Slavery
Though most of the stories do not have a clear indication of the time they were set in, the theme of practice of slavery is evident in many stories. In the story, ‘Really, Doesn’t Crime Pay’, the unnamed narrator mentions, ‘my heart, the heart of a slave’ pointing out her feelings of being enslaved in a relationship where she is financially dependent. The theme is also echoed in the words of Dee who renames her with an African name as she didn’t want to be associated with a name her ‘oppressors’ gave her. Given that Dee was born in twentieth century and the setting is of a time after segregation, her comment is indicative of the theme of slavery that serves as background to the stories.
Racism
Most stories are of Mississippi, of colored people employed by the whites. In ‘The child Who Favoured Daughter’, the father feels that he has ‘Not (been) treated as a man, scarcely as well as a poor man treats his beast.’ If the white employers were kind enough to treat them well, they would patronize them for things like dressing in better clothes than they did. Rannie Toomer has difficulty finding a white doctor for her sick baby. The mailman she asks to get the doctor sends an old witch who practiced home remedies.
Female oppression
Another predominant theme is of female oppression. Oppression on the basis of skin color is doubly reinforced if the victim is a female. Most men from minorities are depicted as patriarchal misogynists, even if they were well-educated. Women bear the burden of honor and are considered as walking wombs with no agency, and hence are abused frequently by their families for even a suggestion of flirtation with their white bosses.
Betrayal in love
In the love stories, women are frequently betrayed by men, but this element of a classical love story is shaded with elements of history of racism in Mississippi. In ‘Really, Doesn’t Crime Pay’, the unnamed narrator is betrayed not just by her lover who publishes her works under his name, but by her husband too, who under the guise of love expects her complete submission. In ‘Her Sweet Jerome’, the unnamed protagonist is treated unfairly by her husband who married her for her money. It is ultimately revealed that he believes in bringing forth a ‘Black Revolution’ but doesn’t provides her wife enough agency to say a word in his presence.
Heritage
There is constant conflict in the values of ancient African traditions and the new values and religion black people adopted after they were brought as slaves from Africa. The ones who have adopted the new religion, like Rannie Toomer do not believe in the ancient practices, while there are others like Dee, who in going back to their ancient culture, change names and defy the identity they had.
