Once you realize that the different types of eyes represent the separation in the family, the idea of Roy losing an eye becomes more interesting. The idea of family in this story is broken by John not being accepted and becoming Gabriel’s Scapegoat for Roy’s actions. “He ain’t got your big eyes for nothing, does he.” It seems clear that Baldwin is not talking about eyes in this case but rather the fact that John is an illegitimate son. Course, his eyes ain’t as big as your’n” meaning that Roy and his mother have different eyes then compares the fact that John and his Mother share the same eyes.
Gabriel said “He came mightly close to losing an eye. Tell your daddy what happened.” While trying to help his son Gabriel begins to make remarks about how Roy and John have different eyes. The dialogue between Roy and his father clearly shows their intimate relationship that eludes John. His father Gabriel who is a pastor comes home and blames John for not watching over his younger brother. He runs home crying getting help from his mother. One day Roy decided to play on the rockpile and gets hit right above his eye. However in the is family the two boys, Roy the younger son and John the older step-son are not allowed to play at the rockpile and are only allowed to wistfully watch from a distance. In short, the Rockpile describes a family who lives near a rock pile where the neighbourhood boys like to play. I will focus on what I think is a hidden clue that Baldwin included to further his point and give more emphasis to his writing. The "Rockpile" by James Baldwin is an interesting tale that portrays family dynamic and religion.
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