What are the main themes in the novel Coram Boy?

Mentally challenged individuals, like Meshak, are mistreated and thought of as without feelings. Black-skinned persons, like Toby, are valued only for entertainment purposes and regarded as something like a pet, certainly not like a human being. While many of these attitudes have changed as society progresses through the centuries, readers are well aware that some have not. In Coram Boy, Gavin allows readers to measure how far Western culture has advanced and how much more still needs to be accomplished.