Analyse af 'The new girl'

The narrator is an adult. He was 8 years old when the events took place. He didn’t fully understand

What was going on between Allison and the new girl. As a grown up, he is much more aware of many details relating to the incident: Racism in particular.

The characters:

The main character is a round character. We understand that he is nit malevolent towards the new girl when they meet (he smiles at her). We understand that he regrets the incident several years later.

Allison (we don’t hear anything about her motives (apart from what she says about her mother)), the new girl’s mother and the new girl are all flat characters.

Time aspect (the narrative strategy):

The story is a memory from the narrator’s past. The story would be told differently if it had been written by an eight-year-old boy. We understand he is reflecting on what happened while he is telling the story. The narrator can approach the story with new feelings and a better understanding. We want to convey a message that people should be aware of people like Allison. He wants to call attention racism (we should treat people equally). Racism was still prevalent in the US in the 1980s (and might still be today).