The three major social issues of Sarny are slavery, racial relations, and the relations between men and women. Even though slavery is ended near the beginning of the novel, it remains a presence throughout Sarny's narrative. Much of what she experiences is tinted by her memories of slavery.

One example of this is when she is in the plantation house where she finds Tyler Two.

She weeps when comparing it to the miserable slave quarters where she had lived before. But its presence is even felt when she is a wealthy woman, able to do what she wishes. Her constant companion is the memory of how her life had been and how it changed when she learned to read and write. Freedom and literacy are united in her way of thinking, and she devotes her later life to opening schools and teaching illiterate people to read...