Because the book is set in the early nineteenth century, the racial attitudes of that era are reflected in the novel.

Black people are not respected as individuals and are relegated to the status of lower-class citizens. When the townspeople gather around the Dukes' wagon to hear music, the blacks stand behind the crowd.

The author hints that Nose didn't treat black Baptist with much respect until Lucky came along. Toward the end of the book, Nose does feel remorse and acknowledges that he might be burning his fighter up, but he doesn't see a way out of the situation.

When the fat white sheriff shoots Baptist, the reader has the feeling the story would have ended differently if the fighter had been a white man.

The scene of two obese women fighting in the mud and tearing each other's clothes off is a curiosity to...