Critic of Ernest J. Gaines Short Stories Called Bloodlines

Bloodline collection of five short stories, Bloodline depicts the struggles of day-to-day African-American life in the South. With unique literary devices and keen emotional insight, Author Ernest J. Gaines uses the first person perspective in each tale to make the narratives exceptionally poignant and to bring the characters alive. In fact, two of the tales are told from the perspective of young boys, Gaines captures their innocence and their unwitting exposure to racism deftly in "A Long Day in November," and "The Sky is Gray," "Three Men" depicts the black experience of the American criminal justice system, revealing its faults through symbolism and powerful imagery of life on the inside. "Bloodline" illustrates how Southern blacks fared after the demise of plantation culture in the post-Civil War south. Finally, "Just like a Tree" switches points-of-view, as Gaines portrays blacks as they are viewed in the eyes of the white man. These five narratives offer a glimpse into a world more often than not neglected from the history books, a time of transition and turmoil for American blacks as they gained their official freedom from the bonds of slavery but remained shackled by intense racism ingrained into Southern plantation life. Gaines' characters emerge as beacons of hope and resiliency amid these obstacles; they walk "the way soldiers walk," (217).

Both tales told by children, "A Long Day in November," and "The Sky is Gray," are told in the present tense, an unusual literary device. This serves accurately portrays children's perception of the world, and is therefore entirely appropriate, even necessary. Eddie and James, the protagonists in these two tales, respectively, perceive the world as it happens right now, in all its vividness. The stories these boys tell encapsulate the greater themes of the short story collection. Their innocence is shattered by the pervasiveness of racism in their daily lives: they are poor, they are taught to accept their inferior lot in life, and their family life is tough because of it. For example, James' mother beats him out of anger and frustration; Eddie's Mama begs his Papa to beat her out of guilt and emotional turmoil. Gaines' characters are complex and inextricably shaped by their life circumstances and an oppressive society. Showing these life circumstances from the eyes of children in the first two stories in Bloodline demonstrates how African-Americans are born into a racist society and how difficult it is to break free.

Tone and point-of-view shift in "Three Men," a story told in first person but in past tense, by a black male jailbird. As with all the tales in Bloodline, Gaines uses diction appropriate to regional dialect and accents. The grammar is far from perfect; even the characters' thoughts are worded in Southern lingo. In "Three Men," however, the subject matter and especially the violence intensify as shown through an adult's eyes. Peppered with the word "nigger," this story, like all the others in the book, demonstrates how powerful language is in creating a racist society. The protagonist turns himself in and the remainder of the story illustrates the inmates' experiences with a life tainted by violence. He is keenly aware of, and angry about, the injustices in the world and is yet totally powerless over it; he screams inside his mind.