After reading “The First Day” by Edward P. Jones I was left looking at the masterfully crafted world through the eyes of a child. While reading I found myself being pulled along like our main character but instead of by the hand, I was pulled by a string of words giving me a nostalgic feeling of a place I have never been. One thing I really enjoyed about his work is his world and character building. Starting from the introductory page, Jones’ builds the character of the mother, a single, hard-working woman who wants the best for her child. His world-building is shown both directly and indirectly, thorough his environmental descriptions and through certain character traits that show the time period. Besides that, it was interesting seeing the world through a “child’s” eyes.
Questions:
Why did you choose to write from a little girls point of view?
Were you ashamed of your mother because of her inability to read or teenage angst?
I too felt like I was right next to the girl as she took us on her journey to school. We see the world through this young girl’s eyes from the interactions that went over her head to the small observations she was making. In the end it made me feel nostalgic and thought about one of my first days of school.
I fully agree with your analysis on Jones’s world-building. It was very well done, and crafts the First Day of School experience very well. Your second question does now make me question myself, was the narrator based on his own experiences growing up, at least even partially?
I agree completely that it’s clear that the mother wanted a better life for her child. As it’s been described in the text, her mother didn’t know how to read and the fact that the mother wanted her to study in a good school means that she wanted her to be better than her and have a better future.