Chapter 3: “First” — Summary, Themes, and Study Notes
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⚠️ This page contains full plot details and analysis for Chapter 3 of Misfit. If you haven't finished the chapter yet, you may want to read it first.
Summary
The chapter opens in September 1976, with the narrator kneeling on the living room sofa, watching the window for his father's Sunday visit. His middle brother, Max, teases him with a running gag—announcing “Here he isn't!”—before their father, Phil Gulman, finally arrives. The narrator explains that he used to dread Sundays because they meant exhausting visits to elderly relatives, but his father's recent remarriage to Jan has changed the routine, and Sundays now involve bowling, the zoo, or miniature golf.
That particular Sunday, the family goes to a pancake house in Danvers. The narrator dislikes having to put a napkin on his lap, which he associates with being girlish. His father, fifty years old, tells stories about his grim upbringing in Chelsea, where he was raised by his Russian immigrant grandparents after his mother was institutionalized. He also inspects the narrator's fingernails every Sunday, a ritual that requires a Saturday night bath and scrubbing with a yellow plastic brush. The narrator resents these hygiene exams, believing his father is judging his mother's parenting.
On the drive home, the father honks at a slow-moving station wagon, and a boy in the back gives him the middle finger. The father, furious, follows the car home to complain to the parents. The narrator realizes with horror that the boy is his best friend, Wally Mitler, who lives across the street—but he says nothing. He races inside and plays dumb when his father returns, satisfied that the Mitlers will punish their son. The narrator feels guilty about the fib of omission, adding it to a growing list of shameful secrets.
The next Wednesday, Wally and the narrator walk together to the narrator's first day of first grade at West Memorial School. The route takes them through a dilapidated playground and down Bow Street, past abandoned buildings and an electrical substation. At school, the narrator's teacher is Mrs. Burns, a family neighbor. During roll call, a boy named Brian L. shouts “pig” instead of “here,” and the narrator is unimpressed, noting that his family's comedy standards are higher.
The class is divided into three reading groups: Sun Up for the best readers, Janet and Mark for the middle, and Palo Alto for the struggling ones. The narrator is placed in Janet and Mark, a slight he feels keenly. Later, when Mrs. Burns asks what a chick is, and a classmate answers “a baby chicken,” the narrator seizes the moment and adds, “Or a girl!” The class erupts in laughter, and even Mrs. Burns joins in.
In April, the narrator's mother's oldest friend, Joanie Noyes, comes over to help clean the house for Passover. Joanie, a heavy smoker with a boisterous laugh, brings the narrator books and jokes from yard sales. That evening, the family holds a seder, with the narrator's father attending. The narrator finds the afikomen behind a mirror and receives a dollar. He is skeptical of the Elijah ritual but notes that the glass of wine is empty by the end of the night.
Shortly after Passover, Mrs. Burns moves the narrator to Sun Up, the highest reading group—a promotion he feels he deserves. In May, his father takes him and Wally to a carnival. The narrator is too afraid to ride the Tilt-A-Whirl or the larger Ferris wheel, and his father rides those with Wally instead. The narrator worries that his timidity frustrates Wally, and he reflects on how hard it is to make Wally laugh.
The chapter jumps to July 2017. The narrator, now an adult, is putting up inspirational quotes on his wall. While searching for pushpins, he finds an old aquamarine note from a teacher named Mrs. Rand, praising him for completing all his work, concentrating, and telling jokes at appropriate times.
Key Events
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The narrator's father takes him and Max to a pancake house, where he tells stories about his Chelsea upbringing and inspects the narrator's fingernails.
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On the drive home, Wally Mitler gives the father the middle finger, and the father follows the family home to complain—unaware that Wally is the narrator's best friend.
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The narrator conceals his friendship with Wally, adding to his list of secrets.
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The narrator walks with Wally to his first day of first grade at West Memorial School.
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He is placed in the middle reading group, Janet and Mark.
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His joke about a chick (“Or a girl!”) earns him laughter from the whole class.
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Joanie Noyes helps prepare for a Passover seder, which the family holds that evening.
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After Passover, the narrator is promoted to Sun Up, the highest reading group.
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In May, his father takes him and Wally to a carnival.
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In July 2017, the narrator finds an old note from Mrs. Rand praising his work and appropriate joke-telling.
