The Sky Is Gray

Ernest J. Gaines
The Sky Is Gray SuperSummary 1

Table of Contents

S UM M A RY 3

Summary: “The Sky Is Gray” 3

S TO RY A N A LYS IS 7

Analysis: “The Sky Is Gray” 7

C H A RA C TER A N A LYS IS 9

James 9
Octavia 9
Helena 9
Auntie 10
Monsieur Etienne Bayonne 10
Ty 11
Daddy 11

TH EM ES 12

Life During Jim Crow 12

Expressions of Masculinity 13
Faith Versus Action 14

S YM B O LS & M O TIFS 15

Pool-doos 15
God 15
Salt Pork 16

LITERA RY D EV IC ES 17

Dialect 17
Repetition 17
Colloquialisms 18
Contrast 18

IM P O RTA N T Q UO TES 19

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ES S A Y TO P IC S 24

TEA C H IN G G UID E 25

Q UIZ 33

H O W TO US E 38

P RE-REA DIN G C O N TEX T 39

TH O UG H T & RES P O N S E P RO M P TS 41

PA IRED TEX TS & O TH ER RES O URC ES 43

A C TIV ITY 45

ES S A Y Q UES TIO N S 47

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Summary

Summary: “The Sky Is Gray”

“The Sky is Gray” by African American writer Ernest J. Gaines is a short story within the
collection Bloodline: Five Stories, first published in Negro Digest in August 1963 and in the
collection in 1968. 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.
Gaines is the winner of numerous awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for
Fiction (1993) for his novel A Lesson Before Dying. In the same year, he won a MacArthur
Fellowship.

James, the story’s protagonist, is waiting for the bus with his mother, Octavia. His tooth
aches, though he pretends that the pain isn’t as bad as it is so that he’ll not appear weak. The
bus will take them to Dr. Bassett’s office, a dentist in Bayonne who accepts Black patients
and charges them rates they can afford. Before they agreed to go to the dentist, James tried
to hide his pain, knowing that his family didn’t have the money to send him to the dentist. His
aunt found him out and sent for Monsieur Bayonne, a local folk medicine doctor, who mashed
on James’s jaw and said Catholic prayers. The pain subsided for a while but returned after a
short rabbit-hunting trip.

While waiting for the bus, James recalls when his mother forced him to kill his and Ty’s pet
redbirds so that the family could eat supper. It pained him to kill the tiny birds, more than the
beatings from his mother for initially refusing to obey. James was only eight years old at the
time. He didn’t understand why he had to kill the birds, though he now understands. The meat
on the tiny birds provided only a morsel for each member of the family of four.

When the bus approaches, James pulls out his handkerchief to wave it down. He and Octavia
get on. She instructs him to move to the back of the bus while she pays. He sees the signs
indicating a White section and a Black section. There’s only one seat in the Black section, and
he reserves it for his mother. James notices a girl in “a red overcoat” sitting across from him
(90). He shyly smiles at her, but she haughtily turns away, prompting him to pretend to ignore
her. He looks instead at the river, which appears gray. He watches the “pool-doos” (birds)
float along the waves. Meanwhile, the little girl’s mother teases her about having a crush on

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James. The little girl loudly and angrily protests that she doesn’t, which prompts James to
dismiss her in kind. Their quarrel causes the other bus passengers to laugh. The bus then
arrives in Bayonne. James and his mother disembark.

While walking to the dentist’s office, James and Octavia pass a school. James sees children
playing on the playground. His mother tells him to look forward. When they pass the
courthouse, James notices that the flag waving out front has fewer stars than the one at his
school, which has “one for every state” (93). When they arrive at the office, they go into the
waiting room, where James hears a child named John Lee Williams yelling in pain. A woman
waiting asks why God would allow a child to suffer like that. A preacher sitting nearby replies
that it isn’t for them to question God. The woman replies that the dentist, Dr. Bassett, simply
isn’t very good, but that most Black people in the area can’t afford Dr. Robillard, who treats
mostly White patients.

A young man sitting in the waiting room and reading a book speaks up. He says that the
problem with Black people in the country today is that they don’t question enough. He then
questions the existence of God, which infuriates the preacher. The young man goes on to say
that the preacher only believes in God because a White man told him so to keep him ignorant
and submissive. The preacher gets up, walks over to the young man, and slaps him in the
face. The young man offers his other cheek. The preacher hits him there, too. The preacher
then excuses himself and leaves. The young man resumes reading his book.

The lady who took pity on John Lee asks the young man why he doesn’t believe in God. He
reiterates that he can’t believe in God because he can’t be certain of God’s existence.
Furthermore, what people say doesn’t matter—only action does. Action and thought, not
feeling, he insists, are the only ways for Black people to improve their lot. The young man
admits, though, that he was born too late to have faith in much of anything. He hopes that the
generation after him will believe in something, if not in the lady’s God then, at least, in
something else “they can lean on” (102).

The nurse comes into the waiting room and says that the doctor will not take any more
patients until one o’clock in the afternoon. Octavia jumps up and says that she has to return
to the cotton field to work, but the nurse refuses to allow James to see the doctor. James and
his mother go back outside. They wander around town. James notices a boy with brown
shoes, which makes him think of his own rundown shoes. He won’t get a new pair until
summer. They then walk by “a café where [White people are] eating” (103). His mother again

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tells him to keep looking ahead. They pass another café, which is also Whites-only. They go
into a hardware store, where Octavia requests axe handles. She decides against buying any
and they walk back out into the cold. James’s stomach is growling loudly, but they keep
walking.

At the courthouse, he sees that it’s nearly noon. James’s mother knows he’s hungry, though
he pretends otherwise. She gives him the choice between eating and walking back to the
plantation, or riding the bus and not eating. James thinks about how the others back home
are probably “eating dinner now” (106). The sleet starts to fall, and James prays not to die.

James and his mother walk back to the Black neighborhood of Bayonne and into a café.
James stands beside the heater to warm his hands. His mother has only three dollars, some
of which must go toward getting James’s tooth pulled and to buying “fifty cents worth of salt
meat” (109). To avoid spending money on food, James again insists that he isn’t hungry.
However, Octavia hands the woman behind the counter a quarter anyway for access to the
café’s heat. The lady gives Octavia and James some cakes. A man who has been sitting
nearby invites Octavia to dance with him; she pushes him away and bears her knife in case he
wants to fight. The lady behind the counter facetiously calls the small man a “pimp” and
laughs at him.

James and Octavia go back out into the cold. James thinks of the Edgar Allan Poe poem
“Annabel Lee” while he walks to avoid thinking of the cold. Due to the weather, he has missed
a lot of school and wonders what the other children are now studying. When they turn a
corner, a small, old White woman stops them and asks if they’ve eaten. Octavia says they
have and are now going to the dentist. The woman, whose name is Helena, insists that they
come into her store to eat. She was watching James and Octavia walk in the cold and was
trying to catch them. When they enter the store, Helena says that she’s been keeping food
warm. Octavia turns to leave. Helena then says that she’ll need James’s help with moving
trash bins in exchange for the food because her husband, Ernest, is too sick to do it. James
carries the cans to the front, but they feel light enough to be empty. When he finishes, he goes
to the bathroom to wash his hands, but he doesn’t dry them on the old woman’s towels.

When James goes into the kitchen, he sees that the old lady has dished out rice, gravy, and
meat. She’s also prepared a salad, cake, and a glass of milk for James. Octavia eats slowly, as
though deep in thought. After they eat, they prepare to leave. Ernest says goodbye from a
back room. Octavia asks if Helena sells salt meat. Helena cuts off a piece, but Octavia says

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that it’s too much for the quarter that she can offer in payment. Helena protests, but Octavia
insists that she weigh the meat. When she refuses, Octavia turns to leave again. Helena
relents and then cuts about half a piece off before putting it back in the bag. Octavia thanks
Helena for her kindness and leaves the quarter on her counter.

