Narrator and point of view

The short story “The New Girl” by Marc Mitchel is recounted in the first person. The narrator is an adult who recounts childhood events. The narrator can perhaps be viewed as a persona of the author, as the story was published in an anthology where people from all across America were invited to share their life experiences.

Told in retrospect, the story mostly follows the point of view the narrator had as a child. For example, when the narrator mentions “I looked up to Allison…” (p. 21, l. 8) he uses his perspective as a child. Since the narrator does not know that Allison would react negatively when seeing the African-American girl interacting with him, he is taken by surprise. Using this point of view has the effect of making the story surprising for the readers...