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Chapter 21
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
Over the next six months, while Bryan is preparing Ray’s petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ray reflects on the good moments in his life, like playing baseball and warm summer nights. Ray sometimes thinks about what might have happened if he stayed in Praco and worked in the mines—how his life might have turned out differently. The good moments are more difficult to think of after death row, but Ray still helped other people get through long, dark nights. He also takes time to remember the 54 people who were executed during his time on death row.
Even as Ray has a difficult time reckoning with the years that he has lost, he also appreciates the good things about his time there. He and the other inmates built a strong community together, and if he gets out, he can become a voice for the people who lost their lives on death row and who would remain there after he gets out.
Themes
Bryan files Ray’s petition in October 2013, and in February 2014, Ray and Bryan speak on the phone. Bryan tells Ray that the Supreme Court didn’t just review his case, they ruled on it. In a unanimous decision, they found that Perhacs rendered a constitutionally deficient performance because he didn’t ask for additional funds for an expert, and that the case must be returned to the lower courts for further proceedings. They ruled in his favor. Ray drops the phone and weeps. For the first time in 29 years, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Here, Ray’s case finally turns around as the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledges the issues with Ray’s initial trial. In finding that Perhacs did not render an adequate defense for Ray, they acknowledge the discrimination Ray faced in not being granted funds to hire a competent expert. It also shows that Ray’s optimism is starting to pay off—his perseverance means that he may have the opportunity to walk free.
Themes
The case returns to the circuit court, and on September 24, 2014, the circuit court finds that Perhacs was ineffective, granting and Ray’s Rule 32 petition. Ray isn’t free yet, but he’s going to have a new trial with Bryan and the three ballistics experts. In the meantime, Ray will be moved out of Holman and into the county jail.
After almost 30 years, Ray’s perseverance is starting to pay off as the courts acknowledge the inadequacy of Ray’s trial. He will finally be able to walk out of death row thanks to the optimism he has maintained.
Themes
As 2015 begins, Ray starts to give away his possessions, telling the other inmates that he’s likely to be getting out soon. Before he leaves, he assures them to always keep hope. The guys begin to cheer and laugh and chant Ray’s name. When Ray walks out of death row and into the van to the county jail, he keeps his head held high and thinks “free at last.” He’s not home yet, but he’s one step closer.
Ray tries to bolster the spirits of the other men on death row, knowing that he is only able to walk out of Holman prison because he held onto hope. As he leaves, his thoughts of “Free at last” refer to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, connecting Ray’s journey on death row to the racism and discrimination that King and many other Black people face in and outside of the criminal justice system.
Themes
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