James and Octavia go back outside. Now, the sleet is coming down hard. James turns his
collar up, but his mother insists that he turn it back down, telling him that he’s a man, “not a
bum” (116).

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Story Analysis

Analysis: “The Sky Is Gray”

“The Sky is Gray” refers to the literal winter scene in which the story takes place. It also refers
to the complexity of the time in which James’s character lives—the mid- to late-1950s or early-
1960s—and how previous values will no longer hold as the South shifts toward modernity.
James and his family are sharecroppers on a cotton plantation, which places them within the
traditions of the Old South. Though slavery ended in 1863 throughout most of the South,
planters continued to rely on cheap Black labor. Due to the de jure discrimination of Jim Crow,
Black laborers had little recourse against their employers and could not fight back against
unfair wages or overwork. Thus, James, Octavia, Ty, Auntie, and the others with whom they
live and work find themselves within an endless cycle of poverty.

Race and poverty are the two conditions that determine life for James and his family—a fact
that Gaines establishes within the story’s first pages. The social realities of race and White
supremacy determine the poverty in which the main characters live and create the conflicts
with which they must contend. James has a bad tooth because he eats syrup with his bread
every morning for breakfast. He eats syrup every morning because his mother cannot afford
to provide him with more nourishing food. Worse, the bad tooth must be pulled, which is even
more expensive. Gaines illustrates the insidiousness of poverty by not only showing how
James’s health and access to education are impacted, but also by depicting the instance in
which his mother forced him to kill his pet redbirds for food. The sight of the “pool-doos”
floating along the Mississippi River triggers this memory. The freedom of the “pool-doos”
contrasts with the vulnerability of the redbirds, who were unsafe in the home of people who
suffered from desperate hunger. The killing also underscored the absence of childhood
pleasures from James’s life: He cannot even have a pet. This denial of childhood is reiterated
when he views the children at a White school in Bayonne playing in a schoolyard. Having to
work in the cotton fields, he has no time to play and later wonders how long it has been since
he has been to school.

After passing by the schoolhouse, James observes the American flag hanging outside of the
courthouse. The fact that it has far fewer stars than the flag that hangs outside of his
schoolhouse is indicative of it being the early American revolutionary flag sewn by the
upholsterer Betsy Ross. The 13-star flag—each star representing one of the 13 original

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colonies—has remained a popular symbol among White supremacist groups. The flag harks
back to a time when the Constitution was limited to the original Bill of Rights, thus leaving out
the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, which helped to ensure the rights of
formerly enslaved people, as well as the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted voting rights
to all women.

Being in the White neighborhood of Bayonne heightens James’s awareness of his poverty.
Gaines emphasizes this feeling over that of his sense of racial difference. James seems less
interested in the people around him being White than he is in what they have access to as a
result of being White—good food, nice schools, nice brown shoes, and warm coats. This
reminds the reader that integration was never about the desire for proximity to Whiteness, or
assimilation to the standards and values of White people. It was instead about giving people
of color access to the same opportunities and resources.

In the meantime, Octavia instills within her son a determination to be resilient. Her
admonitions not to stare at White children on playgrounds or at White patrons eating in cafés
is intended both to avoid unnecessary confrontations (Black men and boys risked being
lynched or assaulted for looking directly at White people in the South) and to prevent him
from longing for that which he cannot have. She teaches him, too, that there can be dignity in
poverty—an example that she sets when she refuses Helena’s attempt to give her extra salt
pork. One could construe Octavia’s refusal of Helena’s obvious attempts at kindness as overly
suspicious. However, this was a setting in which Black people had to be hypervigilant about
the potential for being victims of trickery and violence, particularly when in White people’s
homes. James echoes this sentiment when he avoids wiping his washed hands on Helena’s
towels, worried that she could perceive such an act as disrespect or a sullying of her home.

Gaines’s depiction of Octavia arguably falls within the stereotype of the “strong, Black
woman”—a female figure within the Black community, usually maternal, often raising children
without a husband, who appears to be both determined and unafraid to do what is necessary
to survive. Gaines reveals nothing about Octavia’s inner life because we are to see her
through the eyes of James, who wavers between wanting to care for and protect his beautiful,
selfless mother, and being in awe of her.

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Character Analysis

James

James is the novel’s protagonist. Though his age is not given, he is likely a teenager,
considering both his remembrances of childhood and his feeling, as the eldest son, that he
take on the role of family patriarch. He is the son of Octavia, the nephew of Auntie, and the
brother of Ty. He and his family work as sharecroppers on a cotton plantation in Louisiana.
His sore tooth provides the impetus for going to Bayonne for a dentist’s appointment. The
story is told in first-person omniscient from James’s point of view. He shares with the reader
his feelings about his family, particularly his overwhelming love for his mother; his
observations on the bus on the way to Bayonne; and his experiences in the waiting room of
the dentist’s office. His loyalty to his mother is especially pronounced, particularly his desires
to buy her a better coat and to pay her back for buying him what he knows she cannot afford,
such as temporary access to heat in a café.

Octavia

Octavia is James’s and Ty’s mother and either the sister or sister-in-law of Auntie. She works
as a sharecropper and lives on a cotton plantation with her family. She was married, it seems,
but her husband left the family some years before after entering the Army. It is also possible
that he died in combat. Octavia is a strong matriarchal figure who, through her actions,
teaches James about the realities of Jim Crow. She also coerces him into taking on the role
of a man, which is underscored in her final command to him, which is also the story’s final
sentence.

Helena

Helena is the petite, old White woman who invites James and Octavia into her store, where
she also has a residence. She is married to a man named Alnest, whom James and Octavia
never see because he is on bed rest with a cold. They hear him speaking to them, however,
from his room. Helena seems only to want to provide comfort and nourishment to James and
Octavia. She also figures that they’ve come to town to see the dentist, Dr. Bassett, but were
unsuccessful in getting a timely appointment. Helena intervenes on their behalf and gets
James an earlier appointment.

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Despite Helena’s apparent generosity, Octavia views her suspiciously. Their interaction, both
during dinner and when Octavia buys the salt pork, reveals the underlying mistrust in relations
between many Black and White women. This mistrust is rooted in White supremacy, which
gave White women a degree of power over Black people, particularly over the Black women
who usually worked in their homes. Octavia, who is unaccustomed to generosity from White
people in the Jim Crow South, wonders if Helena has an ulterior motive. Additionally, to avoid
any scent of obsequiousness, she refuses Helena’s attempt to give her extra salt pork. Helena
is aware of Octavia’s suspicion and refusal to take handouts, which is why, before feeding
them, she asks James to carry her trash bins to the front of her house, though they are
actually empty. Helena is likely a decent person, but Octavia cannot know that. This air of
suspicion clouds the space between them, illustrating how Jim Crow made it difficult for
Black and White people to see each other clearly.

Auntie

Auntie is James’s and Ty’s aunt. She lives with them and their mother, Octavia. Auntie
intervenes when Octavia forces James to kill his pet cardinals for their supper—not to
dissuade her from getting James to commit the act, but to compel her to explain to her son
why he had to kill his tiny, beloved birds. Auntie also notices when James tries to downplay
the pain from his tooth. She sends for Monsieur Bayonne who provides some initial treatment
on the bad tooth.

