The novel's opening line — "I was not there, yet I was there" — illustrates Gaines' deceptively simple writing style. Although this declarative statement uttered by the nameless narrator seems to express a simple fact, it speaks volumes. The phrase introduces the ironies and contradictions that pervade the novel, in which things are not always what they seem, and "truth" is a highly subjective concept. It also gives us a glimpse into the narrator's psyche.
Without knowing anything about him, we sense that he is cynical, indifferent, and detached, and that the story he is about to tell is so familiar to him, he knows the ending by heart. What's more, we sense that the narrator's background and experience have led him to view life as a series of routine, predictable events over which he has little or no control.
Chapter 1 also introduces the reader to another aspect of Gaines' compact writing style: his use of metaphor and allusion. For example, the narrator depicts Jefferson's godmother as "a great stone" and a tree stump, suggesting that Miss Emma embodies the innate strength and endurance necessary to survive in a hostile environment. While the "great stone" symbolizes power and stability, the stump suggests tenacity and perseverance (someone who clings to life despite having been "cut down" and denied the opportunity to flourish and grow).
But Gaines goes even further. While Miss Emma's "immobility" implies that her movements have been severely restricted, it also alludes to the old Negro spiritual "I Shall Not Be Moved" and to the biblical image of Jesus as the "rock" of salvation. (We later discover that both Miss Emma and Tante Lou are devoutly religious.)
