Racism's Impact on Children

A core motif of the book, racism plays an active roll in the characters' upbringing, thought processes, and interactions with the environment. Perhaps the earliest example is in Ruth May's first chapter when she discusses how, "God says the Africans are the Tribes of Ham." As her father is a preacher, it can be inferred that she has learned this from him and the ideas he projects onto his children. Ruth May explains that Ham was "the worst of Noah's three boys," a simple, child-like translation of the racism-infused stories her father has told her/her family to explain the world. By "explaining" black people in this way, Nathan retains the superiority he feels as a white person, while also integrating his beliefs into his children. Casual racism fills chapters of the novel, dwindling as the novel progresses when the children start encountering people from other walks of life and think for themselves. Only Adah, who does not support her father's point of view, thinks in a rational manner that reflects the equality the author wishes to convey to the reader. In the beginning of the novel, Adah is the only point of view that contrasts with the racist views of Rachel, Ruth May, and Leah. The change in the way Leah views the Congolese (racist views to more accepting/questioning what her father has told her) demonstrates that the children are not born with the idea that white people are superior; rather, the society around them enforces the stereotypes, resulting in a cycle of oppression. This novel provides one of the rare example in which the cycle is broken, bringing to the surface the problem that as a society, we must stop the cycle of racism.