Monsieur Etienne Bayonne

Monsieur Bayonne is a family friend and local medicine man who is likely of Creole descent.
He follows the Catholic religion and emphasizes that he knows nothing about being a Baptist,
which, it is implied, is the religion of James and his family. Monsieur Bayonne’s presence is a
reminder of the diversity within Black Louisianan communities. It is significant, too, that
Bayonne’s surname is the same as that of the city to which James and his mother go for a
dentist’s visit. This reminds the reader that Bayonne is possibly the descendant of the White
people who founded the town. His connection to the Black people who work on the plantation
is both a sign of his disinheritance and his cultural identity, though he has also inherited the
customs of his oppressors. This is magnified through his assertion of his Catholic faith, as
opposed to James’s Baptist upbringing, and his embrace of the traditions of West African
witch doctors.

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Ty

Ty is James’s younger brother who resents how James’s dental problem places requirements
on him, such as getting up early, though it isn’t his day to go to the dentist. Ty is also James’s
best friend. James identifies his brother as his buddy, and they go on hunting trips together.
The boys’ closeness is due not only to their being brothers, but also to the few opportunities
they have to interact with other children.

Daddy

James’s and Ty’s father is absent from the story, but James thinks about him and figures that
he will never return home. He recalls when he, Octavia, Ty, and his father went to Baton
Rouge, just before Daddy “went in the Army” (93). Given the period in which the story takes
place, there is a possibility that James’s father did go into the U.S. Army to fight in the Korean
War (1950-53). Monsieur Bayonne’s conversation with Auntie suggests that he might have
been killed, but that the government did not compensate Octavia for her loss. However, this
still would not explain why he didn’t return to his family. It’s possible that James’s father
abandoned his wife and children. To protect them from that harsh reality, Octavia might have
lied to James and Ty, telling them that he enlisted in the Army.

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Themes

Life During Jim Crow

Without ever mentioning the year in which the story takes place, or using the terms
“segregation” or “Jim Crow,” Gaines illustrates that his story is set during that era. However,
James, a character nearing adolescence, is also living in a region that is on the precipice of
change.

To get to Dr. Bassett’s office, James and his mother must get on a segregated bus. Gaines
notes this fact when James passes “the little sign” that reads “White” and “Colored” (90). The
sign is unremarkable because it is a common feature of life in the South. Black and White
people did not sit near each other on buses. Black passengers were always relegated to the
rear of the bus, and they were refused the option to sit in any empty seat in the White section
when seats in the Black section were full. Gaines, however, doesn’t highlight any moments of
outrage or indignity around this mundane fact. Instead, by presenting the teasing exchange
between James and the little girl in the red overcoat, Gaines reveals how life was as normal in
Black communities as in any other, despite their living with the indignities of segregation.

Similarly, life in the family cabin is not especially grim, despite the family’s poverty and their
existence under the sharecropping system. Ty, for instance, grumbles about having the same
breakfast every morning and resents having to get up early. James also describes his brother
as his buddy and confides in him about his bad tooth. Though the conditions of their lives
might be different, these are family scenes to which any reader could relate.

Ty’s exasperation with eating syrup every morning is one facet of the family’s crushing
poverty. Syrup is the only sustenance they can afford. The addition of bacon, which isn’t
much healthier, would require more work in the field. Gaines focuses less on how Jim Crow
enforced racial distinctions, an obvious fact, and illustrates how it created severe economic
disparities between Black people and White people. James knows that his mother cannot
afford to take him to the dentist, so he hides his pain from her. He also knows that she has no
time, as she must work in the planter’s field in the afternoon. Dr. Bassett is a bad dentist, but
he is the only one whom the Black residents in Bayonne can afford. Good healthcare,

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nourishing food, education, and better living conditions are the necessities that Black people
were deprived of under Jim Crow. The injustice was not in being separated from White people,
but in being forced to live substandard lives.

Expressions of Masculinity

James is only a teenager but feels compelled to assert his role as the head of the family
because he is the eldest. He is protective of his mother and promises himself that he will
repay her for the extra money that she spends in the café for heat. He looks at her tattered
coat and thinks that he will find a way to buy her a new one. With his father gone and unlikely
to return, James sees himself as a surrogate husband—he must provide for his mother and
protect her in the ways that his father had before.

James’s insistences on never appearing scared or revealing when he is in pain are

manifestations of his ideas about what it means to be a man. He assumes an air of stoicism
that is temporarily spoiled when he sees the girl in the red overcoat on the bus. Not yet
comfortable with his burgeoning interest in girls, he feigns indifference. James’s suppression
of both his tenderness and his pain exemplifies the problematic ideas that society continues
to communicate to boys and men about how to perform their gender roles. Being a man, they
learn, requires them to deny the thoughts and feelings that make them human. On the other
hand, Octavia is raising a Black man whom she knows society will not treat kindly. If James
can withstand her beatings and reproaches, he will be better prepared for the abuse he will
inevitably face from a racist society.

James’s most notable lesson in learning to be a man comes when he is eight. When Octavia
demands that he kill his pet redbirds, and beats him when he initially refuses, he learns,
without his mother explaining to him, why he had to do it. Though Auntie implores Octavia to
explain it to James, Octavia never does, but James still learns the lesson. He had to sacrifice
something he loved for the preservation of his family, as his mother often did. Though
circumstances, which remain unclear to the reader, have deprived James, Octavia, and Ty of a
traditional nuclear family, the closeness between them and Auntie reiterates the fact that
families can take many forms and that Black people, so long denied the right to form family
units, had to be creative in forming filial ties.

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Faith Versus Action

The debate over the value of faith over action during periods of crisis arises during James’s
and Octavia’s visit to Dr. Bassett’s office. While sitting in the waiting room, they overhear little
John Lee Williams screaming in pain while being attended to by the dentist. Another patient
asks why God would allow a child to suffer so, prompting a preacher sitting nearby to claim
that it isn’t for them to question God’s will. The preacher, who represents the elder generation
within the Black community is, in turn, questioned by a young man sitting nearby and reading
a book. The young man refuses to have blind faith in God and privileges rational thought over
feeling, much to the preacher’s initial chagrin and, soon thereafter, to his outrage.

This debate over the value of faith when confronting racist oppression was a popular one
during the Civil Rights era (1955-64). Some activists, notably Malcolm X and, later, Stokely
Carmichael, resented what they viewed as the accommodationist politics of members of the
NAACP. The preacher and the boy represent extremes in thought. Many civil rights leaders of
the era, notably Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, used their respective faiths as
sources of inspiration and motivation for bringing their social and political visions to fruition.
By using the boy and the preacher as tropes, however, Gaines prods the reader into
questioning both traditional values and the activist methods of contemporary leaders. The “all
or nothing” approach, in both circumstances, denies human beings the complexity of their
experience. Nevertheless, James sees within the boy what he believes he wants to be—
educated, strong, unafraid, and eager to be a part of the world. Unlike the preacher and his
mother, who dissuade engagement with the conditions of the world, James, like the boy,
wants to see and think about things for himself.

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Symbols & Motifs

Pool-doos

James notices the pool-doos that float along the Mississippi River, both while waiting for the
bus with his mother and while riding to his dentist’s appointment. “Pool-doo” is James’s
interpretation of the French Creole word pouldeau, which comes from the French poule d’eau,
or gallinule. The term, which translates literally to “water hen,” refers either to the gallinule or
to the American coot. Both belong to the same family of chicken-like waterfowls distantly
related to ducks. The American coot is plentiful in Louisiana all year around.

The “pool-doo” triggers in James the memory of being forced by his mother to kill his pet “red-
birds,” or cardinals, for food. He wonders if the pool-doo is also edible. His ruminations on this
bird help the reader understand both the desperate poverty of James and his family, as well
as the demand that he usurp the role of family patriarch after the departure of his father.

