Analyse af Marc Mitchells novelle 'The New Girl'

The new girl is a short story by Marc Mitchell. The plot takes place on Prospect Street a white, lower-middle-class neighborhood. Allison, a ten year old girl and an eight year old boy, the narrator, whose name is unknown are the only kids on the street, until a new family moves into the house opposite Allison’s. The young boy notices a young black girl outside her house when he and Allison are out ridding their bikes on the street. The girl is smiling at him and he is smiling back. This moment is ruined when Allison approaches the girl and says, get out of here nigger. The two kids slowly stops smiling at each other as Alison continues to threatens the girl, get out of here nigger or I’ll beat you up. The young boy imitates Alison’s behavior by sending the girl a hostile look. Later, Allison tells the boy that her parents disprove of the girls family moving into the neighborhood, and the boy says that niggers are stupid. The narrator stresses that he hopes that the little girl has forgotten him now when he, as an adult, understands the situation.

Characterization of the narrator and comments of his feeling of guilt