[Gabriel began angrily questioning John about what had happened. John stood paralyzed with fear. Elizabeth interrupted, telling
her husband that Roy had brought this trouble on himself by not listening to her constant warnings. Gabriel addressed his hurt son with tenderness as Roy continued crying and acting worse than he had since the injury occurred. When Gabriel asked John directly about the situation again, Elizabeth blamed Roy and tried to dismiss everything saying that he would heal fine. Roy continued crying in the background as Gabriel’s anger grew. He yelled at his wife, telling her to let the boy speak for himself. Then he asked where John had been during the whole ordeal. Terrified, John sat in silence, watching his mother, who was still holding Delilah. Gabriel threatened to whip John, but Elizabeth came to his defense. She also handed the baby to John, which provided a needed distraction. Wanting to take the focus off of John, Elizabeth challenged her husband, causing his anger to turn to rage.] According to Elizabeth in “The Rockpile” by James Baldwin, why is Roy injured?
John does not protect him very well.
Roy does not abide by her warnings.
The neighborhood boys attack him.
Gabriel treats Roy too tenderly.
In this story, the boys are warned not to play in the rockpile, as it is very dangerous and they could be injured. However, Roy refuses to listen and decides to go anyway. John follows him in order to protect him, but he is unable to do so and Roy gets injured. Judging the situation, Elizabeth believes that Roy's injury was his own fault for being disobedient. However, as the father cares for the boys differently, he disagrees with this assessment.
