In ‘‘Stones in My Passway, Hellhound on My Trail,’’ Boyle plays with the myth that when he was a young man, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil to be able to play the blues better than anyone else. The story’s title suggests that Robert is fighting a losing battle to avoid paying the devil his due. The hellhound, Cerberus in Greek mythology who guards the gates of the underworld, chases him while stones impede his escape route. In the story, Robert’s destiny does seem predetermined, but Boyle suggests that Robert’s self-destructive tendencies, rather than the devil, are the culprits. Ever since Robert started his career as a blues performer, he has figuratively placed stones in his own path. He continually misses recording dates and performances due to his penchant for alcohol and women. While clearly no one but Robert is controlling his destiny, Boyle questions how much free will Robert has, given his obvious weaknesses.

Robert does display strength of character with regard to his music. Without ever having made a public performance, he has the courage to come up to an established blues artist and ask him if he can sit in on one of his sets. Robert so dazzles the older man with his playing, that he walks off the stage and lets Robert take the spotlight. He has also had the perseverance to learn his craft so well that when he plays, he ‘‘gets the men hooting’’ and ‘‘chills the women.’’ His skillful playing always compels listeners to ‘‘pound over the floorboards like the start of the derby.’’

His weaknesses, however, overpower his strengths. Throughout his life, he never seems to be able to act responsibly. He appears to be oblivious to what is happening around him and concentrates only on his music and his fast-paced life style. On his last night, he has not eaten for two days.

Robert has been able to establish relationships with women, but he has never been able to sustain them. It is apparent that he had forged some kind of bond with Ida Mae because she wears his guitar pick on a silver chain around her neck and because he looks sheepishly at her after being with Beatrice. Yet he does not have the strength to resist his desire to live constantly in the moment, without any regard for the consequences of his actions.

When Robert’s weaknesses prompt him to make the wrong choices, he must suffer the consequences. When he gets involved in fights, usually over a woman, he lands in jail. His final choice, to go out in back of the House Party Club with Beatrice, proves fatal. Robert understands that he has betrayed Ida Mae but only shrugs sheepishly in response. His inability to stop his roving eye or even to try to persuade Ida Mae that he will in the future stay faithful to her unleashes her wrath, and she poisons him. Ironically, by the end of the story, Robert sings the title song but with one important word change. ‘‘Hellhound on my trail’’ has now become ‘‘Hellbound on my trail,’’ suggesting that Robert is the only one to blame for his tragic end. He has been bound for hell from the beginning.

In most literary works, the main character goes through a period of growth and development when he or she learns important lessons about himself or herself and the world. This change is often triggered by a moment in the story when the main character experiences an epiphany that matures him or her. Robert, however, is a static character throughout the story. He never learns any lessons as a result of the problematic situations he continually finds himself in. Each time Robert finds himself in trouble with a woman or the law, he never appears remorseful or makes any attempts to change his destructive behavior. Ultimately, he is destroyed by his inability to grow and develop from his experiences and to stop placing stones in his own path.