Raymond's Run

Point of view refers to the perspective from which a story is told. “Raymond’s Run” is told from the perspective of its protagonist, Hazel “Squeaky” Parker, and therefore uses first-person narration. By choosing to write from the perspective of Squeaky, Bambara allows readers to explore her fictional version of 1970s Harlem through the eyes of a poor, but confident and hard-working Black girl. Through Squeaky’s colloquial, somewhat stream-of-consciousness narration, readers are given a clear image of Squeaky and her relationships, beliefs, and interests. This level of interiority allows readers to feel closer to Squeaky, which in turn garners a deeper level of understanding or empathy for her character.

A foil character is one whom the author describes as the direct opposite of another character in order to emphasize the differences between the two. The most pertinent example is the foil of the narrator, Squeaky, and her classmate, Cynthia Procter. Squeaky describes Cynthia as being “just the opposite of her” (Paragraph 5). Cynthia likes to let on that she is naturally gifted and can perform her schoolwork and hobbies with little to no effort.