I was very much impressed, not only with form, but with how [the Russians] used their peasantry, how they used their serfs.. To project an image of invulnerability for James, she alienates herself from the community and deals with her world on an individualistic level. The drawback to what Ill call, for lack of a better term, race-based readings may not be immediately obvious, but isnt terribly complicated. This tooth of endless remorse/aurality may be deniedIt aint hurting me no morebut will never be extracted from the central black consciousness of The Sky Is Gray. Of course, too, there is a shrewd and even humorous irony involved in attempting to exorcise the black hyperverbality by prayerwhether this be Baptist or Catholic incantationfor the Word/word, spoken or sung, lies at the root of black religiosity. Theirs is an odyssey or journey that encompasses the major dilemmas blacks faced in this eraincluding a debate between a black preacher who embraces the Christian doctrine of suffering and acceptance and an angry young black man who advocates questioning and action. Next, James discovers that the dentists colored waiting-room is a place of intensified vocality and aurality, where patients are hollering like pigs under a gate and where all round the room people are talking. The first thing that James learns is to rein in his potential visualityto accept verbal blinders for his eyes: Mama tells me to keep my eyes in front where they belong (italics mine). Their meal finished, James and his mother thank the woman for her hospitality. The experiences of his early years, particularly the experience of paternal abandonment, provided the bedrock on which his fiction would later be built. The effect of the storys episodic discontinuity is to emphasize the particular moment James is living, whether he is reliving a memory or moving through present events, while de-emphasizing the storys overarching structure. The dangers that her approach poses to James are dramatically illustrated in the argument between a minister and a student in the dentists office, the scene of much of the action. From Ernest J. Gaines, author of "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," comes a deceptively simple, yet emotionally complex tale of a young boy's discovery of what it's like to be black in Louisiana during the 1940's. I think the message it sends about how people treat each other is important. They are struggling for survival after James' father is taken in the army. What is the allegorical meaning of the student turning the other cheek when the preacher hits him? Get help and learn more about the design. Are the two related? You a man. While this is the nature of Octavias world, it does not completely define the contours of the world with which James must come to terms. It also refers to the complexity of the time in which James's character livesthe mid- to late-1950s or early-1960sand how previous values will no longer hold as the South shifts toward modernity. . Sometimes itd stop long enough to let me get little rest. Awesome read. It is my belief that Gaines' "The Sky is Gray" depicts the possible roots of a public leader, in the way the nature of the young narrator James is portrayed it illuminates the character traits in civil leader. The Winter Soldier peers through the scope and adjusts his grip, his finger ghosting over the trigger. Plot Summary Indeed, the tooth with the aching root here is Jamess own Afro-American tongue and earthe dilemma of finding that his deepest roots are at odds with hypervisual America. Of course, the reader doesnt follow James all the way from childhood into adulthood, but the central premise of bildungsroman is that the reader watches the protagonist go from innocence to experiencein this case, from being a child whose primary interest is in staying warm and well-fed to a youth who has the first glimmerings of pride in himself and awareness of an important and external reality: that others will judge him not by what he is, but by how he appears to be. Alnests wife, Helena is the storys other sympathetic white figure. New York: Longman, 1997, 511530. 28 terms. Clearly, if the environment in which they found themselves was as dangerous as Babb suggests, with every white potentially disposed to do harm, Octavias lesson would be the worst example she could possibly give James, setting him up at some future date for a prideful miscalculation whose outcome could be fatal. Being told that he must return after lunch, James goes with his mother out into the sleeting streets of Bayonne. Jamess absent father is serving the country, which expects its African-American citizens to fight for freedom abroad while it denies them those same freedoms at home. In 1948, at the age of fifteen, Gaines moved to Vallejo, California, to join his mother and stepfather, because there were no high schools for blacks near his home. It suggests at first the bleak mood of the story but also hints at hope in the future. Gaines writings about Louisiana have been understood and responded to largely as writings about race. The fact that neither story offers a resolution to the underlying conflict apparent in the situations is indicative of the contemporary nature of the issue which Gaines raises. The student wants very much to deny his auralityMe, I dont listen to my heartand he ends up sad and depressed over his liberalism and scepticism: I hope they arent all like me. ." The woman wonders why the Lord allows people to suffer, saying that she doesnt understand it, but the preacher concludes that its something no human can understand. kayeeaugust17. Gaines is best-known for his novel, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, published in 1971 and adapted into a television movie starring Cicely Tyson in 1974. Rather than explaining his position to her in such a way that she will be able to understand it, he raises his argument to a metaphysical level and alienates her: You really dont believe in God? the lady says. From a larger, more global viewpoint . But the conflict goes much deeper than that. An elderly white woman and store-owner declares, I saw yall each time you went by. The blacks, now realizing they are not going to conquer the keen-eyed compassion of this woman and her husband, bow and accept