Harsh And Unwelcoming Mood In The Rock Pile By James Baldwin

The way James Baldwin describes events in “The Rock Pile” help create a harsh and unwelcoming mood. The language Baldwin uses suggests what the setting is like, which in turn creates the mood. In Roy and John’s neighborhood, there is a rockpile that juts from the ground. There are boys that fight on the rockpile, that “[rush] each other and [grapple] on the heights, sometimes disappearing down the other side in a confusion of dust and screams and upended, flying feet” (1150). Words such as “rush” and “disappearing” helps to convey to the reader the chaos and danger of this event. Because this is a common event in the neighborhood, this scene implies that the neighborhood is also dangerous and harsh. The way Baldwin chooses to describe events

also impacts the mood of the story. One summer, a boy named Richard drowned in the Harlem River. That evening, John and Roy “had heard from the street a woman screaming and wailing; and they ran to the windows and looked out. Down the street came the woman, Richard’s mother, screaming, her face raised to the sky and tears running down her face” (1150). The lack of comment on the tragedy and briefness of its mention makes it seem commonplace and uneventful. Tragedy and injury being commonplace in this neighborhood creates an unwelcoming and dangerous atmosphere for the story. Baldwin’s use of language additionally helps create tension, which supplements the dark mood of the story. When Gabriel comes home after Roy is injured, it seems to John’s mother that “John stood just before [Gabriel]… just below him, beneath his first, his heavy shoe” (1154). Seeing John as being “below” and “beneath” Gabriel implies to the reader the power Gabriel holds and how helpless John is to that power. John’s helplessness makes the reader understand the harshness of his life, which adds to the ruthlessness of the setting. With the grim mood created by Baldwin’s style of writing, the reader is able to understand the characters and the context of the story better.