What stands out to me in this story was how the writer was not able to capture a child’s voice. Meaning that I felt as if the way these children spoke was far too mature. As a result I felt like I was reading a story about adults who are trapped in children’s bodies. I did not find the characters to be very interesting either. I think this was due to the story being written in the third-person, which also caused the writer to not give Joseph, the protagonist, very much dialogue. From what I read Joseph did not have much depth as a character, we knew very little about him by the end of the story, except that he moved from somewhere else (possibly abroad), and that his father died. Other than that I do not think Joseph had any traits that helped carry the story. Other than Joseph the story seemed to be a classic new kid at school story where the protagonist has to overcome a bully or bullies, but in this case some of the interactions between Joseph and his bully Christian trigger memories of his late father. Some symbolism I noticed throughout the story are: the teacher constantly commands the children to raise their hands, and how to the teacher always says the line, “God give me strength”. Clearly there are religious symbols that the writer is alluding to, I do not know exactly what they mean but I am assuming it has something to do with Joseph’s late father.
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Thomas Needham
September 17, 2022
ENG 2400
Assignment “New Boy”
When reading “New Boy” it gave an accurate description of the main character of Joseph as not just a new kid in a new school but a black child in an Irish school in Ireland. I believe it gave the story more depth because rather than it be a child who is Irish it is a child who is culturally different in every way.
What I liked about “New Boy” is while Joseph is getting acclimated on his first day Joseph is also getting bullied by Christian and Seth, being helped out by Hazel and instructed by the teacher. The bullying doesn’t seem to end but when Christian pointed his finger at Joseph and rubs it on his shoulder, despite the way a story about bully’s getting their way on the first day Joseph decides to fight back…Kind of setting the tone that he will not easily bullied. The fact that this happens in a classroom before lunch lets us the reader know that there can many variables to the story. In this instance it shows character including the main character Joseph,Hazel, the antagonist’s Christian and Seth, an authority figure who is the teacher, Pam who is also bullied in class and the rest of the students as background roles. Joseph seems to try to dissolve the situation by giving Christian the answer to the problem and wanting to help Seth help out when Seth goes up to the blackboard. Through all of this Joseph is also taking it all in and learning. Basically this is just a way for the reader to get to know everybody who is in the story and gives Joseph a warm, sweetness to his character. I like the way Doyle gave everybody in this story a unique trait in their behaviors also. I especially like how the teacher tried to let Joseph aware of what happened before he moved to Ireland which kind of made assurances on how he should be treated.
During what I can only think was recess is where we get a glimpse of what happened to Joseph back home and how his Father died, how it coincided with Joseph going in to the school yard with Christian and Seth. I think the comparison of what the bell meant in the present and what the bell meant back home for Joseph brought back experiences of missing his father who was a teacher. To me Joseph reminds me of a person who will do his best to not get in to trouble and avoid confrontation like he did by giving Christian the answer to problem # 4. Joseph is a person who tried his best to fit in. To me and this is my opinion of the story this whole story by Doyle shows a lot of transition for a boy who went through hard times before he came to his new school.
During the Bell chapter of this story if there is a visual it would show Joseph going to the school yard and also showing him seeing the soldiers go in to his old school, at least that would I would see. Both situations are easily similar but also easily different. With Joseph and his run in with both Christian andSeth and him finding his father had the same feelings. However the death of his father played a bigger role with him. As stated before Joseph has the will power to fight back which he did earlier with Christian but him seeing his Father on the ground brought a feeling of hopelessness as I read it. The differences in both experiences such as kids surrounding them,the teacher intervening and what I could tell by reading probably had a nice scene compared to Joseph back home with his old school due to it having such a violent impact on his life. All the characters change through out the story accept the teacher and Hazel, at first Christian and Seth obviously do not like Joseph but out of some sort of pact among students. The kind of connection I got was that Joseph made himself fit in. Doyle put the characters in such as a smooth change in their character, you had bullies,authority figures and protectors . While all the time being able to see what Josephs life was like before he arrived in Ireland where he had nobody who fit that description. Also I thought the way Doyle showed that first day at a new school is an experience that everyone goes through but the fact that a black child was included with a bunch of Irish kids made it more interesting to me.