In the first paragraph of Slave on the Block the reader is introduced to Michael and Anne Carraway and told of their fondness for Negroes. Their affection does not channel itself into avenues of social service, welfare or philanthropy because the Carraways like Negroes just as they are: charming, innocent and childlike. That is how the Carraways perceive them. The obvious irony in the narrator's tone sets an early theme that the Carraways' naive and one-dimensional perceptions of Negroes are strong forces in the plot.

Michael and Anne especially love the artistic expressions of Negroes in dance, song, poetry, plays and writing. They collect Negro art and artifacts, long to make the acquaintance of prominent Negro leaders of the day, and frequent all the most popular nightclubs and dance halls in Harlem. They, themselves, live a very comfortable and well-to-do life in New York's Village...