“Through My Eyes”: Memoir Written by Ruby Bridges

Memoirs are usually written in a first-person perspective to catch the reader’s attention, helping to allow readers to better understand the experiences and perspectives of the author. "Lab Girl," Hope Jahren's memoir, is a prime example of how a personal narrative can draw readers into the intimate world of a scientist overcoming obstacles in a field dominated by men. Similarly, "Through My Eyes" by Ruby Bridges describes her experiences as the first African-American child to attend an integrated school in the South. Using the first-person point of view, both Jahren and Bridges offer readers a deeper understanding of their unique stories. Jahren informs readers about the challenges and triumphs of her scientific career and personal life, while Bridges shares her history through the hardships and hatred she encountered at a young age. These memoirs not only provide insight into their individual journeys but also reflect on broader societal issues, making them compelling and educational reads.

At the beginning of this memoir, Ruby had taken a difficult test that would determine if she were able to go to an integrated school. Ruby later finds out that she was able to pass the test and was qualified to attend the integrated school. As a result of passing the test, she finds out “Three of the remaining children, all girls, were to go to a school named McDonogh. I was the fourth child. I was going to integrate William Frantz Public School, and I was going alone.” Since Ruby had to attend the integrated school alone showed how unfair it was for her to not attend the same school as the other three girls. Ruby is going to an all white-school so it’s going to be more difficult and scarier for her than the other 3 three girls. The other 3 girls had each other, but Ruby had no one which led her to be standing out. She would be standing out as the only person who was different from the rest.

In the middle of this memoir, Ruby describes her experiences of her arrival at the all-white school. “There were barricades and people shouting and policemen everywhere. I thought maybe it was Mardi Gras, the carnival that takes place in New Orleans every year” Ruby described this moment as a carnival which meant she didn’t understand what was actually going on since it felt like a carnival to her she was giving the moment a good connotation. “There were policemen everywhere”, this line from the text shows how the policemen had to protect Ruby since it was going to be a dangerous place for her to be. The reader would not have a deeper understanding of his sentence if it weren’t written from the first-person point of view. Now the reader has gotten a good and deep understanding and has felt more emotions through his quote. This quote showed so much more than it would have if it was a biography where the reader wouldn’t know how the actual person in the event felt.

Finally, in the end, a perspective from the teacher was included to show how she was in danger too, because she was teaching her. “Leaving the school each day seemed even more frightening than arriving in the morning.” This shows what the teacher has gone through, but Ruby would be facing more problems since everyone was surrounded by her. The reader can also infer that it was 10 times worse for Ruby because the author had added the teacher’s perspective. The teacher and Ruby were in danger because the teacher was teaching Ruby and Ruby was in danger from the beginning of this memoir. Since the author stated “Frightening than arriving in the morning.” The readers can infer that Ruby was frightened along with the teacher. Readers have gotten more information through this quote than they would have if this memoir was written from 3rd person's point of view. From a first-person point of view, readers get so much more information and it helps grab the reader’s attention because they feel as if they were in the story. First-person brings the readers a model of the whole story and it makes the reader feel as if they were in the story. This quote helps the readers understand how bad of a situation Ruby was in.