God

Christian faith is a complicated facet of African American culture. On the one hand, the Black
church, first formed on Southern plantations, fostered a sense of community and offered
hope during the dark antebellum years. On the other hand, some Black activists have argued
that faith in a Christian God both reinforces the dominance of their oppressor (Christianity
was one of the tools of colonization and the forced assimilation of enslaved Africans into the
plantation system) and encourages passivity in response to racism. During the Civil Rights
Movement, during which the story takes place, there was a schism in Black communities.
Some activists, notably Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., used the Christian church as a space in
which to organize and relied on Christian faith as the inspiration for passive resistance.
Others, such as Malcolm X, eschewed Christ in favor of the Muslim faith of their West African
ancestors. Others still, such as the Black Panthers, focused more on social and political
concerns with little interest in religion.

In the story, the argument over the importance of faith between the preacher and the young
man represents not only the schism between civil rights activists, but also between older
generations, who often deemed faith foundational to moral integrity and hope, and the

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younger generation who, with their greater access to education and their impatience for
change, believed that the Church was impeding progress and reaffirming an element of White
supremacy.

Salt Pork

Salt pork is literally a piece of pork that comes from fat back or pork belly. The meat, which
resembles bacon, is cheap. It is a staple in the soul food diet prevalent among African
Americans, as salt pork was one of numerous parts of a pig that plantation owners left over
for their slaves. Octavia puts a quarter aside to buy salt pork for dinner. When she reaches
Helena’s store, she asks the old White woman to cut off a piece for her. Helena gives her two
bits, though a quarter buys only one. When Octavia refuses the extra bit, which Helena
intended as a gift, Helena cuts it off and gives Octavia only the one bit that she could afford.

Octavia’s refusal of the gift of extra pork is symbolic of her pride and her refusal to take
handouts from the community responsible for her oppression. She can only afford the scraps
from a pig to feed her family, but she will not accept a gift of scraps when she knows that she
and her family deserve more. This is a moral standard that she works to instill in James and
reinforces when she tells him immediately after this episode that he’s “no bum.”

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Literary Devices

Dialect

One of the ways in which Gaines evokes the story’s Louisianan setting is through the speech
of his characters. Members of the Black community freely use common slang, such as “ain’t,”
as well as that which is more particular to the South, such as the tendency to drop the first
syllables off of words like “reject,” “about,” and “beside.” Additionally, they also drop the “to”
from infinitives, as when Octavia asks James, “You want eat and walk back” (105), and fail to
conjugate irregular verbs, thus, the past tense of “know” is “knowed” instead of “knew.” This
loose command of grammar reveals the levels of education among certain characters. When
the dialect disappears, as it does when the young man with the book and the dentist’s nurse
speak, the reader becomes aware of how language can become a marker of education, class,
and even race.

Repetition

James, the boy who narrates the story, frequently repeats himself. Though Gaines uses the
character to tell a story in the first-person omniscient voice, the character repeats words and
statements to himself, as though they were mantras, to reinforce certain habits and
behaviors. Gaines uses James’s narration to illustrate the many ways Black people adjusted
their behavior to survive in the Jim Crow South. James uses the colloquial phrase “make
‘tend,” or “to pretend,” to signal all the ways he and others hide their true feelings. His mother
repeats the phrase “[t]hat rag” to remind James to wipe his runny nose so that he’ll always be
presentable, especially when they go into Bayonne, where White people are present. Her
constant nudging is a surreptitious reminder of all the ways Black people had to present their
best selves when going before White people, to dispel contrived notions of being slovenly and
unclean. When James returns to the area near the Bayonne stop after the failed visit to the
dentist, he quietly remarks on “[s]ame old trees, same old walk, same old weeds, same old
cracked pave—same old everything” in his own community (104). Here, the repetition,
reinforces the continuity of traditions in the community, and throughout the South, which
subordinate Black people. The phrase “same old” suggests the fear that nothing will change;
that this is how things are. James’s muffled frustration correlates with that of the young,
educated man in the dentist’s office.

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Colloquialisms

Like dialect, colloquialisms are vocabulary within everyday speech, with no adherence to
formality or proper usage. In “The Sky Is Gray,” Gaines employs colloquialisms that are
particular to the South, such as “make ‘tend” for “to pretend,” as well as those that are more
particular to Louisiana, such as “pool-doos.” The term that James invents based on what he
has heard comes from the Creole pouldeau, which is a variation on the French poule d’eau.
The term refers to a bird that is prevalent in Louisiana year around—the American coot.
James’s mention of “pool-doos” is both symbolic in the context of the story, as the sight of
the birds triggers a memory within him, but it also broadens the awareness of the story’s
setting.

Contrast

When observing the preacher and the well-dressed boy with the book, James decides that he
wants to become the educated boy. This choice suggests a step outside of his mother’s
expectations and her fears of the world, which she views as one filled with potentially hostile
White people. The preacher represents the elder generation, more steeped in religion, old
traditions, and perhaps even complacence with Jim Crow. The young man represents the
emerging generation, which is less dependent on religion and convention and increasingly
impatient for social change and equal opportunity. Gaines uses their exchange to represent
the changes occurring within the Black community.

Another point of contrast in the story is represented by Monsieur Bayonne. Bayonne is a

Creole witch doctor. He uses folk medicine to cure members of the Black sharecropping
community who cannot afford to go to the dentist. His presence contrasts with those of Drs.
Bassett and Robinette who are practitioners of standard Western medicine, which has
traditionally been both elusive to Black communities, due to cost, and predatory toward them.
Black people have notoriously been human guinea pigs for members of the scientific
community. Monsieur Bayonne is also representative of the influence of French culture within
Black Louisianan communities, while James’s family was assimilated into English
Protestantism. The reader knows this when Bayonne identifies James as a Baptist. In this
instance, the contrasts in culture and religion are not points of demarcation because,
ultimately, both Bayonne and James are a part of the same Black community.

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Important Quotes

1. “I look at my mama and I love my mama. She’s wearing that black coat and that black hat
and she’s looking sad. I love my mama and I want put my arm round her and tell her. But I’m
not supposed to do that. She say that’s weakness and that’s crybaby stuff, and she don’t
want no crybaby round her. She don’t want you to be scared either.”
(Part 1, Pages 83 - 84)

At the beginning of the story, James asserts his self-image as a strong young man capable of
caring for his mother in the absence of his father. He has learned that caring means
suppressing his feelings, even those of tenderness. James’s stoicism contrasts with little
John Lee’s hollering from the dentist’s chair. The smaller boy has not yet learned the lesson
James did around his age—that is, to suppress his pain or face his mother’s condemnation.

2. “Auntie wanted to tell Mama, but I told her, ‘Uh-uh.’ ’Cause I knowed we didn’t have any
money, and it just was go’n make her mad again.”
(Part 2, Page 85)

Auntie wanted to notify Octavia about James’s bad tooth, worried about how much pain it
caused him. James’s willingness to endure the pain to avoid his mother spending money she
cannot spare is a sign of both his awareness of his family’s condition and his burgeoning
sense of responsibility.

3. “I’m getting tired of this old syrup. Syrup, syrup, syrup. I’m go’n take with the sugar
diabetes. I want me some bacon sometime.”
(Part 3, Page 87)

Ty complains about having only syrup to eat with his bread for breakfast. Rightly, he worries
about both diabetes, a persistently chronic health problem within Black American
communities, and malnourishment. Daily intakes of syrup are also the likely cause of James’s
bad tooth. Here, Gaines subtly reveals the ugly cycle that poverty creates: poor access to
good food creates health problems that the impoverished often can’t afford to treat.

