Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Warmth of Other Suns, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Migration and Freedom
History, Memory, and Identity
The Legacy of the Migration
The Economics of Racism
Love and Family
Decision, Consequence, and Regret
Summary
Analysis
The North and West, 1970. Demographers declare the Great Migration over. The civil rights movement has all but ended Jim Crow, and fewer Black people are migrating to the North. Some are even returning to the South. Ida Mae never considers it—she’s comfortable in Chicago, where she has built a community. Even the local gang members call her “Grandma.” She gets hit by a car and turns out fine, but her daughter Velma dies in a car accident, which haunts her for the rest of her life. Still, all things considered, she and George live a respectable working-class life.
The Great Migration ends after the civil rights movement, which removes the primary force that compelled migrants to move North: the system of segregation that prevented them from fulfilling their true potential, building thriving communities, or even living safe, ordinary lives. Ida Mae recognizes that she might have been able to succeed in the South if she were born decades later, but by 1970, she has already built her life in Chicago—starting over again is not an option.
Themes
In the early 20th century, two groups of poor rural migrants move to Chicago in search of better opportunities: southern and eastern Europeans (or “white ethnics”) and Black Southerners. While the white migrants can easily assimilate into the dominant culture through marriage or by changing their names, Black migrants cannot. Instead, they get locked into the bottom of the social hierarchy. Contrary to stereotypes, Black migrants have far fewer children than both European migrants. But they receive far lower wages because they are systematically locked out of skilled occupations and trade unions. And they face more severe hostility, largely because the government could never simply prohibit them from coming (like it did to immigrants from Asia). So they do their best to cope with poverty and isolation.
By emphasizing the striking similarities between Black and European migrants to Chicago, Wilkerson shows how racism is specifically responsible for the divergence in their outcomes over time—as well as the persistent inequalities in urban America today. She also carefully points out and dispels racist stereotypes about Black city-dwellers. Beyond merely alerting her readers to the truth, she also wants to help them understand where these stereotypes come from and how they have contributed to further discrimination and inequality over the years.
Themes
New York, 1970. George Starling’s life is a mess. His marriage is miserable, his teenaged children are struggling, he has to support an illegitimate child too, and he will never advance at work or finish his education. He is too old to truly benefit from the Civil Rights Act, and he watches young people challenge norms around marriage and preach about Black Power with admiration and envy, but never resentment. He knows that his great mistake was dropping out of college to marry Inez and work in the citrus groves. And he wonders how his life would have been different if it weren’t for Jim Crow. He pleads with the young people around him to make better choices.
Even though George fares better economically than most migrants, like Ida Mae, he never builds the kind of tight, loving, thriving community that she does. The contrast between their stories is a reminder that even grand historical phenomena like the Great Migration are still the sum of individual lives and decisions. George recognizes that he suffered from a significant dose of bad luck, and that his generation suffered and fought hard so that the next generation wouldn’t face the same challenges. But this only makes his children’s failures and missteps even more tragic.
Themes
Los Angeles, 1970. Robert Foster is successful, popular, and highly respected, but not fulfilled. He feels that no matter how hard he works or how perfect he looks, people will never view him as good enough. He also dwells on the racism he experienced in the South decades ago. And he was born on Christmas, so nobody ever celebrates his birthday. But he hopes to change this by throwing himself the most extravagant birthday party ever. Yet, as the guests gather downstairs, he starts worrying that it won’t be perfect and feels sick to his stomach.
Robert’s inferiority complex is not just a youngest sibling’s psychological quirk: it’s also a specific reaction to discrimination. His experience shows how racism can fundamentally damage people’s sense of self, because it ensures that others never judge them as equals. But his dissatisfaction with his glamorous life also shows how the promise of wealth and prosperity is sometimes a meaningless mirage. What he really wants is to be surrounded by people who love and admire him. After all, he has no connection to his old community in Monroe anymore, so it makes sense that he wants to make up for his sense of alienation by becoming the most popular man in town.
Themes
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Robert has spent all year planning every detail of the party and meticulously selecting the guest list. Out of his 200 invitees, 194 R.S.V.P. yes, and he spends weeks choosing the perfect suit for himself and (more importantly) the perfect gown for Alice. Robert’s nephew Madison, Jr., a sociology graduate student, agonizes about how he’ll meet Robert’s unrealistic expectations for the party. He admires Robert, but Robert has always criticized him for minor gaffes like failing to anticipate his dinner guests’ orders or wearing cheap pants. So Madison has two different suits tailor-made for Robert’s party.
As his complex relationship with Madison, Jr. shows, Robert’s irredeemable perfectionism causes his loved ones almost as much anxiety as it causes him. But it’s also the key to his professional success (and the reason he left the South in the first place). In this sense, Robert is an example of the “migrant advantage” phenomenon that Wilkerson explained several chapters ago: highly motivated people (like perfectionists who always want the best of everything) migrate in greater numbers because they are far more likely to actively chase after a better life.
Themes
On the day of the party, the florists, caterers, and bartenders spend all day perfecting their displays. Robert collapses of exhaustion just before the guests arrive, but then he finds the energy to run downstairs. There’s a red carpet, a festive band, several bars, and endless maids and valets. The Los Angeles Sentinel runs an article calling it “The Party of the Year,” and Robert’s photo album from it is among his most prized possessions. After it’s over, he makes sure to ask his guests if it lived up to the hype.
Robert’s party is arguably even more central to his grand fantasy of California success than his thriving medical career. Through it, his perfectionism pays off once again—even if it breaks him down psychologically in the process. Yet, after the fact, he never doubts that the party was worth it: it proves to him that he really could be whoever he wanted in California—and, despite his frequent doubts, that he absolutely made the right decision by going there.
Themes
