In Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “Blues Ain’t No Mockingbird” she provides insight into the character traits of Granddaddy and Granny through direct descriptions and through their actions. The author describes how impatient, and fiercely proud and protective Granny can be when she tells how the family picks up and moves when Granny starts packing and says, “Let’s get on away from here before I kill me somebody.” This usually happens after someone offers the family charity or comes snooping around Granny’s kitchen. The narrator also tells the reader that Granny was always teaching and explaining something usually through a story. Granny’s sarcastic nature becomes evident when she speaks to the second man from the county. He calls her “aunty” to which she responds, “Your mama and I are not related.”
Granddaddy Cain, or as Granny calls him in true Southern style, Mr. Cain, is characterized as the strong,...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
proud, silent type. He does not have much to say, his actions and the few words he speaks are all he needs to get his point across. Granddaddy shows his strength when he swiftly throws the hammer at the bothersome bird and kills him with one fell swoop. When he takes the cameraman’s equipment, it does not take much for him to make a mess of it. Yet, he keeps his composure and shows his pride. “You standin’ in the misses’ flower bed,” say Granddaddy, “This is our own place.” The men from the county quickly get the message that they are not wanted on the farm.
What are examples of direct and indirect characterization of Granny Cain in "Blues Ain't No Mockin Bird"?
Authors use characterization to make a character come to
life for a reader. Through characterization, the reader can learn how the
character talks, thinks, feels, behaves, what the character looks like, and
what other characters think of the character in question. Authors can use both
direct and indirect characterization to make a character come alive. When an
author uses direct characterization, the author comes right
out and describes something about the character, usually in the voice of the
narrator. In contrast, indirect characterization is more
subtle. Authors create indirect characterization by placing a character in a
scene. By reading what the character does and says in the scene, the reader is
able to deduce what the character is like as a person.
One thing we learn through indirect characterization in Toni
Cade Bambara's "Blues Ain't no Mockin Bird" is that Granny
Cain is a very hard worker. We see her as a hard
worker in the opening paragraph of the story when the narrator describes Granny
as pouring rum into tins of Christmas cakes she'll be selling. The narrator
further relays all of the hard work Granny has done in the past:
She was on the back porch, Granny was, making the cakes drunk. The old ladle drippin rum into the Christmas tins, like it used to drip maple syrup into the pails when we lived in the Judson's woods, like it poured cider into the vats when we were on the Cooper place, like it used to scoop buttermilk and soft cheese when we lived at the dairy.
Granny does all of this hard work to help provide for her family.
Granny is also directly characterized as one who
teaches her young. She is a highly intelligent person with a
strong sense of right and wrong. She has such a strong sense of right and wrong
that she is always very careful to teach her young her beliefs. We see Granny
directly characterized as a devoted teacher to her young after
she forbids the men permission to film her home; the children look up at her
expectantly, waiting for an explanation of her actions:
The twins were danglin in the tire, looking at Granny. Me and Cathy were waitin, too, cause Granny always got somethin to say. She teaches steady with no letup.
References