J.D. and the Great Barber Battle

By opening J.D. and the Great Barber Battle with a bad haircut and J.D.’s resulting anxiety, Dillard indicates that haircuts will remain central to the story and play a critical role in J.D.’s character development. The inclusion of the widely used “fade” hairstyle also grounds the story in J.D.’s Black experience while making the book accessible to readers across ethnicities. Dillard therefore strikes a fine balance between keeping J.D.’s story specific to Black culture while also opening the narrative to a wider audience through the universally dismaying experience of receiving a bad haircut. J.D.’s reaction to the haircut demonstrates fears that all children face, and his worries about looking bad and getting teased are therefore designed to resonate widely. 

Similarly, J.D.’s response to the teasing shows both his resilience and his enterprising nature. J.D. is already used to being teased because of his family’s financial situation, which keeps him from having new or stylish things like his friends. For this reason, he feels especially offended by the idea of getting teased about his haircut, and he boldly decides to take matters into his own hands. Though the teasing and bullying aimed at J.D. are not appropriate ways for his friends to treat him, these early scenes do show the pressure that J.D. feels to fit in. However, rather than succumbing to negative peer pressure, J.D. puts his own creative spin on the situation, and after his second bad hairstyle, he realizes that he has to keep trying if he wants to correct his haircut. His determination supports the book’s focus on Facing New Challenges as They Come.

Dillard shows J.D. at his own house and at Jordan’s, and the contrast between these two households highlights the pressures that children often feel due to their parents’ financial situations. For example, J.D. prefers Jordan’s house to his own, as shown when he refers to it as “magical” in the title of Chapter 4. Jordan’s family has more money than J.D.’s, and Jordan enjoys a range of fun toys and amenities that J.D. can only dream of, such as video games and air conditioning. Jordan also uses his family’s wealth to his advantage, making sure that he always has the latest games and the most stylish clothes. As a result, Jordan displays a far greater degree of confidence at school because he knows he looks good. However, when he teases J.D. about his hair because J.D. cannot afford to go to the barber, Jordan uses his confidence to show that he is better than his friend, and this problematic interaction becomes a prime example of The Tension between Confidence and Arrogance, which will characterize many of the conflicts in the novel. 

In contrast to the financial frivolity of Jordan’s family, J.D.’s mom and grandparents are much more frugal because they have less to spend. Additionally, J.D.’s granddad has cultivated a work ethic geared toward building savings and being responsible rather than indulging whims to acquire stylish items. J.D.’s granddad used to work as a store manager, but after surviving a heart attack, he retired and began selling burial insurance, reasoning that this pursuit would be a solid business decision, given that he is selling something that everyone will eventually need. J.D. absorbs the practical lessons that his family members offer, and in later chapters, when J.D. starts charging money for haircuts, he calculates how much he could make under different business conditions. This line of thinking demonstrates the positive effect that his granddad’s work ethic has had on him. However, this foresight is tempered by J.D.’s desire to purchase fun items with his money, and it is clear that even with positive and strong role models, J.D. still has the more short-sighted aspirations characteristic of a child’s perspective.

Notably, Chapter 6 becomes a turning point in J.D.’s character arc. Before this moment, J.D. has dealt with his bad haircuts by shrugging off the teasing from his friends and taking desperate measures, such as using his mom’s hair relaxer. While these tactics show J.D.’s drive to move forward and try new solutions, such scenes also indicate that he does not always make wise choices. Although the relaxer product comes with a long list of warnings and J.D. isn’t sure whether it will do what he wants it to do, he tries it anyway because he feels like he has to do something. When it doesn’t have the result he wants, J.D. learns from his mistake and realizes that what he really wants is a better haircut. Since he can’t afford to go to Hart and Son, he knows that cutting his own hair is his only option, and his willingness to try reveals the ambitious mindset that motivates him throughout the rest of the story. This is also the moment that makes J.D. realize that he has real talent in this area. By comparing haircuts to art, J.D. makes the process more familiar and less daunting, and he gains vital confidence in his abilities. When his family praises him for doing a good job, J.D. finds the support he needs to make progress in Taking Pride in Personal Accomplishments.