祖母问：“哦，外面是谁呀？”

The grandma asked: "who are you?"

youdao

“在学校过得好吗？”祖母问“你总是一个人呆着吗？你又哭吗”

"Was school all right?" she asked, "Did you get along all right? Did you cry?"

youdao

youdao

There is this social context of race relations whose grammar he is also learning, and I would just remind you of the passage where he starts to ask his mother about whether his granny is white or not.

一种来自家庭无可绘状的影响,当时社会的种族对立，对他学习的语言也有很深的影响,各位看一下当他问母亲,祖母是白人还是黑人？

耶鲁公开课 - 1945年后的美国小说课程节选