4. “‘Octavia,’ Auntie say, ‘explain to him. Explain to him. Just don’t beat him. Explain to him.’”
(Part 4, Page 89)

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Auntie implores James’s mother to tell him why he must kill his pet red cardinals. Her speech
is exemplary of the repetition that Gaines uses as a literary device throughout the story. Her
words are like a mantra, trying to instill in Octavia the importance of leading with reason over
force. For Octavia, who intends to accustom James to the harshness and cruelty of the world
(arguably, no amount of words could rationalize conditions in the Jim Crow South), she
chooses to hit him and doesn’t relent until he obeys.

5. “When I pass the little sign that say ‘White’ and ‘Colored,’ I start looking for a seat.”
(Part 5, Page 90)

James’s sight of this sign on the bus to Bayonne is one of the story’s few explicit mentions of
segregation. Gaines presents the fact of the sign as nothing more than that. The characters
register no feeling about it, which reinforces for the reader the understanding that systemic
racism was a daily reality that Southern Black people learned and internalized to survive.

6. “We pass a school and I see them white children playing in the yard. Big old red school, and
them children just running and playing. Then we pass a café, and I see a bunch of people in
there eating. I wish I was in there ’cause I’m cold. Mama tells me keep my eyes in front where
they belong.”
(Part 6, Page 93)

Though Gaines does not tell the reader directly, James and his mother are passing through
the White section of Bayonne. James observes White children playing in the playground,
which is the only direct mention of race during this scene. His mother’s admonition not to
look at the people around him is both an instruction to avoid trouble and to focus on the task
at hand—going to the dentist—so that he’ll not think too much about all of the advantages
that elude him. James no longer has the advantage of going to school—a point that he
mentions later. He also knows that he cannot enter the café, which would not serve Black
people, just as the school that he passes would not allow Black children to attend.

7. “‘That’s the trouble with the black people in this country today […] We don’t question is
exactly our problem,’ he says. ‘ We should question and question and question—question
everything.’”
(Part 7, Page 95)

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A young man reading in the dentist’s waiting room disagrees with a preacher, sitting nearby,
who tells another patient that she ought not question why God would allow little John Lee to
suffer so in the dentist’s chair. The interjection initiates a debate between the educated young
man and the preacher on the importance of faith in the Black community. The young man
represents the younger, more modern generation, which questions the validity and utility of
old values to solve modern ills.

8. “‘You believe in God because a man told you to believe in God,’ the boy says. ‘A white man
told you to believe in God. And why? To keep you ignorant so he can keep his feet on your
neck.’”
(Part 7, Page 97)

The debate between the young man and the preacher continues in the waiting room. The
young man addresses the connection between Christian faith in the Black community and
forced assimilation. He argues that Christianity, particularly teachings related to humility and
obedience, reinforce complacency with White supremacy.

9. “‘You forgot the other cheek,’ he says. The preacher hauls back and hit him again on the
other side […] ‘That hasn’t changed a thing,’ he says.”
(Part 7, Page 97)

At the culmination of the argument between the young man and the preacher, the preacher
hits the young man. The latter is unfazed and offers his other cheek, a Christ once taught. The
young man’s act throws the preacher’s faith back into his face. As a follower of Christ, the
preacher ought to be an advocate for non-violence, but he undermines this by hitting the boy.
In the end, his force hasn’t changed the boy’s mind at all. The preacher has not enforced the
obedience that he expected. The boy’s passive resistance is a harbinger of the methods that
many civil rights activists would employ during sit-ins and other protests.

10. “When I grow up, I want to be just like him. I want clothes like that and I want keep a book
with me, too.”
(Part 8, Page 99)
James decides that he wants to be like the young man in the waiting room. Though his wish
to become like the boy seems to be rooted in material things—access to nicer clothes and
books—James’s admiration is truly due to the boy’s insistence on educating himself to

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improve his lot. The clothes and books are indicators of a will to improve overall.

11. “Words mean nothing. Action is the only thing. Doing. That’s the only thing.”
(Part 8, Page 101)

After the preacher leaves, the boy carries on the conversation about God with the older
woman who pitied John Lee. He asserts his belief that activism is the only valid response to
oppression.

12. “‘Things are changing because some black men have begun to think with their brains and
not their hearts,’ the boys says.”
(Part 8, Page 101)

The boy continues the conversation with the older woman in the waiting room. He again
rejects the preacher’s claim to know that God exists because he feels God’s presence in his
heart. The young man rejects feeling in favor of rational thought. His singular belief in thought
over faith reveals his own limitations. Also, despite being in favor of Black power, his
advocacy of rationalism above all else validates a standard of Western culture, though the
young man seems to eschew Western standards.

13. “‘Don’t feel ’jected, honey,’ the lady says to Mama. ‘I been round them a long time—they
take you when they want to. If you was white, that’s something else; but we the wrong color.’”
(Part 9, Page 102)

The older woman turns her attention to Octavia who has been told to return later in the day if
James is to see the dentist. She accuses the nurse and the dentist of racism, claiming that, if
Octavia and James were White, they would have made exceptions for them. The older woman
alludes to White privilege, or the habit of giving White people certain advantages, some as
commonplace as this one, which elude Black people.

14. “When I see people eating, I get hungry, when I see a coat, I get cold.”
(Part 9, Page 103)

James is back out in the cold with his mother, observing people around Bayonne. As he grows
hungrier and colder, his feelings and desires become baser. In this statement, he reveals that
his desires are based largely on necessity—on the desire to survive—and not to possess what

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he doesn’t need.

15. “I’m so hungry and cold I want to cry […] Look like I’m go’n stand right here and freeze to
death. I think ‘bout home. I think ‘bout Val and Auntie and Ty and Louis and Walker. It’s ‘bout
twelve o’clock and I know they eating dinner now.”
(Part 10, Pages 105 - 106)

Cold and hungry alongside his relatively helpless mother, James thinks of home. Home is
their cabin on a cotton plantation, which is not a pleasant place, but food and family await
them there. Here, the gray in the story’s title signals a shift in mood—the feeling of being
forlorn and lost among people who neither care nor can help.

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Essay Topics

1. How does Gaines evoke the setting of Civil Rights era Louisiana for the reader, aside from
his mention of the capital Baton Rouge?

2. What is the symbolism of “gray” in the story’s title? What might it suggest about both the
story’s mood and the story’s suggestions about a post-Jim Crow world?

3. What do you think of James’s assertions of masculinity? Would these details within the
story work as well in a tale about a White woman and her White son? Why, or why not?

4. How does Gaines use birds, both the redbirds and “pool-doos,” as a metaphor?

5. How does Gaines underscore the generational divide between the upcoming Civil Rights
activists and their elders? What does this divide suggest about the divisions that Black
communities faced within?

6. How does the narrative depict both the Old South and point to the modern South?

7. How does Gaines convey a character’s race or social status through the uses of language
(e.g., dialect)?

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Teaching Guide
How to use

This resource can be used as supplemental teacher material or as a primary basis for
literature study to:

Draw students into a text with pre-reading questions and warm-up prompts, maintain
engagement with in-class analysis through free-writing or discussion, and assess
knowledge and comprehension with quizzes.
Ensure deeper understanding and enjoyment of the literature with activities for all
learning types.
Stretch students’ critical thinking and writing skills with differentiated essay topics.

Note to Teachers: To support lesson-planning, connections to the work’s primary themes are
noted throughout this resource (Life During Jim Crow, Expressions of Masculinity, Faith
Versus Action).

Pre-Reading Context

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their
interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What do you know about racial segregation in the 1950s?

Teaching Suggestion: To understand the subtle hints Gaines uses to build James’s world, an
ability to see the signs of segregation is important. Students likely know about segregation,
but the atmosphere of fear segregation created within the black community in the south is
harder to imagine, and is woven deeply into this story.

"Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation in America" – a GPB Education mini
documentary that explains the genesis and impact of racial segregation in America
"Housing Segregation and Redlining in America" – NPR’s exposé on the housing
segregation that still impacts black Americans today. *Note: The video starts with a Chris
Rock joke in which he uses an expletive. Skip over the first minute if this joke is too

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controversial for the classroom.

2. What do you know about the psychological effects of poverty?

Teaching Suggestion: This question is important to the story because it is not simply that
James and his mother live in a segregated environment—they also live in poverty. This
intersection of race, family, and poverty is important to the story. Please note that this
question can elicit vastly different responses depending on the demographic of the students
in the classroom, and should be handled gently and with empathy.

"The Psychological Consequences of Poverty" – a TED Talk by a Princeton University

professor who describes the neurological impacts of a brain affected by poverty
"Could Poverty Inspire Art?" – a video that analyzes the ways in which art has tried to
portray, analyze, or romanticize poverty

Short Activity

Ernest J. Gaines is known for depicting the intersections of race, poverty, and family in the
South. Conduct a brief research project in which you develop a biography of Gaines and his
literary impact. Work in groups to research and create a collage (either paper or virtual, such
as on a Jam Board or a PowerPoint slide) that visually depicts the impact of Gaines’s work.

Teaching Suggestion: Presentations can be displayed or presented, though students will

likely formulate similar responses within this activity. Gaines has a specific voice and focus
on rural segregated life in black America, so an emphasis on understanding his unique
contribution to American literature is important.

"A Conversation with Ernest J. Gaines" – an interview with Gaines on his beginnings as a
writer and his passion for the power of the written word

Thought & Response Prompts

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection
homework before or after reading the short story.

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Personal Response Prompt

What are some of the ways in which institutions can get in the way of your wellbeing? In what
ways can these same institutions improve your wellbeing? Consider health infrastructures,
school systems, and employment when thinking through this question.

Teaching Suggestion: Depending on student demographics, answers to this question will

vary. This question is less about criticizing institutions and more about considering the pros
and cons of living in a society that is built on access to institutions. This question can be
asked before, after, or during reading, but it would be productive as a pre-reading exercise so
that students can be attuned to the issue of infrastructure while reading.

Post-Reading Analysis

Is charity the best way to help people who suffer from poverty? Consider the acts of kindness
people do for James and his mother in the story and consider the ways in which his mother
responds to this charity. STRETCH: Make a connection between the issue of charity in this
story and charity as it exists in contemporary society.

Teaching Suggestion: The dichotomy between James’s mother’s needs and her fortitude is an
important conflict in this story. Charity literally helps her feed herself and her son, but it also
makes her worry that it will rob her son of his dignity. Charity is both good and bad, and the
issue is a complex one for students to grapple with. Notably, this question can veer into
politics, but the STRETCH question can be left out if the teacher prefers to keep the
discussion of charity focused on Gaines’s text.

"What is Slum Tourism?" – a CGTN America news reel about the effects, both good and
bad, of “slum tourism”
"The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong" – This TED Talk analyzes why our
relationship with charity often leads to more problems. The video is not about one single
issue but instead offers a broad analysis of the roots of, and challenges faced by,
present-day charitable organizations.

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Paired Texts & Other Resources

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase
their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage
through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by
the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines

Gaines’s epic novel about a woman who experiences Black southern American life during
slavery, emancipation, civil rights, and beyond
ties in to themes of life during Jim Crow and faith versus action
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman on Super Summary

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

Gaines’s award-winning novel that explores the narratives of Black men in the 1940s on
death row
ties in to themes of life during Jim Crow, expressions of masculinity, and faith versus
action
A Lesson Before Dying on Super Summary

Black Boy by Richard Wright

Richard Wright’s classic memoir about coming-of-age as a Black boy in the Jim Crow
south
ties in to themes of life during Jim Crow and expressions of masculinity
Black Boy on Super Summary

Other Student Resources

“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King’s iconic speech advocating for the equal rights of Black Americans

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ties in to the theme of faith versus action

"I Have a Dream" Speech on Super Summary

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

the first play by a Black woman to open on Broadway, A Raisin in the Sun tells the story
of a Black family struggling with financial security
ties in to themes of life during Jim Crow, expressions of masculinity, and faith versus
action
A Raisin in the Sun on Super Summary

Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison’s series of lectures turned essays that explore and analyze the portrayal of
white and Black life in American literature
ties in to themes of life during Jim Crow, expressions of masculinity, and faith versus
action
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination on Super Summary

Teacher Resources

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ernest J. Gaines Center

website of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette center for the study of Ernest J.
Gaines
includes a biography of Gaines, and other resources

Ernest J. Gaines Obituary

New York Times obituary of Ernest J. Gaines

describes his life and work

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Activity

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and
incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“To Act or To Say?”

Central to Gaines’s commentary on race in this story is the debate between the older preacher
and the younger man in the dentist’s office over the relevance of God and the lack of action
within the Black community. Though Gaines uses this conflict to signal an emerging era of
civil rights activism, the debate about action versus language is universal. You will debate the
question: Which is a better vehicle for social change: action or language?

Directions:

The class will be divided into two groups: One group will advocate for action, the other
will argue for language.
One representative from each group will share the opening statement.
One representative from each group will share the closing statement.
All other members will work on notetaking, evidence, and counterpoints throughout the
discussion.
Each group should have a firm stance, as well as evidence from different historical or
political moments.
After the debate, each student will write their own personal response to the debate
question, regardless of the side they were required to argue.

Teaching Suggestion: There are a few ways of navigating a debate, so the directions provided
above are a guideline or example of how the debate can be conducted. Teachers can also
revise the wording of the question as a “Yes or no” question, but however the question is
posed, it is important that students are required to take one firm stance. Evidence can be
drawn both from Gaines’s story and from other historical or contemporary narratives and
events.

Paired Text Extension:

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"Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Debate" – This clip from the iconic debate between
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X helps add nuance to the issue of language versus
action.

Black Power Scholar Illustrates How MLK and Malcom X Influenced Each Other – NPR’s Terry
Gross interviews a professor about the Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Debate

Essay Questions

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers,
and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted
outlines. Cite details from the story over the course of your response that serve as examples
and support.
1. How does Gaines evoke the setting of Civil Rights era Louisiana for the reader, aside from
his mention of the capital Baton Rouge?

How does Gaines evoke the setting of Civil Rights era Louisiana? ( topic sentence)
What symbols does Gaines employ to evoke this setting?
Conclude with a response to the question: How does the reader know that the setting of
this story is Civil Rights era Louisiana?

2. What is the symbolism of “gray” in the story’s title? What might it suggest about both the
story’s mood and the story’s suggestions about a post-Jim Crow world?

What is the symbolism of “gray” in the story’s title? (topic sentence)

What does this symbol suggest about the story’s mood? What does this symbol suggest
about a post-Jim Crow world?
Conclude with a statement about the impact of Gray’s use of the symbol “gray.”

3. How does Gaines use birds, both the redbirds and “pool-doos,” as a metaphor?

How does Gaines use birds as a metaphor? (topic sentence)

How does Gaines use redbirds as a metaphor? How does Gaines use pool-doos as a

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metaphor?
Conclude with a statement about the impact of Gaines’s use of bird metaphors on the
story.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at
least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. How does Gaines underscore the generational divide between the upcoming Civil Rights
activists and their elders? What does this divide suggest about the divisions that Black
communities faced within?

2. How does Gaines convey a character’s race or social status through the uses of language
(e.g., dialect)? What does this characterization signify about the society? How does language
influence the theme of the story?

3. How does the narrative both depict the Old South and point to the modern South? What
signs and symbols does Gaines use to construct this present and future dichotomy? Consider
these questions from your perspective as a contemporary reader with the hindsight of history.

