Racism in the Black community
One should think that after everything that racism has cost the black community in American history, which is truly inconceivable to consider, that perhaps their shared struggle would immunize the community from racism, but ironically, that isn't what happens. Instead, the community starts to be infected by racism, because in general, light-skinned people of color are treated better in the broader world, so dark-skinned people of color are often disenfranchised completely. In this novel, they are the victims of racism from their own families and friends.
The dark daughter
Two light-skinned black parents decide to have a child. They hope for a light-skinned child who can deliver them from their hellish disenfranchisement. Instead, they have the blackest baby that either of them have ever seen, and the husband takes it out on the wife, blaming her, as if she has any control whatsoever. They completely ignore the possibility that perhaps this child could bring them a new hope by challenging them to accept the parts of their selves they struggle to accept.
The parents' shame
Ironically, the parents' decision not to deal with their own problems passes those problems onto an innocent child. The truth in this novel about shame is that it is like a spiritual ailment that can be passed from person to person. Unlike race, it isn't mandatory; the parents choose to believe a closed-minded, prejudiced narrative about race, and their child is humiliated in the aftermath. Their shame amplifies itself through time, because they are ashamed for their actions as well, actions that shame produced.
"Training for the real world"
Sweetness is Bride's mother, but instead of letting her child call her mother, she decides to "train her" for the "real world." This distanced approach to parenting makes Sweetness into an anti-mother, because she treats her daughter with contempt. Instead of training her to succeed at all, the mother decides to train her to fail by failing to teach her that she is worthy of love. She trains her daughter to expect disappointment in life, but not in an encouraging way.
Self-love and irony
Ironically, self-love seems to be taught in this novel, and Sweetness fails to teach that skill to Bride. By showing a child that they are lovable, the child learns to respect that about their self, so ironically, Bride struggles to give herself the love she wants. She longs for the acceptance she desperately needs, and even though she could give it to herself, her dismissive, hateful parents blind her from this ability; she will need to discover it alone.
