The Splendor Of Nancy Lee

In "One Friday Morning", Nancy Lee possesses quality that outshines the usual. Nancy Lee is a confident, African-American girl who shows bravery, nobility, and true character in a conflicting situation. She can serve as a great role model for young people who have given up on the things that they want to accomplish because they have failed once before. In the story, Nancy Lee has to face herself, society, and a decision to whether or not to let go of what she desires and believes she deserves. Nancy Lee is very deserving of the scholarship in the story, but like other young people, she did not get what she thought, and other people thought she deserves.

Nancy Lee takes pride in her race and is not afraid to embrace the fact that she is a black girl in a society that is not yet mature enough to accept her as she is. Young people are quick to give up on a society that they feel does not except them or their lifestyle. During Nancy Lee's time period, Americans were still adjusting to the growth of the African-American race. "Nancy was proud of being American, a Negro American with blood out of Africa..." Being an American is important to Nancy Lee because she believes in the American dream and equality amongst people. She is aware that she is different from her fellow classmates, and she embraces the difference. Nancy Lee does not let her differences consume her negatively, but focuses on the positive of being different.

Although she is denied the art scholarship because of her race, Nancy Lee continues to stand by her belief in the American dream. "One hand went to the heart, the other outstretched toward the flag. Three thousand voices spoke. Among them was the voice of a dark girl whose cheeks were suddenly wet with tears,"..."one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. That is the land we must make,' she thought." Nancy Lee is clearly hurt by the loss of the opportunity to gain the glory she so longed for, but she continues to honor the American way. She understood that there was still discrimination and blacks were not yet equal to whites, but she could fight to change that. Not every teenager would have handled the same situation, in such a positive way. They may have just given up, finding themselves consumed with anger or hatred towards the scholarship committee.

Deciding