Under The Sky

Bowles uses a lot of detail in describing the surroundings and particular details. Instead of just describing the man, Jacinto, to us, he uses circumstances and situations to portray the decisions he makes based on the type of person he is. Another example is how he uses blonde hair as something that stands out as exotic to a few of his subjects in his stories. On the contrary, he also uses the main character walking in bare feet as a symbol of poorness. Once again, rather than just explaining the differences in race, or even class in ways, he presents this by making that feature in the person stand out.

It's interesting to note that earlier in the story, when he goes to the train station, he imagine what he would do if he had a gun. He imagines having that power and is quoted as imagining himself pulling it out and saying "I am the father of all of you!" Immediately after saying this, the narrator follows by saying "But it was not likely that he would ever have a gun." Later in the story, he rapes the woman by telling her that he does have a gun in his pocket and he'd kill the man in the hotel if she didn't "allow" him to rape her in a sense (for lack of a better term). I believe this is on purpose as it shows what this man, with obvious alternate mental makeup, would do if given power.