Summary

Chapter 1 is narrated from a third-person point of view in the past tense. It begins by describing a man who has never had a job interview of high professional standards. The narrator reflects that the man had gone to a volunteer to help write a résumé describing his past experience as a farmer and street cleaner in Limbe, dishwasher in Manhattan, and cab driver in the Bronx. The man is worried about his English language skills and intelligence, despite his proper dress. He arrives at a business called Lehman Brothers and introduces himself to the lobby guard as Jende Jonga and asks for a man named Clark Edwards. He and the guard exchange greetings and Jende rides the elevator to the 28th floor, where a receptionist leads him to Clark Edwards’s upscale office.

Jende introduces himself to Clark and observes a...