Character Development
Gary (the narrator): This chapter establishes the narrator's core tensions. He is a good boy who tells fibs of omission, a budding comedian who craves laughter, and a child of divorce navigating two separate worlds. His fear of conflict—both with his father and with Wally—shapes his behavior. His promotion to Sun Up and his successful joke reveal a child who knows his own worth, even as he struggles with timidity.
Phil Gulman (the father): The father is portrayed as gruff, puritanical, and deeply principled. He never swears, insists on table manners and clean nails, and is quick to discipline strangers. Yet he also shows tenderness—holding the narrator's hands in the parking lot, riding the scary carnival rides with Wally, and telling stories with enthusiasm. His best friend is the narrator's mother, which complicates the divorce dynamic.
Wally Mitler: Wally is the narrator's foil—a foul-mouthed, destructive, fearless boy who is also a loyal friend. His plaintive “Be my friend?” after wronging the narrator reveals a vulnerable side. He is a neighborhood pariah, which makes the narrator's friendship with him all the more meaningful.
The Mother: Though less present in this chapter, she is shown as deeply social, grateful for her friends, and resourceful with money. Her friendship with Joanie and her admiration for Wally's mother, Sharon, highlight her values.
Joanie Noyes: A warm, energetic presence who brings light and cleanliness into the narrator's home. Her visits are a bright spot, and the narrator wishes he could be adopted by her.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Divorce and divided loyalties: The narrator lives in two worlds—his mother's home and his father's Sunday visits. He keeps secrets from each, hiding his friendship with Wally from his father and his stepmother's existence from his mother.
Social class and poverty: The narrator is acutely aware of his family's financial struggles. He receives free-lunch cards, his mother uses food stamps and switches price tags, and he notes that “Jews don't go to yahd sales.” The reading groups function as a microcosm of class hierarchy.
Comedy as identity: The narrator's sense of self is tied to making people laugh. His family's sophisticated comedy standards contrast with the lowbrow “pig” joke in class, and his successful “chick” joke is a triumph.
Fibs and secrets: The narrator's list of shameful secrets—peeing behind the shed, showing Wally a magazine, saying a bad word, and fibbing to his father—reveals his internal moral compass. His stomach is his guide for right and wrong.
Hygiene rituals: The fingernail inspections symbolize the father's puritanical standards and the narrator's anxiety about measuring up.
Memory and nostalgia: The chapter's structure, jumping from 1976 to 2017, frames childhood memories as artifacts to be rediscovered. The note from Mrs. Rand becomes a talisman of validation.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter establishes the central relationships and tensions that shape the memoir. The narrator's dual life—between his mother's home and his father's visits—sets up the emotional landscape of his childhood. His friendship with Wally introduces the theme of underdogs and the narrator's instinct to protect the vulnerable. The reading group promotion and the “chick” joke mark early moments of achievement and identity formation. The chapter also introduces the narrator's comedic sensibility, which becomes central to his adult identity. The 2017 coda, with the discovery of Mrs. Rand's note, suggests that these childhood moments carry lasting significance.
Study Questions
- Why does the narrator conceal his friendship with Wally from his father, and what does this reveal about his character?
The narrator fears that Wally's behavior—swearing, vandalism, disrespect—would anger his father, who is puritanical and quick to discipline. He also worries that a friend might irritate his brothers. This concealment reveals the narrator's deep fear of conflict and his tendency to manage others' emotions by keeping secrets. It also shows his loyalty to Wally, whom he refuses to abandon despite the risk.
- How do the reading groups function as a symbol of social hierarchy in the chapter?
The reading groups—Sun Up, Janet and Mark, and Palo Alto—are an explicit ranking system that the narrator immediately understands. Being placed in the middle group feels like a slight, and his promotion to Sun Up feels like a validation of his worth. The groups mirror the class distinctions in the narrator's world, where free-lunch cards and food stamps mark poverty, and where the narrator's family is poor but proud.
- What does the narrator's reaction to the Elijah ritual and the afikomen reveal about his relationship to Jewish tradition?
The narrator is skeptical of the Elijah story, comparing it to Santa Claus and noting that his mother would be terrified if a ghost actually drank the wine. Yet he participates enthusiastically in the seder, enjoys the afikomen hunt, and is thrilled by the dollar reward. This ambivalence—skeptical but engaged—reflects his broader relationship to his heritage: he is a participant who questions, a believer who doubts.
Navigation
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