Racism

Racial tensions between whites and “coloreds” form the backbone of much of the book’s plot and relationships. Specifically, the wealthy and ambitious white, citizens of the New England town of Phippsburg (where most of the book’s action is set) resent the presence of a group of “colored” settlers who live on a small island just off the nearby coast. The whites make an attempt to disguise their racist attitudes in 'concerns' about how the people of Malaga live (i.e. in poverty verging on squalor), but as tensions between the two communities intensify, the disguise disappears almost entirely, to the point where the de facto leader of the Phippsburg side, businessman Mr. Stonecrop, says in no uncertain terms that there will be no “Negro” living in Phippsburg, implying that the “Negroes” living on Malaga Island have to go simply BECAUSE they’re Negro.

Mr...