food and a perhaps-too-generous supply of salt meat under the transparent pretense of Jamess doing some chores for the shopkeepers. Gaines's story "The Sky is Gray" similarly explores the differences between charity and justice within the segregated South. Ernest J. Gaines was born on River Lake Plantation in Oscar, a hamlet of Pointe Coupee Parish in rural Louisiana. Characters Like James and Jamess mother, the source for Jamess aunt is drawn from Gainess own experience, modeled after his own great aunt, Augustine Jefferson. - "The Sky is Gray" 9 terms. With the exception of Auntie and Mr. Bayonne, who attempt to explain his mothers cold, dispassionate treatment of him on one occasion, James is alienated in his effort to come to grips with both the social and personal forces governing his life. Though her family is clearly poor, it is evident that they have learned to function within the constraints of their poverty. The trip to town on the bus marked White and Colored represents the real rite de passage for the black youth in white Americathe blurring of his sensibilities into gray: The river is gray. Like the narrator in Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man, the student is profoundly alienated from his community. Well, if I cant, to hell with it. He is an eight-year-old African American, living in the south during the 1940's before the civil rights movement came into effect. ostreet9 Plus. While James and his mother would certainly have had an easier day if they had had enough money to own a carto drive to the dentists office, to perhaps stop and do some shopping and have lunch on the way, perhaps even to see Dr. Robillard instead of Dr. Bassettthe simple fact remains that to do so, they would have had to be not only financially comfortable, but also white. Can I get a job tomorrow? However, for the moment, James is literally and figuratively caught in the middle of a storm in which both social and personal forces threaten his well-being. Style Whatever the narrative gains by being told through Jamess eyes would need to add a great deal to offset these drawbacks. 545-58. The unrelenting cold and hunger he experiences throughout the story stay with me so many years later. Supporting these ideas is Gainess keen awareness of the all-pervasive and profoundly formative influence of race on virtually every aspect of life in the rural South of this era. You are free to use it for research . But this much is clear. If ones analysis of this scene stops here in attempting to understand this odd end point for the story, the reading which suggests itself is quite straightforward, something like, external appearance is essential because Jamess person will always be identified and understood first by his external blackness, then, perhaps, if he is lucky, by his innate character by the world in which he lives, a world in which the white gaze is the most significant threat a black man faces. This reading is reinforced by other stations in the text, and indeed, most critics have read James and Octavia as Ive suggested. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. James instinctively knows that he would like to imitate the young man rather than the old preacher. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. It is through Jamess eyes that the story is told; consequently, the story is heavily filtered through his sensibilities. He states that Gaines was shockingly underrated at the beginning of his career. Four of his works were made into television movies. In this case, consciousness raising of blacks should not lead to an alienation from the community as it has for the student and Octavia; it should provide the basis for bettering the community. Consequently, in attempting to communicate with the community, he feels frustration, which reinforces his belief in his own isolation. He hears his mother complainWe the wrong colorand he sees for himself the relative comfort of the white people eating in a nearby cafe. It is also possible to rent "The Sky Is Gray" on Vudu, Amazon Video online and to download it on Amazon Video, Vudu. The fact that his father is gone to war, his mother is a very. the-sky-is-gray-ernest-gaines-pdf 1/1 map index pdf The Sky Is Gray Ernest Gaines Pdf Recognizing the pretension ways to get this books the sky is gray ernest gaines pdf is additionally useful. And by the end of the story, the reader does indeed sense that there has been some change to who James is in that short span, a sense reinforced by his mothers assertion that he is not a bum, but a man. Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Edited by Eugene Current-Garca and Bert Hitchcock. "- [] And as long as you listen to what your heart tells you, you will have only what the white man gives you and nothing more. SHORT STORY TEST! The Sky is Gray is a bildungsroman, a story describing the growth of a child into adulthood. Her final statement to James in the story is probably the most illustrative of her world view: You not a bum, she says. In these stories, black folk culture, with its emphasis on community-defined values and behaviors, shows signs of deterioration, while Western individualism and the development of more personally-defined values appear as catalysts in the demise of the black . allivarnell13. The Sky is Gray is fundamentally a story about the process of coming of age, of going from one state to another. A black boy comes of age in Louisiana during the 1940's and learns of racism and poverty firsthand. Eventually they are stopped by an old white lady named Helena who has watched them each time they passed by. It is through these kinds of moderating forces in James environment that Gaines sees his salvation. The reader only sees a small part of this process, a few hours one morning, a few more that afternoon, but these hours are important: they form some of the bedrock upon which the foundation of Jamess manhoodhis sense of personal dignity and worth, as well as courage and silence in difficultywill be built. Again, Gaines is shrewd enough not to let James end his ordeal at this point but forces him to confront the obstacles of bitter cold and hunger in order to accomplish his sensory rite de passage. Introduction His feelings of isolation are clearly illustrated in his conversation with a