Summary Of The First Day By David Jones

Jones constructs the exordium in such a way that allows the readers to know that the daughter is embarrassed of her mother because she has just discovered that her mother doesn’t know how to read or write. It later allows us to see that how important it is for the mother that her daughter gets an education, specifically in the school in front of the church. For as long as the daughter recalls her mother has always pointed towards Seaton Elementary School, and said that she is going to learn about the whole world in that place. (The First Day. Page; 288). Jones try to elaborate how, “The First Day” is going to last for the daughter for the rest of her life. How she discovers the truth about her mother and how she’ll carry this day along with
The daughter learns about her mother, and is ashamed. She is ashamed of the stare the other girl gave her mother as if she was diseased; this raises the daughter’s emotional level. She is now able to see how other people viewed her mother. This moment could be significant for her learning and education as now she herself has seen how important it is for a person to be able to read and write on their own. Learning seems to have a much more lasting effect than education because what the daughter learns is going to remain with her for the rest of her life. The narrator learnt a life lesson on her first day, something she won’t be taught in school. But, what she learnt on her first day will haunt her for the rest of her days in school as now not only does she know the truth about her mother but someone else does too. She knows all the looks her mother has given her except the one she got today. Which was the look of shame. The mother looked at her daughter thinking how her daughter will see her now. This shows the mother’s desperate yearning for a life-better than the life she has-for her daughter. This shows what the key issues are, explaining things in detail like the