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Mr. Berry
In “The Black Ball,” the gardener’s son Jackie, who is white, is about the same age as John’s son, who is Black. Jackie taunts John’s son for his race and doesn’t face consequences for mischievous behavior, like pulling a flower off from a bush. In contrast, Mr. Berry blames John and his son when a white boy throws John’s son’s ball through the window. This double standard shows how racism limits Black children’s freedom and opportunities from an early age.
Jackie Quotes in The Black Ball
The The Black Ball quotes below are all either spoken by Jackie or refer to Jackie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Black Ball
Quotes
“All right now,” I told him. “You stay in the back out of everybody’s way, and you mustn’t ask anyone a lot of questions.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Black Ball LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jackie Quotes in The Black Ball
The The Black Ball quotes below are all either spoken by Jackie or refer to Jackie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Black Ball
Quotes
“All right now,” I told him. “You stay in the back out of everybody’s way, and you mustn’t ask anyone a lot of questions.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
