Significance of America

The United States of America, with its history of slavery, racial conflict and tension, and its American "Dream" is the primary broad strokes setting for the book. There is the sense throughout the work that America is as much a concept as it is an actual place, if not more so: its history, values, and actions in response to both history and values define it, for the author, more than its geography and/or physical place in the world.