“The last thing Pa and Big Ma wanted to hear was how we made a grand Negro spectacle out of ourselves thirty thousand feet up in the air around all these white people” p2 - awareness of social tensions, time appropriate and insider language (Negro) more on p5
“can’t no one knock down a mountain” p3- vernacular speech?
A friend pointed out that White children in books aren’t described as White but children of other colours are described. Delphine, Fern, and Vonetta aren’t physically described but cultural references are speckled throughout this opening scene. While I would have been aware of the tiny historical pre-MESE, I think I would have let a lot of the racial things “sit in the story” rather than focusing on them and thinking about the wider importance of these feelings and the difference between my experience and the characters’. The voice feels very fresh and open and the scene opening has a good amount tension as an attention grabber. The first person voice also makes it very easy to identify with the main character in a very active way.
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