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
Every night, Ray prays for the truth to come out. He refers back to John 8:32: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” He receives a few letters from Santha, who apologizes for not being able to visit again—she is busy preparing a petition for relief from a death sentence. Holman allows prisoners to visit the law library once a week for an hour. For the previous three years Ray refused his time, but now he goes every week. He learns that even if a jury says life in prison, a judge in Alabama can override that ruling and still sentence a person to death.
Ray exposes another possible source of corruption and bias in the criminal justice system. Earlier, Ray noted that judges are elected based on how many people they send to death row. The fact that they have the power to overrule a jury only encourages these harsh punishments. They do not hand down these sentences out of justice, but rather in order to bolster their political support at the expense of people’s lives.
Themes
Back in his cell, Ray shouts to the other men about judicial override, and they agree that it’s unfair—one man is even on death row because of it. He says that the police lied and said he took a dollar from the man he killed, which is how he got a capital case. Ray asks the man’s name; when the man hesitates, Ray starts talking about the pies his mother used to make. The man says his mother makes a pretty good pie herself, and he says his name is Henry. Ray apologizes for what happened in Henry’s case.
Ray’s connection with Henry again illustrates the importance of community on death row. Because Ray is able to empathize with Henry and relate to him by talking about his mom’s pies, they are able to support one another and forge a new friendship.
Themes
Two weeks later, on July 13, 1990, the guards execute Wallace Thomas, and the inmates bang on the bars so that he knows that his life matters. A few weeks after his death, Santha writes a handwritten note to Ray, explaining that she’s halfway done with his petition. She’s sorry not to be able to visit, and she’ll send the petition when she’s done. She also writes her home phone number on the bottom of the letter. Ray reads it over and over again—he’s happy to have something to read to occupy his mind, as they can’t have books.
Both of these episodes separately reinforce the value of community and support. Ray and the other inmates want to make sure that Wallace Thomas doesn’t feel alone; likewise, Santha tries to ensure that Ray feels supported as she works hard on his case, even providing him with a way to contact her directly if he needs her. Ray also foreshadows the value that books will bring into his life as a means of escape.
Themes
Ray recalls his time in the coal mine, when he would travel in his mind. He imagines visiting the Queen of England in Buckingham palace and having tea with her. The Queen asks to help Ray in any way she can, and he says that he’ll find a way to get home. Ray is happy to be treated with respect as she gives him a tour of the palace and they play croquet for hours.
Ray reintroduces stories into his life as he imagines meeting the Queen of England. These fantasies allow him to help him escape the despair of death row, just as he was able to escape the suffocation of the mines earlier in the book.
Themes
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The guards rouse Ray from his daydreams with a start, telling him that he has visitors. Ray is confused: it’s only Wednesday, and visiting days are Friday. But when Ray sees his mom, Lester, Lester’s mom Phoebe, and Lester’s new wife Sia, Ray realizes that it is Friday, and he completely skipped over Thursday. Ray realizes that he has found a third way to leave death row—not by being released, or carried out in a body bag, but by escaping in his mind. After the visit, Ray returns to his cell and imagines arriving back at his mom’s house and greeting her as a free man.
Here Ray underscores the true power of stories in his life. Not only do they allow him a respite from the difficult realities of death row—helping him pass the time so that he doesn’t go crazy due to the monotony—but they also provide him with a greater sense of freedom, as he can imagine leaving death row and spending time with his mother.
Themes
