Blues Ain T No Mockin Bird Analysis
Stereotypes have changed throughout history. Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird” uses stereotypes to develop characters and set a realistic setting. Bambara sets her story in the rural South in the United States of America. With a house near some woods, Granny, Granddaddy Cain, and a group of their relatives enjoy a private life away from white people. In this time period, during the civil right movement, there was a distrust between the African-American community and the white people. Through stereotypes, Bambara creates characters with conflict leading the reader to learn about what life was like as an African-American family in the South.
A life in seclusion is disrupted when a cameraman comes to get footage for
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As the man of the house, Granddaddy Cain comes home with “this bloody thing on his shoulder,” which, would become dinner for the family that night. With his “black oilskin . . . [and] his great white head,” Granddaddy Cain could intimidate anyone unwanted by Granny. Granddaddy Cain stood "tall and silent like a king," and when he "holds his hand out," the cameraman is confused, or presumably intimidated. After Smilin whispered to "Camera," disparaging the family, as if, "they was in the jungle or somethin and come upon a native that don't speak the language"(3). After Granddaddy Cain scared the Cameramen off by breaking thr camera, Granny, "was doin the cakes again, you could smell the molasses from the rum," indicating that she was no longer upset after the Cameraman and Smilin ran away.
In their own kingdom, Granny and Granddaddy Cain live a secluded life. In the rural south, away from cities bustling with white people, Granny can live her life the way she wants, without intrusion. The “Blues” in the title is a symbol for Granny’s feeling in her life. Her need for privacy and her pride which was offended when the Cameramen mentioned that they were filming for a food stamp film. The “Mockin Bird” represents the Mocking Bird, generally found in the south, is a bird that chirps a happy tune, which, is the opposite of the blues, a melancholy
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