The Sky is Gray story
"The Sky is Gray" is the 15th installment of The American Short Story television anthology series produced by Learning in Focus and Sea Cliff Productions for the Public Broadcasting Service. This installment is based on the 1966 Ernst J. Gaines book of the same name. Synopsis: Octavia is the matriarch of a black share cropper family in the American South in the 1940s. When her son James develops a bad tooth ache she uses up all her savings in order to take him into town to see the dentist. In town, the two of them has various encounters with other people. In the dentist's office there is a brief fight over religion. In a cafe, Octavia uses her knife to fend off a man who tries to molest her. Finally, she and James are treated to a substantial meal by a generous elderly white woman who is astute and careful not to hurt Octavia's pride.
21 total · 2 choice · 7 major · 12 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| pride | choice | The whole of the story lead up a complicated interaction in which Helena, an elderly white lady, struggled to be charitable to James and Octavia without hurting Octavia's notable pride. |
| social inequality | choice | The story showcased the abject poverty of a black family in the American South in the 1940s. It was noted that they worked hard in the fields every day yet had barely enough money to take the bus into town to have a bad tooth tended to. Their squalor was contrasted with the comfortable existence of black and white people in the town. |
| compassion | major | The whole of the story lead up a complicated interaction in which Helena, an elderly white lady, struggled to be charitable to James and Octavia without hurting Octavia's notable pride. |
| generosity | major | The whole of the story lead up a complicated interaction in which Helena, an elderly white lady, struggled to be charitable to James and Octavia without hurting Octavia's notable pride. |
| human childhood | major | James' trip into town with his mother to have an aching tooth pulled turned into a valuable life experience. |
| human health condition | major | James struggled to conceal that he was suffering from a debilitating toothache. [having a bad tooth] |
| kindness | major | The whole of the story lead up a complicated interaction in which Helena, an elderly white lady, struggled to be charitable to James and Octavia without hurting Octavia's notable pride. |
| mother and son | major | Octavia took her son, James, into town to have an aching tooth pulled. Throughout the journey, Octavia set an example to James by not taking hand outs in spite of their poverty. |
| racism in society | major | The story is set in the Jim Crow law's American South of the 1940s. When Octavia and James reached the city they noted that some venues were clearly meant either for black people, or for white people, exclusively. Nothing was explicitly said about this and there were no obvious acts of racism. Other tokens of racism in the story included Octavia and James riding at the back of a racially segregated bus, a Confederate flag flying at the town bank, and Octavia and James stopping at a "colored cafe" for lunch. |
| animal cruelty | minor | James was squeamish about killing some fowl, but Octavia insisted he do it. |