Racism and Discrimination

Blackman uses the theme of racism and discrimination in order to characterize the novel as an allegory for the civil rights movement which took place in America in the 20th century. Blackman creates an alternate universe in which black people, Crosses, hold all the power while white people, noughts, are viewed as inferior. Just like black people in America, noughts struggle to overcome the generational trauma which comes from historically being used as slaves or servants. Blackman reverses the roles of black and white people in society in order to make a statement about the importance of overcoming prejudice on both sides.

Blackman first introduces the theme of discrimination in the first chapter, when Callum explains his doubts about being accepted and embraced at Heathcroft. Right off the bat, the reader gets an understanding of how serious the prejudice against noughts really is. Callum...