The Rockpile

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1965

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Essay Topics

Elizabeth tells Gabriel, “You don’t pray to the Lord to help you do better than you been doing, you going to live to shed bitter tears that the Lord didn’t take [Roy’s] soul today” (24). What is the future she envisions for Roy if Gabriel doesn’t change? And is Gabriel capable of making the necessary changes?

What is it that draws Roy to the rockpile? Is it something within him or something external? Could John have prevented him from visiting the rockpile?

What role does setting play in “The Rockpile”? Could the story be adapted to the present or to a different location, or does it depend on taking place in Harlem in the 1930s? Why?