Description of the mother in
In the beginning of "The Sky is Gray," James' mother seems to be a hard, bitter woman. As I read through the story, it occurred to me that her demeanor was almost necessary. James' mother was striving to provide for her children in the absence of her husband who had been called off to war. I cannot help but think that a lot of the interactions that take place between her and other characters in the story were caused by bitterness. Through her actions and her ability to sense what her son needs, even though he is too afraid to say it, you can tell that she is a very kind and loving mother. James tries to hide things from his mother; such as his toothache, his fear of the dark, and his hunger as they are walking through town. His mother det
James' mother says that they will not take charity. The shop owner then has James move empty garbage cans from the back of the store to the street as payment for the meal. She tried to hide her feelings behind a cold, hard shell. Thus, you can tell that her methods may not be looked upon as appropriate, but she is getting her feelings across. The children know their mother gets food on the table. Circumstances even led her to the point that she was abusive towards her children. Throughout the entire story, James speaks very highly of his mother. Women of that time period, especially black women, had to fight for everything that they had. James, and all of the children, knows that she cares. Unfortunately, because of her husband being drafted and also because of the hard life that southern blacks had to deal with in that time period, those traits were not outwardly visible. James' mother is a kind, loving individual. Regardless of the times southern blacks had a very rough life and were extremely poor, James' mother seems to be able to provide for the whole family including an aunt without taking charity. The owner tries to give them more than two bits of meat and James' mother refuses to accept all of it, saying that it is more than what she paid for. ects and tries to fix the problems without making James feel bad. This shows that James' mother was a very strong person, and she wanted her children to be strong too.
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Gray James',
james' mother,
,
southern blacks,
shop owner,
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