# I explained — There Is Confusion

> Chapter companion for There Is Confusion by Jessie Redmon Fauset.

## What happens

Joanna Marshall's early childhood is marked by a deep bond with her father, Joel Marshall, who recognizes in her his own youthful ambition for greatness. Joel, born a slave, had dreamed of becoming a leader but sacrificed his aspirations to care for his mother and build a successful catering business. Joanna's precocious desire to be great leads her to reading about historical figures and, at age ten, to sing an Easter anthem, impressing a famous singer who urges her father to get her a teacher.

## Themes in this chapter

### Ambition and Success

Joanna's early desire to be great echoes her father's thwarted ambition, and the chapter explores how both characters pursue greatness despite racial and economic obstacles.

### Family and Community

The close bond between Joanna and her father Joel is central, as is Joel's sacrifice for his mother and his role as a provider for his family.

### Racial Prejudice and Identity

Joel's color and poverty are described as limitations he must overcome, and Joanna learns about discrimination and the achievements of African Americans who overcame slavery.

## Character check-ins

### Joanna Marshall

As a young child, Joanna shows an early ambition for greatness, demanding stories about great people and later demonstrating a remarkable singing voice.

### Joel Marshall

Joel, born a slave, sacrificed his own dreams of becoming a minister to care for his mother and built a successful catering business. He sees his own ambition reflected in Joanna.

### Mrs. Marshall

Joel's wife, a former schoolteacher, is kind and unambitious, and she names their children, including Joanna, whom she notes resembles Joel.

### Philip Marshall

One of Joanna's older siblings, described as average and lacking the ambition of his father and sister.

### Sylvia Marshall

Another of Joanna's older siblings, also described as average and lacking ambition.

## Key lines

> Story 'bout somebody great, Daddy. Great like I'm going to be when I get to be a big girl.

Joanna asks her father for a story about a great person, asserting that she herself will be great when she grows up.

_This moment reveals Joanna's early ambition and her identification with her father's unfulfilled dreams._

> Get her a teacher, Mr. Marshall. She has a voice in ten thousand. Poor child, how you will have to work!

Madame Caldwell urges Joel to get Joanna a voice teacher, recognizing her exceptional talent and the hard work ahead.

_This marks the beginning of Joanna's path to musical greatness, supported by her father._

## Links

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- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/there_is_confusion_se/chapters