Materialism

The novel juxtaposes the value of human life with the value of physical property. Through the two perspectives that are used in the story, two different ways of looking at a violent protest are presented. Ultimately, the novel seems to argue that human life is much more important than physical property.

The novel presents the idea that human life is more valuable than physical property through the lens of Lena. When Lena experiences the violent crowd in downtown Atlanta, she recognizes the actions of the people involved as responding to centuries of injustice and inequity. Rather than blaming them for destroying the buildings of innocent people, she excuses their behavior because she understands that there is a historical context to consider when evaluating the actions of the crowd. As she tells Campbell: “People be mad… They gotta express that somehow” (230). Lena also points out that the...