem.
 She couldn't have grown up to be any more different from her father if she has
intentionally set out to do so, yet we see that Ruth lives a much more emotionally
satisfying life as American.  She epitomizes the freedom and opportunity of what it is
be American.