The "Sky is Gray'' contains many themes and images. Personal responsibility, grace under pressure, moral behavior; an image of a strong mother, and a family in which love is expressed often in harsh words or silence rather than in praise or affection. Supporting these ideas is James, the narrator of ' "The Sky is Gray," he is a 8 year old black child living outside of Bayonne, Louisiana during the Second World War. For James' life scarcely seems like a childhood at all, for it is occupied with worries and concerns far too old for a child:
             Early in the story, we are given an anecdote that seems to present James' mother Octavia as a hard and unfeeling parent. " I love my momma and want to put my arms round her and tell her .But I'm not supposed to do that. She say that's a weakness and that's crybaby stuff " (p70,par4).Not wanting to be a ' 'crybaby'' and knowing well that his mother cannot afford a trip to the dentist James disguises and tries to conceal his pain from the rest of the family.
             James and his brother have set traps for owls and blackbirds, but on this one occasion the traps netted redbirds instead. His mother killed one of the redbirds and James was horrified; the birds were beautiful and not pests, and James wanted to let them go. His mother whipped him for his refusal to kill the second bird, and eventually he did kill it; "I'm still young aint no more than eight ; but I know; I know why I had to do it". Even at such a young age, James realizes that his mother was preparing him for the hard ways of the world.
             Throughout the story James' valiantly tries to ignore a raging toothache because his mother taught him not to complain, or look for sympathy .After both aspirin and prayer fail to heal the aching tooth, his mother takes him to the dentist to have it pulled. On the way to Bayonne enduring the
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