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Quiz
Reading Check, Multiple Choice & Short Answer Quizzes

Reading Check questions are designed for in-class review on key plot points or for quick
verbal or written assessments. Multiple Choice and Short Answer Quizzes create ideal
summative assessments, and collectively function to convey a sense of the work’s tone and
themes.

Reading Check

1. How does the author describe the environment around James while he waits for the bus?
2. What are James’s first attempts at treatment for the pain in his tooth?
3. What does Auntie advise James’s mother to do when he refuses to kill the birds?
4. How do the people around James react to his interaction with the little girl on the bus?
5. What does the well-dressed young man with a book identify as “the trouble with the black
people in this country today” (Part 7)?
6. How does the young man with a book respond to the preacher who tells him to listen to his
heart?
7. What does James think about the well-dressed man with the book?
8. Why does James hesitate to stand close to his mother in the cold?

Multiple Choice

1. While they wait for the bus, what does James intuit his mother is worried about?
A) She worries that she didn’t leave enough firewood back home for her family.
B) She worries that someone in her family will have to go out in the rain.
C) She worries that the hog will escape.
D) all of the above

2. Why is James’s father absent?

A) He was enlisted into the army.
B) He was arrested and sent to prison.
C) He divorced James’s mother and moved away.
D) He died.

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3. What does James’s mother force him to do to the redbirds he and Ty catch?
A) She forces him to cook the birds.
B) She forces him to sell the birds.
C) She forces him to kill the birds.
D) She forces him to set the birds free.

4. What does James’s mother tell him to do when they pass by a school of white children and
a café of people eating?
A) She tells him to say hello.
B) She tells him to keep his eyes in front of him.
C) She tells him to join them.
D) She tells him to keep his head bowed.

5. What does the preacher advise the old lady who worries about the suffering of poor people?
A) He advises her to not try to understand God’s mysterious ways.
B) He advises her to ask God for answers in prayer.
C) He advises her to find solace at Sunday church services.
D) He advises her to read the Bible.

6. Why don’t James and his mother go to Dr. Robillard, who is a better dentist?
A) Dr. Robillard doesn’t treat black patients.
B) Dr. Robillard is too expensive.
C) Dr. Robillard works in the next town over.
D) Dr. Robillard uses new and misunderstood dental technology.

7. What does the young man who challenges the preacher do when the preacher slaps him?
A) The young man slaps the preacher back.
B) The young man ignores the preacher.
C) The young man leaves the dentist’s office.
D) The young man invites the preacher to slap his other cheek.

8. What does James wish he could do when a man whistles at his mother?
A) James wishes he could hit the man.
B) James wishes he could buy his mother a house far away.
C) James wishes he could yell at the man.
D) James wishes he could care less about the man.

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Short-Answer Response

Answer each of the following questions in a complete sentence or sentences. Incorporate

details from the text to support your response.

1. How is James’s love for his mother challenged by the way she wants him to act?
2. What other life lessons does James’s mother teach that, perhaps inadvertently, create a
distance between them?
3. Who explains to James why his mother was so aggressive about killing the birds, and what
do they say?
4. How does Gaines describe the sky and river around James, and what does this imply about
James’s environment?
5. How does the argument between the preacher and the young man in the dentist’s office
about God imply a generational shift in Black identity?
6. What defense does the young man who doesn’t believe in God give for questioning
language?
7. What does the young man with the book suggest Black people should do instead of
keeping quiet in their faith?
8. Why does James’s mother tell him to turn down his coat collar?

Quizzes – Answer Key

Reading Check

1. Gaines describes the landscape around James as dry, rural, and vacant. (Part 2)
2. James’s aunt arranges for a Catholic priest to come and treat his tooth with prayer and
powder when the aspirin doesn’t work. (Part 2)
3. James’s aunt advises his mother to talk to him and explain the situation, rather than
beating him for not killing the birds. (Part 4)
4. The people on the bus laugh at James as he and the little girl go back and forth. (Part 5)
5. In the dentist’s lobby, a well-dressed man with a book declares that the problem with Black
people is that they don’t ask enough questions about dominant ideas and concepts. (Part 7)
6. The young man tells the preacher that a heart is simply for pumping blood and that the
heart tells the preacher only what the white man wants him to feel. (Part 7)
7. James wants to be just like the young man with the book: well-dressed, intelligent, and
carrying a book on him. (Part 8)

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8. James hesitates to stand close to his mother in the cold because he knows she will tell him
not to be a crybaby. (Part 1)

Multiple Choice

1. D (Part 1)
2. A (Part 3)
3. C (Part 4)
4. B (Part 6)
5. A (Part 6)
6. B (Part 6)
7. D (Part 7)
8. A (Part 9)

Short-Answer Response

1. James loves his mother and wants to express that love, but she tells him that hugging and
expressions of love are for babies. She doesn’t want her son to act like a baby or look scared.
James’s mother has her own way of expressing love, but the rejection of his affection is
difficult for James, even though he knows it’s her way of preparing him for the world. (Part 1)
2. James wants to talk to his mother, but she doesn’t like when he talks for no reason. Casual
conversation or chattiness is something his mother teaches him to avoid. But, perhaps
inadvertently, this also keeps James at a distance from his mother. (Part 4)
3. Monsieur Bayonne and James’s aunt talk to him after his mother beats him for not killing
the birds. They explain to him that his mother is worried about his survival, especially if he
had to figure out how to eat without her. She wants James to be the person who can watch
over himself and the rest of his family if anything were to happen to her. (Part 4)
4. Gaines describes the river and sky around him as gray. This grayness implies a bleakness
and a coldness that envelops and constantly follows James around. (Part 5)
5. The young man challenges the preacher on the subject of God. The young man says that
it’s important for the Black community to question everything, especially the concepts they
inherited from years of white oppression and poor education. This difference in opinion
highlights the coming of the Civil Rights era, in which Black Americans would rally together to
advocate for their rights instead of accepting their marginalization as unchangeable. (Part 7)

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6. The young man who defies God argues that language has been built and used by white
people to oppress Black people. He defends himself against the idea that he is angry. In his
mind, it is not anger that drives him, but intelligence and self-respect. (Part 8)
7. The young man in the dentist’s office builds on his radical ideas. He posits that language
cannot replace action—that talking won’t change anything. He believes that he is owed
experience and action rather than the subdued words that keep him oppressed. (Part 8)
8. James’s mother tells him to keep his collar down because he is not a bum. Perhaps worried
that James will internalize the charity they just received as evidence of a lack of dignity, his
mother wants him to stand proudly and properly against life’s challenges. She wants him to
act and appear confident, not pitiable. (Part 13)

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How to use
This resource can be used as supplemental teacher material or as a primary basis for
literature study to:

Draw students into a text with pre-reading questions and warm-up prompts, maintain
engagement with in-class analysis through free-writing or discussion, and assess
knowledge and comprehension with quizzes.
Ensure deeper understanding and enjoyment of the literature with activities for all
learning types.
Stretch students’ critical thinking and writing skills with differentiated essay topics.

Note to Teachers: To support lesson-planning, connections to the work’s primary themes are
noted throughout this resource (Life During Jim Crow, Expressions of Masculinity, Faith
Versus Action).

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Pre-Reading Context
Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their
interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What do you know about racial segregation in the 1950s?

Teaching Suggestion: To understand the subtle hints Gaines uses to build James’s world, an
ability to see the signs of segregation is important. Students likely know about segregation,
but the atmosphere of fear segregation created within the black community in the south is
harder to imagine, and is woven deeply into this story.

"Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation in America" – a GPB Education mini
documentary that explains the genesis and impact of racial segregation in America
"Housing Segregation and Redlining in America" – NPR’s exposé on the housing
segregation that still impacts black Americans today. *Note: The video starts with a Chris
Rock joke in which he uses an expletive. Skip over the first minute if this joke is too
controversial for the classroom.

