What is the theme in getting a job by Maya Angelou?

The main theme in Chapter 34 is racism, but unlike her experience in Stamps, Angelou is able to triumph over it and accomplish what she wishes to. She becomes an "enraged bulldog," the metaphor highlighting her determination; and without this determination, and her mother's support, she would never have been able to get the job. Angelou comparing her confrontation with racism at the office to a "play" being staged again and again shows that racism is still institutionalized in the city, and that the outcome of these situations is always the same. This metaphor seems to foreshadow failure in Maya's attempt to get hired, although she ends up making a surprising triumph.