Korb has a master's degree in English literature and creative writing and has written for a wide variety of educational publications. In the following essay, Korb discusses several of the questions raised by "The Stone Boy" and poses possible answers.

In 1975, in one of her rare public statements, Gina Berriault commented on the weltanschauung, or "world view," of her writing. She told World Authors: "My work is an investigation of reality which is, simply, so full of ambiguity and of answers that beget further questions that to pursue it is an impossible task and a completely absorbing necessity. It appears to me that all the terrors are countered by a perceptible degree by the attempts of some writers to make us known to one another and thus to impart or revive a reverence for life." Berriault's statement certainly applies to her wellknown short story which invites analysis...