The First Part Last, By Angela Johnson

How does one become a man? Have you ever wondered if you are truly a man? In the novel, “The First Part Last,” the main character, Bobby, wonders if he would ever become a man. Bobby is a sixteen year old teenager who was careless and impregnated another teen named Nia. Bobby decides to raise the baby himself after the mother goes into an irreversible vegetative coma. A homeless man named Frank, asked Bobby if he was a man. Bobby was confused because to Bobby, Frank was not much of a man himself. After Frank was killed, Bobby wondered if he “would be a man, a good man.”(page 8) Throughout the novel, Angela Johnson, the author, makes the writer think by placing symbols and ideas in her writing to tell the reader that Bobby is developing into

A week or so after Feather, Bobby’s daughter, was born, Bobby decided to go play ball with his friends. He accidentally forgot Feather and had to quickly run home. Bobby dropped his basketball and it rolled away into his mother’s room. Bobby soon realized that he could no longer be careless, for he had an actual human he had to take care of. This basketball is a symbol representing his teenage years. Bobby’s teenage years are rolling away. Because the ball rolled into his mother’s room, the reader notices that Bobby is no longer a child and does not need the motherly care as much as he used to. Even though Bobby wants to still be a kid, he is learning the responsibilities of becoming a father. The decision of running home and getting getting his baby over playing basketball, is proof that Bobby has become a man and will soon learn the responsibilities of becoming

He believes that this would be the best for his daughter. After some research on Heaven, Ohio, the location was not found. A personal belief is that Angela Johnson had Bobby move to Columbus, Ohio. Columbus is the capital of Ohio, perhaps also known as the heart of Ohio. When all of your heart is with you, you could be considered to be in heaven. Columbus is also the largest city in Ohio with a population of 860,090 as of 2016. Bobby knew that he needed to move here because he knew he would have everything he needed. In “Heaven,” Bobby could start fresh with the new town and his brother Paul who happened to live there with his kids. Bobby enjoyed being with Paul because he was the only one who did not say the obvious about Nia’s pregnancy. Bobby shows that he is becoming a man because he is making decisions saying that he will stop doing stupid things and start to raise Feather properly. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) Bobby can relate to this verse, as long as he has Feather, his heart will be content. Feather is Bobby’s