The Sky Is Gray | Essays and Criticism

  • The Implications of a Moral Reading of The Sky is Gray

    In the following essay, Kippen explores the implications of a moral reading of Gaines’s ‘‘The Sky is Gray.’’

  • Ernest J. Gaines and the Black Child’s Sensory Dilemma

    In the following essay, Meyer describes how ‘‘The Sky is Gray’’ is a coming of age story not just about coming to terms with growing up, but also dealing with the sensual orientation of one’s body. He looks at two contrasting ideas, the African/aural roots—the idea that African Americans express themselves through their music and aural interpretations— and their American/visual reorientation— the idea that America is a country of visual stimulations, that as Emerson said ‘‘the eye is final.’’

  • The Individual and the Community in Two Short Stories by Ernest J. Gaines

    In the following essay, Roberts looks at the communal bonds found in Southern black communites, especially those as described by Gaines in ‘‘The Sky is Gray.’’ Along with this, he describes the dangers inherent in a community where tradition and change interact.