Racism

Racism is the novel's central theme, dramatized through the experience of a particular black man living at a particular time in a particular place. Every encounter Jones has, every experience, every thought, every feeling, is underpinned and/or underlined first by his perception of tension that exists between him and whites, and second by pervasive fear, both his of the whites and the whites of him. That said, as Jones narrates his experiences, there is a clear subtext, or implication, that while the specifics may be different, the undercurrents are felt and lived by almost every black person in America in 1942. In other words, the author seems to be suggesting that all black people are victims of the tension and fear on both sides of the "Black Problem", as it is referred to in the book, and are all looked at and/or treated in a similar fashion...