The fairytale and its structure
The entire novel is a retelling of the Snow White fairytale that parodies and questions the rigid structure of fairytales. Snow White and Paul, the prince, are conscious of their prescribed roles and the actions they are expected to execute. Both of them refuse these traditional paths; Snow White abandons her role as the "horsewife" (housewife) to the dwarves, while Paul runs away from his duty to rescue Snow White and becomes a monk, a celibate figure that also rejects the notion that a prince must be attracted to the princess. The dwarves are named regular names and have no special mystique. They are normal workers and are all somewhat corrupted, and they drink and are violent, hanging Bill—one of their own—at the end of the novel and fully departing from the original fairytale. The fairytale is dark and contains strong themes of non-normative sexuality, contradicting the notion that a fairytale must be innocent or appropriate for children.
Sexual intrigue and attraction
Snow White uses her body to attract attention when she bares her breasts from the window of the apartment. Hogo de Bergerac has a "wrinkle" in his groin, which makes his sexual desire physically explicit and leads to his desire to get rid of the "wrinkle" by seducing a woman. Bill ceases to be sexually attracted to Snow White, another sign of his apathy towards his role as a dwarf and a leader. One of the bolded, capitalized mantras in the novel presents a theory about attraction: once the attraction is sexually satisfied, it is no longer intriguing. Instead, men erect obstacles to fuel attraction by creating mystique. All of these references to sex corrupt the innocent, unsexual nature of the original fairytale.
Rejection of standard literary tradition
By creating a "collage" of different literary techniques that interrupt each other and a plot that is only loosely followed, as well as different modes of narration and a narrator that remains anonymous, Barthelme creates a novel that is almost impossible to interpret through one moral lens or message. In some ways, this theme is a continuation of Barthelme's rejection of the fairytale tradition. A fairytale was a narrative form used to communicate a moral message or theme. The novel contains several social critiques, but lacks a central thesis and confuses the reader, allowing for no one interpretation. Additionally, the narrative voice is completely nontraditional. It is anonymous and unidentifiable, providing an omniscient view into the character's psychologies while at the same time remaining in the first-person voice.
Criticism of religion and Catholicism
Although Paul joins a monastery, he later says that he remains unchanged, which suggests that the Church lacks the power to change individuals—even though it is supposed to transform men into moral beings and examples of holiness. Additionally, Barthelme depicts a bishop lecturing people in poverty while flaunting his luxurious clothing and riches. The bishop is an example of the corrupt nature of the Church. Bishops and religious elders were (and, in some places, still are) substantially wealthier than their constituents and gained wealth through corrupt practices. In the past, they took indulgences, which were monetary contributions that people made to ensure their path to heaven. Priests benefited from this wealth and grew rich while the people remained poor. Barthelme was raised Roman Catholic and had a firsthand experience of this corruption, which is most likely the reason he includes this criticism in the novel.
Domesticity and women's roles as housewives
Snow White cleans the dwarves' apartment and questions why she is obligated to do so. The dwarves refer to her as a "horsewife," which likens the housewife to an animal and dehumanizes the housewife, exposing the way that men treat their wives as subservient animals and view them as lesser than themselves. Snow White experiences extreme frustration with this role which is exacerbated by her college education, where she took classes on feminist theory. She writes poems that the dwarves do not understand, which reinforces the divide between housewives and men, since the dwarves are men who reject and do not understand Snow White's intellectual capabilities.
Work culture and its lack of meaning
The dwarves are comically dedicated to two jobs that have no real benefit or meaning: tending vats of Chinese baby food and washing buildings. Neither of these endeavors requires substantial skill, but the dwarves remain obsessed with maximizing their work and reject their leader, Bill, when he begins to work less. They hang him for his failure to work up to their extreme standards. But their jobs are absurd. What is baby Chinese food? The novel never explains, leaving it at a level of vagueness that parodies of the cycle of constant work that is emphasized in American culture. The dwarves' hanging Bill exemplifies the extreme attitude towards work that people have; they are willing to murder for the sake of productivity, even when the work is repetitive and meaningless.
American politics and identity
There are several mentions of American identity: the IRS, the President, Chicago, and National Parks are just a few. Hogo (Pontiac) de Bergerac is the primary example of Barthelme's cynical attitude towards American identity. He is "loathsome" and rejects his American identity—he is named after an American sports car and a Native American chief, both of which connect him to U.S. history—stating that he is a citizen of Panama and refusing to pay taxes. The President is also an impotent figure. He stands at his window and does nothing, even though he expresses concern over the state of the country and the dwarves, who he refers to as "his Americans." Barthelme paints a picture of America and American citizens that fail to be American or do not fulfill their political duties as Americans.
