In the following essay, Callahan contends that in Bloodline “voice becomes a transforming agent” that allows the characters to realize their identities and pursue changes that will result in greater freedom than they had previously experienced.

In the following essay, the critic provides an overview of Bloodline, commenting on the different perspectives the stories provide on the subject of African American manhood and asserting that their effect is heightened when read as a whole.

In the following essay, Duncan examines the way Gaines depicts the process of maturation and aging in Bloodline, comparing events in the stories to the eight life-cycle stages theorized by psychoanalyst Erik Erikson.