Blog #4

While reading "The Tenth of January" I enjoyed the point of view of the story. The narrator was not one of the characters, so this made the thoughts we get to hear from the characters more important and memorable. The setting and various descriptive aspects were also more explicit and detailed. This also made the information provided more reliable, a first person point of view could have meant that the character had some sort of agenda. The narrator even states at one point "I am not writing a novel, and, as the biographer of this simple factory girl, am offered few advantages" (Phelps). I also Enjoyed the narrators depiction of the charters. I know that Asenath was the main character and it was her story, but I enjoyed Del as her opposite. Asenath is married but not happy. She is not pretty and it rules her life, much like the appearance of Del. Her beauty is a big part of her life and through the narrator we see how Asenath feels sorry for her beauty but is also jealous of it. This would be harder to depict in another point of view and I truely believe that this aspect of the story made it more relatable to me as a reader in general and being a female reader. The way that Del and Asenath were perceived reminded me of how other girls often think about and act towards others. This factor of the story made it very interesting to read and I enjoyed that I could relate to that aspect.