2. What do you know about the psychological effects of poverty?

Teaching Suggestion: This question is important to the story because it is not simply that
James and his mother live in a segregated environment—they also live in poverty. This
intersection of race, family, and poverty is important to the story. Please note that this
question can elicit vastly different responses depending on the demographic of the students
in the classroom, and should be handled gently and with empathy.

"The Psychological Consequences of Poverty" – a TED Talk by a Princeton University

professor who describes the neurological impacts of a brain affected by poverty
"Could Poverty Inspire Art?" – a video that analyzes the ways in which art has tried to
portray, analyze, or romanticize poverty

Short Activity

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Ernest J. Gaines is known for depicting the intersections of race, poverty, and family in the
South. Conduct a brief research project in which you develop a biography of Gaines and his
literary impact. Work in groups to research and create a collage (either paper or virtual, such
as on a Jam Board or a PowerPoint slide) that visually depicts the impact of Gaines’s work.

Teaching Suggestion: Presentations can be displayed or presented, though students will

likely formulate similar responses within this activity. Gaines has a specific voice and focus
on rural segregated life in black America, so an emphasis on understanding his unique
contribution to American literature is important.

"A Conversation with Ernest J. Gaines" – an interview with Gaines on his beginnings as a
writer and his passion for the power of the written word

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Thought & Response Prompts

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection
homework before or after reading the short story.

Personal Response Prompt

What are some of the ways in which institutions can get in the way of your wellbeing? In what
ways can these same institutions improve your wellbeing? Consider health infrastructures,
school systems, and employment when thinking through this question.

Teaching Suggestion: Depending on student demographics, answers to this question will

vary. This question is less about criticizing institutions and more about considering the pros
and cons of living in a society that is built on access to institutions. This question can be
asked before, after, or during reading, but it would be productive as a pre-reading exercise so
that students can be attuned to the issue of infrastructure while reading.

Post-Reading Analysis

Is charity the best way to help people who suffer from poverty? Consider the acts of kindness
people do for James and his mother in the story and consider the ways in which his mother
responds to this charity. STRETCH: Make a connection between the issue of charity in this
story and charity as it exists in contemporary society.

Teaching Suggestion: The dichotomy between James’s mother’s needs and her fortitude is an
important conflict in this story. Charity literally helps her feed herself and her son, but it also
makes her worry that it will rob her son of his dignity. Charity is both good and bad, and the
issue is a complex one for students to grapple with. Notably, this question can veer into
politics, but the STRETCH question can be left out if the teacher prefers to keep the
discussion of charity focused on Gaines’s text.

"What is Slum Tourism?" – a CGTN America news reel about the effects, both good and
bad, of “slum tourism”
"The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong" – This TED Talk analyzes why our
relationship with charity often leads to more problems. The video is not about one single
issue but instead offers a broad analysis of the roots of, and challenges faced by,

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present-day charitable organizations.

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Paired Texts & Other Resources

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase
their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage
through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by
the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines

Gaines’s epic novel about a woman who experiences Black southern American life during
slavery, emancipation, civil rights, and beyond
ties in to themes of life during Jim Crow and faith versus action
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman on Super Summary

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

Gaines’s award-winning novel that explores the narratives of Black men in the 1940s on
death row
ties in to themes of life during Jim Crow, expressions of masculinity, and faith versus
action
A Lesson Before Dying on Super Summary

Black Boy by Richard Wright

Richard Wright’s classic memoir about coming-of-age as a Black boy in the Jim Crow
south
ties in to themes of life during Jim Crow and expressions of masculinity
Black Boy on Super Summary

Other Student Resources

“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr.

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Dr. King’s iconic speech advocating for the equal rights of Black Americans
ties in to the theme of faith versus action
"I Have a Dream" Speech on Super Summary

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

the first play by a Black woman to open on Broadway, A Raisin in the Sun tells the story
of a Black family struggling with financial security
ties in to themes of life during Jim Crow, expressions of masculinity, and faith versus
action
A Raisin in the Sun on Super Summary

Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison’s series of lectures turned essays that explore and analyze the portrayal of
white and Black life in American literature
ties in to themes of life during Jim Crow, expressions of masculinity, and faith versus
action
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination on Super Summary

Teacher Resources

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ernest J. Gaines Center

website of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette center for the study of Ernest J.
Gaines
includes a biography of Gaines, and other resources

Ernest J. Gaines Obituary

New York Times obituary of Ernest J. Gaines

describes his life and work

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Activity
Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and
incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“To Act or To Say?”

Central to Gaines’s commentary on race in this story is the debate between the older preacher
and the younger man in the dentist’s office over the relevance of God and the lack of action
within the Black community. Though Gaines uses this conflict to signal an emerging era of
civil rights activism, the debate about action versus language is universal. You will debate the
question: Which is a better vehicle for social change: action or language?

Directions:

The class will be divided into two groups: One group will advocate for action, the other
will argue for language.
One representative from each group will share the opening statement.
One representative from each group will share the closing statement.
All other members will work on notetaking, evidence, and counterpoints throughout the
discussion.
Each group should have a firm stance, as well as evidence from different historical or
political moments.
After the debate, each student will write their own personal response to the debate
question, regardless of the side they were required to argue.

Teaching Suggestion: There are a few ways of navigating a debate, so the directions provided
above are a guideline or example of how the debate can be conducted. Teachers can also
revise the wording of the question as a “Yes or no” question, but however the question is
posed, it is important that students are required to take one firm stance. Evidence can be
drawn both from Gaines’s story and from other historical or contemporary narratives and
events.

Paired Text Extension:

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"Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Debate" – This clip from the iconic debate between
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X helps add nuance to the issue of language versus
action.

Black Power Scholar Illustrates How MLK and Malcom X Influenced Each Other – NPR’s Terry
Gross interviews a professor about the Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Debate

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Essay Questions
Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers,
and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Scaffolded/Short-Answer Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted
outlines. Cite details from the story over the course of your response that serve as examples
and support.
1. How does Gaines evoke the setting of Civil Rights era Louisiana for the reader, aside from
his mention of the capital Baton Rouge?

How does Gaines evoke the setting of Civil Rights era Louisiana? ( topic sentence)
What symbols does Gaines employ to evoke this setting?
Conclude with a response to the question: How does the reader know that the setting of
this story is Civil Rights era Louisiana?

2. What is the symbolism of “gray” in the story’s title? What might it suggest about both the
story’s mood and the story’s suggestions about a post-Jim Crow world?

What is the symbolism of “gray” in the story’s title? (topic sentence)

What does this symbol suggest about the story’s mood? What does this symbol suggest
about a post-Jim Crow world?
Conclude with a statement about the impact of Gray’s use of the symbol “gray.”

3. How does Gaines use birds, both the redbirds and “pool-doos,” as a metaphor?

How does Gaines use birds as a metaphor? (topic sentence)

How does Gaines use redbirds as a metaphor? How does Gaines use pool-doos as a
metaphor?
Conclude with a statement about the impact of Gaines’s use of bird metaphors on the
story.

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Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at
least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. How does Gaines underscore the generational divide between the upcoming Civil Rights
activists and their elders? What does this divide suggest about the divisions that Black
communities faced within?

2. How does Gaines convey a character’s race or social status through the uses of language
(e.g., dialect)? What does this characterization signify about the society? How does language
influence the theme of the story?

3. How does the narrative both depict the Old South and point to the modern South? What
signs and symbols does Gaines use to construct this present and future dichotomy? Consider
these questions from your perspective as a contemporary reader with the hindsight of history.

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