After Tupac and D Foster

The first three chapters, which include a Prologue, set up the relationship among the narrator, Neeka, and D, as well as their connection to Tupac and themes such as Finding Your Big Purpose.

There are several time jumps within the first few chapters of the novel that help shape the way we see the events through the narrator’s perspective. The Prologue takes place in the present, when the narrator is an adult. She is reflecting on the years that she was friends with D. Chapter 1 takes place in the past but somewhere in the middle of the time that she, Neeka, and D were friends.

Chapter 1 features the girls, who have been friends for a while at this point, talking about Tupac and how his music represents what so many people go through. By employing this time jump, the book makes clear Tupac’s significance for the story earlier than it would have if the narration of the friendship were told chronologically. The chapters aren’t always linear, which gives the effect of realism, since people commonly recall disparate moments from their past because something jogs their memory or sparks an emotion. D also makes a reference to finding her Big Purpose in this chapter, which is the idea that everyone has a reason for living that they should be trying to figure out and pursue—a recurring theme throughout the book.

Chapter 2 moves further into the past, telling of when Neeka and the narrator first meet D. Readers get a sense of what the narrator and Neeka’s world was like before D entered it and how fascinated they were when she first arrived. When D meets Neeka and the narrator, she doesn’t tell them much about herself. They become friends as soon as she brings a jump rope for them to jump Double Dutch with. The girls are fascinated by D, her freedom, and her mysterious past, and D is attracted to the sense of security that the girls have with their families and that they willingly share with her, counting her as one of them without questions.

Woodson’s choice to position these chapters out of chronological order is significant. Having the Prologue take place in the present emphasizes the impact that the two years with D Foster had on the narrator, because she remembers them so clearly and has such strong feelings of nostalgia as an adult.

In the first few chapters, the book makes evident the main characters’ personalities, but the author purposely withholds a lot of information as well. To begin with, the narrator never reveals her own name. She lives with her mother and only makes a single reference to her father, who is no longer in touch with them. She is quiet, intelligent, and likes to read. She also knows that D has learned more about life from her experiences than the narrator has. The narrator has read a lot, but she hasn’t spent a lot of time outside of her own neighborhood.

Neeka craves freedom and independence. She is the most vocal of the three and less mysterious than D; she often adds comic relief to scenes with her complaining about her overprotective mother and house full of siblings.

Because of D’s life experiences, she has a more complex understanding of the world and other people. She relates to Tupac in ways the other two girls cannot because his mother went to prison and hers abandoned her. She likes to roam around the city to see how other people live and understand where they come from, yet she still withholds a lot of herself from her new friends. As the text reveals later, D does not tell the girls her real name when she meets them.

Overall, the first three chapters of the novel give a sense of intrigue because the events are not in chronological order and several characters purposely withhold information about themselves. The narrator hints that the events of those two years of her life were both significant and sad, foreshadowing the events to come in the novel.