Flight to Canada is a black, satirical comedy. That makes it a kind of social commentary, and in this case, that is very obvious. The novel establishes itself as a kind of response to Uncle Tom's Cabin and at the end of the novel, Raven is asked to consider writing Uncle Tom's Cabin instead of Harriet Beecher Stowe. In other words, the novel offers a perspective on injustice, racial reconciliation, and economy.
The economic aspect of the novel is an interesting addition to the racially motivated plot. Most interestingly, Flight to Canada offers another explanation for Lincoln's assassination, one that was purely motivated by under-the-table dealings. Lincoln comes to Swille and asks him to support the war effort, and Lincoln promises that Swille will be able to keep his slaves. Then, when he sets the slaves free, Swille sends men to kill him. In this alternative universe, Lincoln is a corrupted politician who got himself in trouble by making false promises to trick people out of their money.
This criticism continues in different ways throughout the novel. For instance, Yankee Jack seems to be a fairly obvious criticism of Northern capitalism (big business instead of plantation farming). Raven is forced to understand that in the future, it would be the North who posed the greater threat to social justice, because the evils of capitalism are more invisible to the eye than racism and bigotry.
By the way, when Raven escapes to Canada, he learns that the problem isn't localized in America. This means that the novel (although undeniably American in flavor) is technically a criticism of Western culture in general. The novel has a blatant sense of humor, but the philosophical implications of the plot are actually quite dark and severe.
