The campus after the war
The action of the novel is set on a college campus after the Second World War finished and the way the campus looked changed drastically compared to the way it was before the war. This change is given to the fact that many laws regarding African-Americans changed and thus many African-American young men and women started to attend college. The image the narrator offers about the campus is important because the change that became visible in the college campuses shows how the world changed.
Dependent
Despite being paid much more than Jim, Margaret still insists that he pays for her when they go out. When she is in his presence, Margaret behaves in a manner that she hopes will attract Jim: she laughs a lot, behaves silly and makes an effort to make him like her. The narrative thus portrays Margaret as someone who needs to have someone to take care of her and who depends on the other’s attention.
Childish
Towards the beginning of the novel, Jim destroys a magazine simply because a man he did not like was on the cover of it. The act is described as being extremely childish and it helps the reader imagine Jim as being a person who is easily affected by what happens around him and as being unable to react in a mature way in certain situations.
Social gathering
At the party hosted by Welch, Jim is described as being unable to fit in. he has wrong political ideas, he insults those around him and is unable to read music. All this point towards the fact that Jim is different from those around him and comes from a different background, one that is considered as being inferior and not aristocratic. The scene at the party also portrays Jim as being socially awkward and someone who does not stand out from the crowd because of their talents but rather because they do not know how to behave.