When was the rockpile written

In these lean times, tempers flared more easily among African-American males, even the boys who are depicted in the story. The physical setting is important for two other reasons. The Grimes's apartment building is located across the street from a large rockpile, which is essential for setting up Roy's injury. Since the rockpile is in sight of the Grimes's fire escape, Roy watches others fight there and yearns to go fight himself: "Roy shifted impatiently, and continued to stare at the street, as though in this gazing he might somehow acquire wings.

Browse all BookRags Study Guides. Copyrights The Rockpile from Gale. All rights reserved. Toggle navigation. They label the ones who go to their church as redeemed and the others as wicked sinners. They believe the street itself, along with all of Harlem, is a place of wickedness and danger. One summer, a boy drowned in the nearby river, and John and Roy watched his funeral procession pass by the rockpile and disappear into the house next door.

Even watching the street seems sinful to John, but he cannot take his eyes off it and the rockpile. One Saturday, John draws a picture to pass the time. John becomes more interested in his drawing until he sees a huge gang fight on the rockpile and remembers that Roy is down there. He sees Roy laughing, his shirt torn, as he stands atop the pile. Then, Roy is knocked over when a can hits him, cutting his forehead. John tells his mother, and she and her church friend, Sister McCandless, bring Roy back to the apartment.

The story addresses the issue of violence between African-American men, the violence inherent in African-American families, and the power of religion in Depression-era Harlem.

Most critics consider Baldwin's short stories inferior to his novels, which are in turn considered inferior to his essays. Baldwin's short stories contain many of the same themes he explores in other works and offer a portrait of the artist at various stages of his writing development. A current copy of the story can be found in the paperback version of Going to Meet the Man, which was published by Vintage Books in Read more from the Study Guide.

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