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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Sun Does Shine, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Discrimination and the Criminal Justice System
Optimism, Faith, and Choice
The Death Penalty
Suffering, Community, and Support
The Power of Stories
Summary
Analysis
Ray isn’t sure if his life changed forever the day he was arrested, or if the course of his life was determined from the first day he was born, being Black and poor and living in the South. Over his many years in prison, Ray has plenty of time to replay all of the moments of his life and wonder what might have been different. However, Ray believes that it’s what you do after your life changes—like after a tragedy or an unjust situation—that matters the most.
From the outset of The Sun Does Shine, author Anthony Ray Hinton (who goes by Ray) foreshadows how being Black and poor in the South had a massive effect on how the criminal justice system treated him. But in emphasizing that it’s what a person does after their life changes that matters the most, Ray also hints at the value of optimism and how important it is to choose to persevere even in times of great struggle.
Themes
In the Jefferson County Jail in December 1986, Ray and his mom sit on opposite sides of a glass wall. He has been in the prison for a year and a half. Three months earlier, Ray was found guilty of robbing and murdering two people, and the jury recommended sentencing him to death. They wanted to murder him because he murdered someone—except, he notes, they have the wrong man. At the time of a third attempted murder, Ray was working a night shift in a locked warehouse 15 miles away from the crime. He was mistakenly identified, and the police thought that an old pistol owned by his mother was the murder weapon, even though it hadn’t been used in 28 years.
Ray lays out the facts that prove he is innocent of murder in order to establish how the criminal justice system has mistreated him: he couldn’t have been at the scene of the crime, and the suspected murder weapon has not been fired in nearly 30 years. In setting out this logical argument, Ray calls the death penalty into question. In showing that the jury is sending an innocent man to his death, Ray forces readers to reconsider whether the death penalty always carries out justice.
Themes
Every week, Ray’s mom and his best friend Lester visit him in jail. Ray is the youngest of 10 children and he is very close to his mom. He lives with her, goes to church with her, and eats with her every day. She knows that he is innocent—but even if he wasn’t, she still would be there for him. At each visit, Ray’s mother asks when he is coming home, and Ray assures his mother that he’s trying to come home soon. That night, Ray prays to God, hoping that the truth will be revealed.
Ray illustrates how important community support is during this difficult time. To have people like his mom and Lester who never doubt him is invaluable, and it mitigates the suffering he is experiencing. In addition, Ray establishes how religion is an important part of his life, and that faith is crucial to helping him maintain hope about his situation.
Themes
Five days later, Ray is back in court. He is angry at his conviction, knowing that his only crime is being “born black in Alabama.” The courtroom is filled with white faces, and he feels ashamed because they all think he’s a murderer. The press judged him guilty from the second he was arrested, as did the police. Prosecutor Bob McGregor stares at Ray with hatred and would probably execute him at that moment. The judge, Judge Garrett, is less overtly biased but is only going through the motions of the trial. Ray calls the trial a “lynching.”
So many of Ray’s circumstances are stacked against him because of the discrimination in the police and court systems: he believes he was only identified as the murderer because he is Black, and so many of the people around him (the white prosecutor, judge, and jury) presumed that he was guilty even before his trial. His reference to lynching—which recalls the unjust vigilante murders of Black people, particularly in the American South—indicates Ray’s belief that he didn’t receive fair justice in the courts.
Themes
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On the stand, a bailiff lies and says that Ray confessed to cheating on his polygraph test—a polygraph that the state wouldn’t allow to be admitted into evidence because it proved he was innocent. After the bailiff’s testimony, Ray’s attorney, Sheldon Perhacs, asks if Ray wants to testify. Ray is furious—Perhacs hasn’t called any witnesses for his defense, and Ray adamantly says he wants to testify. They have been working together for almost two years, but Perhacs doesn’t seem to care that he holds Ray’s life in his hands.
The people in Ray’s trial continue to manipulate evidence against him: the bailiff lies about what Ray said, and the state won’t allow a polygraph test into evidence because it proves his innocence. These people, the book suggests, are more concerned about getting a conviction than actually rendering justice. In addition, Ray hints at the fact that Perhacs has put up literally no defense, showing how he, too, has manipulated the criminal justice system so that Ray cannot get a fair trial. Perhacs’ lack of empathy and support for Ray only compounds Ray’s feelings of mistreatment.
Themes
On the stand, Ray tells the jury that he did not kill anyone: if the families want the victims’ killer to be brought to justice, they should pray, because they haven’t caught the right person. Ray explains he loves all people and has never been violent; he doesn’t know anything about these murders. Ray knows that if he dies in the electric chair, he is going to heaven; he looks at McGregor, the bailiff, the district attorney, and the police, and asks where they’re going when they die.
Ray’s testimony on the stand emphasizes how alone and mistreated he feels. His attempts to appeal to the jury based on his character confirms the fact that Perhacs didn’t get anyone to come to Ray’s defense and stand up on his behalf, so Ray feels he must do it himself. And Ray once again stresses that he knows that justice isn’t being served in the courtroom.
Themes
Ray goes on, explaining that several similar murders have been committed since he’s been in jail, but the court is ignoring them because it doesn’t want to find out the truth—all they want is a conviction. Ray acknowledges that he stole and wrote bad checks before, but he admitted it and paid for what he did. In this case, he shouldn’t have to pay for something he didn’t do, because the only crime he’s guilty of is that he looks like someone else. In conclusion, Ray affirms that God will reopen his case someday. He says he’s not worried about the death chair: the state can sentence him to death, but it can’t take his soul away.
Ray provides more evidence for why he didn’t commit the crime, pointing out the real murderer is probably still out in society, committing more crimes. In doing so, Ray again shows that the criminal justice system is more concerned about getting a conviction (even of an innocent man) than it is about actually serving justice to the person who committed the crimes. Additionally, Ray reaffirms his faith (his religious faith and his hope more broadly) that the court’s decision will someday be overturned, demonstrating that even in this difficult time, Ray is able to keep some hope.
Themes
Perhacs makes one final attempt to argue that Ray is on trial for two capital offenses that were unrelated to him by any evidence. Due to similar circumstances between the cases, the state of Alabama was able to tie the cases together, relate them to a third, and in doing so, put the death penalty on the table. After Perhacs’s conclusion, Judge Garrett rules that Ray is guilty of each capital offense in accordance with the jury’s verdict and sentences Ray to death by electrocution.
Perhacs also demonstrates how the state has made a concerted effort to put the death penalty on the table when they do not have to. Ray is completely unconnected to the first two murders by any evidence, but they are actively and maliciously trying to manipulate the system so that Ray can be put to death.
Themes
There is one bright spot in Ray’s sentence: by sentencing him to death, Judge Garrett gives him the best chance at regaining his life. Now that Ray has been sentenced to die, he will be guaranteed an appeal and representation by an attorney. If Ray were sentenced to life in prison, he would have to hire an attorney himself. As Ray is led away from the courtroom, he prays for the truth to be known, for God to protect his mom, and for God to have mercy on him.
Ray illustrates the irony and the cruelty of the justice system, in that it is actually luckier that Ray was sentenced to death because it gives him a better shot at someday reversing the decision. For those who are sentenced to life in prison and who are poor, the situation is much bleaker because they can’t afford to hire a lawyer for an appeals process—another example of the discrimination within the justice system.
Themes
