The First Day By Tobias Wolff Analysis

In both “The Night in Question” by Tobias Wolff and “The First Day” by Edward Jones, the authors describe characters whose lives have been transformed by the love of a close family member. Wolff suggests this deep love manifests itself in a brother’s physical protection from an abusive parent. Jones implies love reveals itself through educational security ensured for the child by an illiterate mother’s persistence in her daughter’s school enrollment. Wolff establishes these instances of protection from abuse through flashbacks triggered by the retelling of a sermon. Jones approaches the story chronologically to prove the determination of the mother despite rejection. These two stories, both manipulate characterization and structure to establish …show more content…
In “The Night in Question,” Wolff utilizes flashbacks of the sister triggered by the brother’s retelling of a sermon he heard. Through interweaving parts of the sermon and memories of childhood abuse, the reader gains sympathy towards the sister and the pain invoked in her as the brother proposes a hypothetical scenario in the sermon of choosing a loved one's life versus a trainful of strangers. Because of child abuse endured, as an adult, “She could still taste that smoke and hear her father’s steps on the stairs, Frank panting beside her, moving closer, his voice whispering her name and her own voice answering as fear gave way to ferocity and unaccountable joy, It’s okay, Franky. I’m here” (Wolff 643). Through flashbacks, Wolff establishes sympathy in the reader by addressing the history behind Francis’ protective instincts towards her brother. By interweaving the sermon and flashbacks, Wolff represents why it’s challenging for Frances to understand how Frank could think that saving a trainful of strangers rather than a relative would be the better option. For Francis putting herself at risk in order to protect him indicates her vast love for her sibling. This idea of boundless familial love is further exemplified in the excerpt “Frank …show more content…
By utilizing chronology, the reader understands the progression of events from rejection at the first school to eventual enrollment at the second school. The mother knew where she wanted her daughter to attend as represented in the following dialogue from the first school, “My mother shakes her head vigorously. ‘I want her to go here,’ my mother say. ‘If I’da wanted her someplace else, I’da took her there” (Jones 350). Through this, the mother’s strength and persistence is presented. Although she doesn’t succeed in enrollment at her first choice for her daughter, she knows that regardless of rejection she must continue. The reader feels sympathy for the mother’s struggles in her difficult journey for a quality education for her daughter. This education is one that she never had. Her vulnerability is established through her illiteracy and the shame she feels due to her