November Blues

“‘You can’t blame yourself, Jericho,’ Mr. Tambori said, kindness and patience in his voice. But Jericho didn’t want kindness. ‘Then who, Mr. T?’ demanded Jericho. ‘I told him to jump. I cheered him on, then stood there like a fool and watched him die. I will never forgive myself.’”

This passage highlights how guilty Jericho feels about his role in his cousin’s death. Although everyone understands that it was an accident, Jericho keeps holding himself accountable for what happened. Guilt-ridden and upset, he runs from his emotional pain by abandoning his trumpet and devoting himself to football.

“‘The music will be there when you are ready, Jericho.’”

Jericho’s music teacher, Mr. Tambori, assures him that music is a part of his essence and that he cannot run away from it forever. His words prove to be true;at the end of the novel,Jericho decides to return to his trumpet, thus starting the road to emotional recovery.

“‘I hope I can be as good a mom as you are,’ November said quietly. ‘I don’t think I could have survived what you did, Mom—all the bad stuff—I’m not strong like you.’”

When November learns about her pregnancy, she begins to look up to her mother, trying to learn from her. Mrs. Nelson becomes a role model for November, because she, too, had to face many challenges in her life, and her example inspires and motivates November.

“‘There’s nothing in the letter about a scholarship, Mom. How are we gonna pay for it? The program is almost five thousand dollars for just three weeks. Maybe I better not go.’

‘I’ll get a summer job! We’ll apply for a loan! We’ll figure it out and make it happen, baby girl!’ her mother said happily.”

The conversation between November and her mother reveals how much Mrs. Nelson is willing to sacrifice for her daughter’s future. Since November’s education is a priority, Mrs. Nelsonis prepared to do anything it takes to prepare her daughter for college. This demonstrates how selfless and caring November’s mother is, and what high expectations she has for her daughter’s future.

“‘Maybe that’s why I play the blues every day. All that bad stuff is in the past, and I put all that pain in a box on a very high shelf. Maybe the blues can help you, too.’”

For Mrs. Nelson, the blues symbolizes resilience and hope. Even though she has had a hard life, the blues helps her find her inner peace and fills her with joy. Although at first November doesn’t like the music, with time she learns to appreciate it.

“How could she feel like such a child when her body was acting like an adult?”

When November comes to her first doctor’s appointment and learns more about pregnancy and her baby, she is surprised to realize what her body is capable of.Since November doesn’t feel like an adult, she feels like her mind needs to catch up with her body as she prepares herself to make a transition from being a child to being a mother.

“‘There’s a big difference between those movies they show at school in health class and the real deal,’ November told her. [...] ‘Stuff just happens. By the time your brain comes back, it’s over.’”

As November struggles to explain to her mother how she got pregnant, she begins to understand that having unprotected sex even once can lead to pregnancy. Here, Draper brings to the fore the importance of raising awareness among teenagers about how to prevent pregnancy.

“‘I’m through with the trumpet. Forever.’

‘That’s a very long time,’ Geneva told him gently.

‘That’s how long Josh will be gone.’”

As Jericho deals with his pain and sorrow, he stops playing the trumpet and quits the school marching band. Consumed by grief, he doesn’t even consider coming back to his favorite instrument and instead embraces football. Nevertheless, his love for music doesn’t cease, and he eventually realizes that he cannot live without playing his favorite instrument, and his music begins to help him overcome his pain.

“‘I can’t believe all the little molecules that made up Josh have simply disappeared, like...’ He paused, searching for an analogy. ‘Like kids’ soap bubbles when they pop. Just gone.’”

Here, Draper foregrounds how crucial it is to talk to teenagers about tragedy and grief. Jericho struggles so much to make his peace with Josh’s death not only because he blames himself, but also because he lacks the understanding of what it means to lose a loved one.

“‘I don’t know anything about kids. I don’t even like babies that much. They poop all the time, and they cry all night and how am I gonna go to school like everybody else if I have a baby in my backpack?’”

This passage demonstrates how unprepared November is for having a baby. She hardly knows anything about raising a child, and she can’t picture herself as a mother. Moreover, she doesn’t even realize how having a baby will change her life: she still thinks that she will be going to school like everyone else, and doesn’t understand that she might have to put her education on hold while she takes care of the baby.

“November used to hate the guitar-belting, sorrow-singing blues wailers when she was younger, but lately she found herself moving to the deep rhythms or tapping her feet to the heartache spoken by the gravel-voiced singers. Actually, sometimes she found the gut-busting sorrow that exploded from the blues music oddly comforting, especially considering the mess she was now in.”

November’s changed attitude towards the blues signifies her inner changes, namely her newly-found maturity. Her appreciation of the blues also represents her strong bond with her mother, who becomes a role model for November as she learns how to become a mother herself.

“‘I don’t think she can forgive me, Jericho.’

‘Maybe it’s you who can’t forgive yourself, November. Ever thought about that?’”

November feels like she’s crushed all of her mother’s hopes and dreams for her daughter when November tells her about the pregnancy. November feels guilty for disappointing her. It takes a while for November, as well as for Jericho, to understand that to overcome guilt,they must first forgive themselves.

