He is brought back into the house and as the father gets home, he tries to blame the woman and John for letting Roy go there. There he gets into a fight and gets hurt, starts bleeding.

Plot summary Whilst Roy and John are forbidden to play on the Rockpile as the other boys from the neighborhood do, Roy decides to go anyway once, asking John not to tell anyone as he will be right back.

Gabriel's constant mistreatment of Elizabeth and John foreshadows his concluding showdown with his stepson over Roy's injury at the rock pile.Title: Rockpile By James Baldwin Short Story Keywords: Rockpile By James Baldwin Short Story Created Date: 2:03:21 PM.

Additionally, he demeans John and regards him as inferior to his own biological children, Delilah, Paul and, especially, Roy. Gabriel constantly belittles Elizabeth because she had a child out of wedlock. Gabriel is described as a preacher, but his actions rarely display the benevolence and kindness normally associated with preachers. John's illegitimacy is particularly troubling to his stepfather Gabriel, who frequently makes snide, underhanded comments about John. Baldwin quickly reveals that this is because John is the illegitimate son of Elizabeth. The protagonist of the story, John, is constantly portrayed as being outside of and separate from his family.

This aspect of the exposition foreshadows that Roy is destined to injure himself on the rock pile, and John is destined to be blamed for his brother's injury. Her warning is also intended to direct John to pay close attention to his disobedient younger brother. This is because she understands that John only needs to be told once, but Roy needs constant redirection. While Elizabeth warns both Roy and John about playing on the rock pile, Baldwin reveals that her primary target for these warnings is Roy. In the description of him and his actions prior to the climax, Roy is depicted as the troublemaking younger brother of John. In fact, Gabriel, a local preacher, views John as evidence of his wife’s previously sinful lifestyle. Though Roy and John are close to each other, and to their mother, Baldwin also hints that John does not get along with Gabriel, his stepfather and the biological father of Roy, Delilah and Paul. Though Roy and John are introduced as brothers, Baldwin quickly reveals that the older John is Elizabeth’s (the mother's) child from another man.

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