The first line of any work of literature is important. It sets the tone for the story. It is important in catching the reader's attention. Most importantly, it affects the reader's impression of the characters and the plot. In A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, the first line of each section tells us a great deal about each of the women. As we read on in each story, we learn how it relates to the character. Each sentence is significant for its importance as the first line of the story and because it describes quite well the woman that it introduces.
             Rayona's section of the book begins, "I sit on the bed at a crooked angle, one foot on the floor, my hip against the tent of Mom's legs, my elbows on the hospital table" (3). This is a metaphor for the position that Rayona is at in her life: awkward, difficult, unsure, yet somehow stable.
             Rayona sits "at a crooked angle." She does not have the self-confidence to stand up straight, but she is not ashamed of her position. She is unlike her peers in many ways: her race is a unique mixture of American Indian and Negro, her parents are separated but still married, and she assumes the role of caretaker in her home. She is tall and skinny, so she does not seem to fit in anywhere. While other fifteen-year-old girls are carefree and easily conform to the ideals on their peers, Rayona struggles to belong.
             As she sits in the hospital with "one foot on the floor," Rayona is in an ambiguous position. Part of her wants to be loyal to her mother, while part of her wants to blame her for the countless instances of heartache and abandonment that she suffered. Part of Rayona loves her father and wants desperately to be a part of his life: "I wait for him to compliment [me]" (6). However, another part of her resents him and does not want to continue being hurt by him. "I don't know what she sees in him" (6), Rayon...