“‘I don’t think it’s fair or right, but yeah, I think it’s harder on pregnant girls than the boys who get them pregnant. Girls get the bad raps, go through all that mama trauma, sometimes have to leave school to take care of the kid—yeah, it’s rough for them.’”

Here, Draper highlights the double standard that exists when it comes to unplanned pregnancies. While boys often only have to make sure that they can pay child support, girls have to raise those children, often sacrificing their education and career. Although both men and women are equally responsible for the creation of a new life, usually it’s girls who have to bear the largest consequences of unplanned pregnancy.

“At the words ‘childbirth complications’ November shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Complications? She’d never given a moment’s thought to complications. Man, she was totally clueless.”

This passage foregrounds how unaware November is about health risks associated with pregnancy and how unprepared she is to face them, especially early on in the novel. Draper brings to the fore the importance of talking about all the nuances of pregnancies in health class, without overlooking such uncomfortable topics as childbirth complications.

“‘I don’t have one single thing to remember,’ Olivia said, her eyes filling with tears. ‘It’s like a clean notebook—full of pages with nothing written on them.’

‘My mother makes me itch,’ Dana told them, ‘but I wouldn't know how to breathe without her. It must be really hard.’”

When Dana and Olivia talk about their parents, Olivia reveals that her mother died giving birth to her. Growing up without a mother affected Olivia’s life tremendously, and she is jealous of her peers who have both parents in their lives. Hearing this makes Dana realize that even though her mother sometimes irritates her, Dana owes everything she has to her.

“He had no idea if he could sweat the pain away, but he was damn well going to try.”

Jericho’s decision to join the football team is closely related to his search for an outlet for his sorrow and anger in regard to Josh’s death. Although he hasn’t played football since middle school, he joins the team and devotes all his time and energy to practices, trying to lessen his pain with rigorous physical activity.

“‘The music is always there—stuck in the back of my head.’”

No matter how much Jericho tries to hide from playing music, he admits that it has become an integral part of him. While he has to work hard to be good at football, playing the trumpet seems to come naturally to him, and he picks up his favorite instrument again in an attempt to overcome his emotional pain.

“She’d always imagined that when she got married and had kids she’d have it all together with a fine husband, a great career, and a nice house in the burbs—the storybook stuff.”

This passage demonstrates that not only November’s mother but November herself has a completely different visions for her future than the one her pregnancy will mandate. She was hoping that all significant events in her life would unfold according to her dream scenario, but she soon learns that pregnancy will change the trajectory of her life. Nevertheless, she does not lose hope that one day she would still pursue the career of her dreams while still being a mother.

“November, for the first time since kindergarten, felt overwhelmed. Ordinarily she loved the smell of the first day of school—the freshly waxed hall floors, the newly painted walls (at least in the main hall where visitors entered), even the smell of food emanating from the cafeteria. But today was different. Everything looked as if it had been prepared for everyone else except for her.” 

When November returns to school after summer vacation, she feels overwhelmed and out of place. Even though not long ago November enjoyed classes and to be at school, now she feels like her life has become too different from that of her peers. Yet she refuses to drop out of school and tries hard to be as diligent in her studies as she was before her pregnancy.

“‘It is not what a man looks like on the outside that counts. It’s the strength of the man on the inside!’”

Coach Barnes, when addressing his team during the game with Excelsior, tries to convince them that their ruined uniforms are nothing compared to their skills and their drive to win. Yet the players are so afraid that everyone will laugh at them that they lose their concentration. Although the Douglass team is winning in the first half of the game, once they become too concerned about what others think about them,they lose their focus, letting the Excelsior team win.

“‘I’m putting all your things into this bag labeled with your name—even your football game program.’

‘I didn't leave that in the car?’ November asked in confusion.

‘You had it squeezed pretty tightly in your hand when you got here,’ the nurse said with a chuckle.”

When November is taken to the hospital, she is still clutching a football program in her hand. This represents her refusal to leave school behind and concentrate solely on her parenthood. November treasures her studies and her school friends so much that she is not ready to leave them behind as she becomes a mother.

“‘I’m dusting off my trumpet. I need my music.’”

Jericho’s decision to return to playing the trumpet symbolizes the beginning of his healing process. As he learns to cope with his pain and grief, he allows music to become an integral part of his life again.

“Jericho pushed in the closest bathroom, locked himself in a stall, and allowed himself to feel real. Months of anger, sorrow, and tension finally exploded in deep, body-racking sobs. He let it all go.”

As Jericho mourns the loss of his cousin and best friend, he doesn’t let himself seem emotional and vulnerable in front of others. He keeps his feelings bottled up inside of him, and football becomes the only outlet for his negative emotions. Yet when he finds out that November’s baby might have developmental delays, he feels so overwhelmed that he finally allows himself to cry; even in this moment, however, he won’t allow himself to do so in front of others. Relieved and renewed, he leaves the bathroom feeling that he can help November face the new challenges standing before her.