46 pages • 1 hour read
Helen OyeyemiThe Icarus Girl
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaPart 2, Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2, Chapter 1 Summary
Jess has trouble adjusting to school after her family returns to England. She becomes sick, and her parents allow her to take some time off from school, even though the doctor says that nothing is physically wrong with her. Eventually, Jess recovers from her illness and returns to school at the beginning of Year Five. Jess has trouble getting along with the other students, particularly a popular and bossy classmate named Colleen. The only student Jess likes is Tunde Coker, a boy who makes an effort to speak to her when he sees her. Jess is still convinced that TillyTilly will come to see her soon. One day in class, when Jess is particularly annoyed by her fellow classmates, she puts her head down and starts to scream.
Part 2, Chapter 2 Summary
After her tantrum, Jess is brought to see the headmaster, Mr. Heinz. Jess has been throwing tantrums in class at least once a week. Mr. Heinz asks Jess if she is happy in class. Jess remembers a comment Colleen said earlier: “Maybe Jessamy has all these ‘attacks’ because she can’t make up her mind whether she’s black or white!” (90). Jess hadn’t told her mother about the comment because she knew that her mother would be upset.
Before the term started, Mr. Heinz had visited Jess’s parents at home and offered to move Jess up a year, to Year Five. Jess’s parents had agreed, saying that they could always move her back if she didn’t like it. After her tantrum, Mr. Heinz says Jess can return to Year Four. But Jess tells Mr. Heinz that she will stay in Year Five and quietly returns to class.
Part 2, Chapter 3 Summary
After school, Jess makes herself a snack in the kitchen. As she sits quietly eating her sandwich, she hears a knock at the back door. Jess opens the door to find TillyTilly. Jess notices that TillyTilly is dressed differently, wearing a checkered dress and white knee socks, similar to Jess’s clothing. TillyTilly also has her hair in braids, whereas it had previously been tied back into two puffs. TillyTilly tells Jess that her parents just moved to the area. Jess is thrilled and wonders whether TillyTilly will go to her school. Jess is excited that she might finally have someone to spend time with and talk to at school.
Part 2, Chapters 1-3 Analysis
These chapters help further characterize Jess. She has trouble adjusting to school and fitting in with other kids. She becomes sick, even though there are no physical symptoms, and throws tantrums at school. However, Jess is moved up a grade by the headmaster, which shows that she is smart.
Jess also continues to be affected by her identity, as a person who is part-English and part-Nigerian. When Mr. Heinz offers to move Jess up a year at school, her mother “had been very Nigerian about it, had hidden her pride” (91). Another time, a classmate at school makes a racist comment about Jess being biracial. Jess’s moody disposition, as well as the cultural differences within her own family, will continue to affect Jess as she interacts with other characters throughout the novel.
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By Helen Oyeyemi
