Ernest J. Gaines' "The Sky is Gray" in Madison Smartt Bell, Narrative Design:
             Gaines is an established novelist, "The Sky is Gray" a story copyrighted in 1976.
             The first thing I notice about this story, every time, are those numbered parts. Bell's
             analysis of them on page 199 helps to explain why Gaines might number his sections.
             This is a device more common in poetry. I think the numbers enhance the developmental
             nature of the story. As James and his mother get closer and closer to that goal they never
             quite reach before the story's over, the numbers increase from 1 to 13 (probably
             symbolically significant of their overall bad luck). They suggest progress in a story in
             which progress does not seem possible.
             With James as its narrator, the story has to be told the way that James would talk. So it's
             told in dialect. This is a very risky thing for a writer to do. Bell is right in his note (#7) on
             page 200 when he says that altering the spelling too much makes dialect difficult to read.
             Some nineteenth century stories that are written in dialect make difficult demands on
             twentieth century readers. Dialect can also come across as classist and/or racist. (It is
             especially dangerous for a middle-class white writer to portray and lower-class black
             dialect. They almost always come off stereotypical and demeaning.) Gaines, a black man,
             pulls it off because he keeps as close to standardized spelling, even grammar, as he can
             without losing the sound of James' Louisiana dialect. The dialect as well as James' point
             of view create some humor, however, and I think it's intended, especially when he
             describes the setting. I don't think that the humor ever benefits from stereotyping James,
             however. What do you think? (I should say you-all. What do ya'lls think?)
             Notice how the beginning of the story establishes James' voice, the setting, the situation
             James and his mother find themselves in, and their cha...