Racism

The main characters never experience racism directly within this story, but the effects of life within a racist society surround them. One clear example of this is shown in Jean-Claude's fatalism about how the Little Miss Dorchester competition will turn out: Some light-skinned, long-haired little girl that conforms to the judges' twisted concepts of beautiful will win as usual," he says sarcastically. "When people say 'Black is Beautiful,' they usually mean the brighter the black the more beautiful." He ends up being wrong—although people are upset when Samona does not win, no one suggests that the judges were motivated by racism. Because Seth and Samona interact only with other black characters in this story, and because they understand their social discomfort to be unique to their personalities (Samona's because she is a free spirit, Seth's because of his Haitian background), they do not dwell on the...