Racism
Hidden Figures explores America's racist domestic policies, and the effect those policies had on both black and white people, from the late 1930s to the early 1970s. Multiple forms of protest are discussed, all characterized by nonviolence. (The novel's discussion of this period is not exhaustive. For example, Malcolm X's influence and assassination in 1965 aren't included, presumably because his movement was less important to the characters of Hidden Figures—or perhaps for the simple practical reason that a book can only be so long.) Though Hidden Figures looks at the racism at Langley, in Virginia, and across America, it's careful to not sensationalize the rampant racial violence, instead alluding to such events, often using similes to compare racial tension to a quick-burning fire, kerosene, or something similar.
Reliability and Hard Work
All of the women featured in Hidden Figures serve as examples of the power of hard work. This theme is explored in their professional achievements as well as their personal lives, where their reliability and engagement boosts their community. On page 48, Shetterly writes that the West Computers had "internalized the Negro theorem of needing to be twice as good to get half as far. They wore their professional clothes like armor. They wielded their work like weapons, warding off the presumption of inferiority because they were Negro or female. They corrected each other’s work and policed their ranks like soldiers." Katherine Johnson looks back on her achievements as simply doing her job, and language like "armor," "weapons," and "soldiers" emphasizes just how rigorous that job was for the West Computers.
Opportunity
Opportunity—and who has that opportunity—is a theme in Hidden Figures. Mary Jackson's son, Levi Jr., wins the soapbox derby, the first black boy to do so, partially because most black folks just don't know about the competition. The segregation, whether legal or de facto, between white and black people means that opportunities for people of both races go unshared, undiscussed, and unenjoyed. Another exploration of opportunity occurs in the discussion of schooling. Married women aren't allowed to go to university when Katherine Goble (later Johnson) is a graduate student, so she hides her first marriage so she doesn't have to pick. Even people who do have the opportunity to go to school find an uneven playing field, as we see that segregation creates two subpar school systems rather than one well-funded school.
Through hard work and, as Shetterly calls it, serendipity, the computers at Langley are given the opportunity to pursue extraordinary careers in mathematics. And, just as importantly, they used that opportunity to create more opportunity, widening the realm of possibility for the next wave of brilliant people who want to change the world.
Humanitarianism
Hidden Figures emphasizes that the women it features aren't just hard workers, they're hard humanitarian workers. From Jackson's Girl Scout troop to Johnson's devoted involvement with Alpha Kappa Alpha, the black women of Langley take every opportunity to support young women and young black folks. Almost every chapter includes an example of collective action, supported by individual choices, that improve the working/living situation for younger generations. Involvement in uplifting a community is a main theme of the novel, and concern for all humans, at work, at home, and worldwide.
Mythology
Hidden Figures aims to highlight the brilliant actions of little-known people; one of its themes is the mythology created around history. In Chapter 21, Shetterly points out that television and the space age arose at the same time, so NASA knew their task wasn't just about "making history but also about making a myth, adding a gripping new chapter to the American narrative." The same paragraph discusses the face of that myth, televised for millions to see: "white guys in white shirts and skinny black ties wearing headphones...the enduring image of the engineer at work." That image, that myth of what an engineer looks like, didn't exist before its invention in the late 60s.
Hidden Figures also warns us to not overmythologize, particularly in the case of Katherine Johnson, as outlined in this quote from the epilogue:
"That even Katherine Johnson's remarkable achievements can't quite match some of the myths that have grown up around her is a sign of the strength of the vacuum caused by the long absence of African Americans from mainstream history. For too long, history has imposed a binary condition on its black citizens: either nameless or renowned, menial or exceptional, passive recipients of the forces of history or superheroes who acquire mythic status not just because of their deeds but because of their scarcity. The power of the history of NASA's black computers is that even the Firsts weren't the Onlies."
Forces behind change
Related to Hidden Figures' theme of interconnectivity below, the book makes it very clear that it's interested in the forces behind social change, not just documenting the fact of social change. Some of these include financial forces (like labor shortages influencing desegregation of the defense industry), political forces (like trying to make alliances with non-white nations), and practical forces (the USSR was winning, so the US needed to open its mind to non-white and non-male engineers). As Shetterly writes early in the book, “War, technology, and social progress; it seemed that the second two always came with the first.” Even outside of wartime, Hidden Figures is interested in the factors that come first, as well as the progress we see on the surface.
Interconnectivity
Shetterly says in interviews that stories “tend to put these histories in silos,” even though “all of those things are American history.” One theme of Hidden Figures is that interconnectivity: women’s history, black history, space history, and civil rights history are all part of the same story. Comparisons are made between different "movements" throughout, contextualizing events to explain them and make them more memorable.
On a smaller scale, Hidden Figures explores a theme of interconnectivity between individuals. Not only are the four featured women connected, but thousands of people in Hampton who work together to create opportunities for their children and neighbors.