woman who attempts to take his side in the disagreement. James also lets it be known that "the sky is gray" and that there isn't much grass. Reading Gaines first, foremost, always, and only as a black author, an author of race and race issues, rather than primarily as an imaginative author, an author of ideas, delimits the kinds of questions one can ask about his works and necessarily diminishes the readers appreciation of the imaginative sphere in which he works. Understanding The Sky is Gray requires that one not only understand something about the Louisiana of the 1930s and 1940s but also understand what was happening with regard to race in the United States during the 1960s, because the events of what later came to be called the Civil Rights era made a substantial and lasting impression on Gaines, one that can be seen not too far beneath the surface of The Sky is Gray in the person of the student and in the storys preoccupation with racial inequality. He looks at two contrasting ideas, the African/aural rootsthe idea that African Americans express themselves through their music and aural interpretationsand their American/visual reorientationthe idea that America is a country of visual stimulations, that as Emerson said the eye is final.. During the exchange between the men, the minister exposes the weakness of his position when he becomes frustrated and strikes the student. His choices should involve a conscious effort to integrate the extremes. Home American Literature Analysis of Ernest J. Gainess The Sky Is Gray. Style But if one takes a step back from the more obvious reading another, more subtle, reading begins to emerge. The Sky Is Gray W. W. Norton & Company "Race and Repast: Foodscapes in Twentieth-Century Southern Literature examines how race relations are expressed through struggles over the meaning of food and access to food in Southern literature. What exemplifies the American national narrative in the story "The Sky is Gray" by Ernest J. Gaines? Source: John W. Roberts,. The Sky is Gray Essay example. $18.75 + $3.99 shipping. The action in The Sky is Gray is broken up into thirteen short sections which describe a half day or so in the life of James, an eight-year-old black boy in the rural South of the late 1930s. . The scene in which Jamess mother is toldor discoversthat her son must go to the dentist is skipped over, but the familys poverty, and the comparatively huge cost of having the tooth pulled, is not. By forcing James to sublimate his emotions and accept them as signs of human weakness, she fails to provide him with a means of dealing with the emotional responses of others in a way consistent with her philosophy. William James, the American philosopher and psychologist, was born in New York City to Mary Robertson Walsh James and Henr, Cane The Sky Is Gray by Ernest J. Gaines is a poignant and thought-provoking short story about a young African American boy named James, who lives in rural Louisiana with his mother and grandmother during the mid-20th century. Jamess vulnerability to this aspect of human nature is illustrated in the episode with an old couple who offer them food during their visit to town. I know I dont.). Further Reading . The trip to town on the bus marked White and Colored represents the real rite de passage for the black youth in white Americathe blurring of his sensibilities into gray: The river is gray. His father is deployed to fight in World War II, so his mother; Octavia is forced to take . The sky is gray Its like this everyday The town is full of predators Dont turn into the prey I Flip a million out of nothing Make them feel a certain way Hoping that this swisher Puts me in a purple haze I got my eyes on the money The only reason I'm gonna keep goin' And I am back in the zone and its funny Chronic bag the cologne Another half . 110-13. The Individual and the Community in Two Short Stories by Ernest J. Gaines, in Black American Literature Forum, Vol. Word Count: 1084. My heart tells me, the boy says. What exemplifies the American national narrative in the story "The Sky is Gray" by Ernest J. Gaines? Added . Contrary to what Octavia would have him believe, the choices that James must eventually make about the quality of his existence should not be between bum and man, or between adhering to the dictates of the head or heart as advocated by the student and the minister respectively. Robillard, the good dentist who takes care of the teeth of Bayonnes whites. 3, Fall, 1984, pp. Author Biography Helena tries to give them a larger piece, but Jamess mother insists on an accurate measure. Other awards he has received include the Joseph Henry Jackson Literary Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Study Award, a Rockefeller Foundation Grant-in-Aid, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Fellowship, and honorary doctorates from Denison University, Brown University, Bard College, Whittier College, and Louisiana State University. I havent anything. Critical Reflections on the Fiction of Ernest J. Gaines, Athens: Georgia University Press, 1994. On the other, he is one of only two sympathetic white characters in Gainess story (Helena is the other). She offers them food, but though James is hungry, his mother will not accept any charity, so Helena has James move some empty trash cans to the street as a face-saving gesture for his mother. And since his stories are set in the past, his African-American characters appear subservient and are not placed in the revolutionary poses favored by some of Gainess contemporaries such as James Baldwin, Ishmael Reed, John O. Killins, John Wideman, or David Bradley., In sum, while Gaines may not have had the wide recognition of other African-American writers early in his career, there is a broad critical consensus that he is an important writer, a good writer, and a writer who has perhaps been undervalued and may continue to gain increasing recognition in the years to come, in part because he was somewhat overshadowed by his contemporaries during his early years, in part because of the increasing importance of studies of masculinity in the literary canon. Investigate the relationship between the Civil Rights movement in America and the anti-Apartheid movement in Africa. 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