Distinguished from The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by its use of a single pivotal action and its conse quences, and by the use of an omniscient narrator, In My Father's House has roots in tragic drama, both Greek and British. The revenge motif links it to these forms and evokes plots from other literature and film where the "stranger" returns to town and turns out not to be a stranger after all.

Gaines's use of the motif is daring in the context of black literature because he is alluding to potentially offensive material about his own people. While much literature by black writers centers on a single male character, such as Richard Wright's Black Boy (1937) and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952), the action usually progresses toward greater freedom and a sense of dignity against harrowing odds. This book, however, is about the fall of...