Characters

The most important characters in the short story “The New Girl” by Marc Mitchell are the narrator, his friend Allison, and the young African-American girl. The narrator and Allison’s friendship is mostly due to convenience, since they are the only children on their street.

The African-American girl’s mother also appears briefly, as the narrator sees her looking at them from the house. However, she does not come to confront them for insulting her daughter, and she does not tell the narrator’s parents, either, despite his fears that she will. This shows that the mother has quite likely experienced racism and prejudice before and might believe that she, too, would be rejected if she complained.

You can read a full characterization of the narrator, Allison, and the new girl in the following sections.