I think the most important message that Heidi Durrow is trying to convey is that even in the 80's long after slavery and Jim Crow laws there is still a hostile environment amongst different races of people. Not only was this a problem in the 80's, but in my own personal opinion a problem today. Rachel had to face issues dealing with her ethnicity and background when in reality we are all human beings and no one, especially a child should have to go through that. Rachel was half Danish, a predominately white culture and half black. Growing up with her Danish mother she learned the lively tendencies of white culture, which is quite different from black or African-American culture. After the family tragedy she was forced to live with her Grandmother and Aunt who live in Portland, Oregon. Their neighborhood is predominately black and you get the feeling from her grandmothers home that she neither liked or cared for her sons chose of spouse (Rachel's mother).
Although Rachel's mother (Mor, Nella) was part of the family, you still get the image that the grandmother had hard feelings, possibly only because she was white. She makes excuses for Rachel's appearance (mainly her eyes) so the other black people in the neighborhood don't realize that she is part white and become outcast. Through the first part of this novel, Rachel becomes aware of her true history and how special or different she really is from the others around her. At times it seems as though Rachel needs to escape because she is different from those around her, which is why I think she relates well with Brick (Jamie). At times they both need to escape their situation that they are in because they are living in a place were the necessarily don't fit. (Shawn Parkhurst, 6)
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