Short Analysis “The Rockpile” by James Baldwin
The short story “The Rockpile,” written by James Baldwin, tells about a boy facing almost fatal consequences after not listening to instructions. The author uses the following literary devices to relate his tale: foreshadowing, symbolism, irony, style, tone, and others. Each device lends a touch of realism to the reader’s experience in that the reader can visualize the story. Throughout the short story, the devices listed above allows the reader to recognize the theme: disobedience leads to consequences. There are four major characters developed in the story: Elizabeth (mother of Roy), Gabriel (father of Roy), Roy (main) and John (older brother of Roy). While the narrator doesn’t vividly …show more content…
The rockpile could symbolize freedom. The rockpile is explained in the story as a good, yet dangerous thing, kind of how freedom is explained to be. The narrator states, "Aunt Florence had once told them that the rock pile was there and could not be taken away because without it the subway cars underground would fly apart, killing all the people"(473). The rockpile represents a base that is setup to keep people safe, but hazardous if tampered with. Along with symbolism, James Baldwin uses situational irony when Roy is told not to go around the rockpile but instead disobeys and gets hurt. Baldwin uses many experiences and alerts from Elizabeth to help the boys escape from the hazard that later to come in the story. For example,“ … wonder they don’t kill themselves” (473). This is the foreshadowing the narrator used when Elizabeth tries to change the mind of the boys. Then Roy ends up going and receiving the violent act that his mother told him about earlier in the …show more content…
The narrator focuses more on their actions rather than their physical appearance. The tone could be considered as very aggressive due to all the violent acts throughout the story. To backup the proof of the aggressive act in the story, “ The figure on the ground, having caught its breath and felt its own blood, began to shout” (476). Also, the narrator's style allows the reader to understand the text more easily by using simple vocabulary. Baldwin uses these literary examples to give the reader a better comprehension of the short
The short story “The Rockpile,” written by James Baldwin, tells about a boy facing almost fatal consequences after not listening to instructions. The author uses the following literary devices to relate his tale: foreshadowing, symbolism, irony, style, tone, and others. Each device lends a touch of realism to the reader’s experience in that the reader can visualize the story. Throughout the short story, the devices listed above allows the reader to recognize the theme: disobedience leads to consequences. There are four major characters developed in the story: Elizabeth (mother of Roy), Gabriel (father of Roy), Roy (main) and John (older brother of Roy). While the narrator doesn’t vividly …show more content…
The rockpile could symbolize freedom. The rockpile is explained in the story as a good, yet dangerous thing, kind of how freedom is explained to be. The narrator states, "Aunt Florence had once told them that the rock pile was there and could not be taken away because without it the subway cars underground would fly apart, killing all the people"(473). The rockpile represents a base that is setup to keep people safe, but hazardous if tampered with. Along with symbolism, James Baldwin uses situational irony when Roy is told not to go around the rockpile but instead disobeys and gets hurt. Baldwin uses many experiences and alerts from Elizabeth to help the boys escape from the hazard that later to come in the story. For example,“ … wonder they don’t kill themselves” (473). This is the foreshadowing the narrator used when Elizabeth tries to change the mind of the boys. Then Roy ends up going and receiving the violent act that his mother told him about earlier in the …show more content…
The narrator focuses more on their actions rather than their physical appearance. The tone could be considered as very aggressive due to all the violent acts throughout the story. To backup the proof of the aggressive act in the story, “ The figure on the ground, having caught its breath and felt its own blood, began to shout” (476). Also, the narrator's style allows the reader to understand the text more easily by using simple vocabulary. Baldwin uses these literary examples to give the reader a better comprehension of the short