Unit Three Theme: Sorrow of Powerlessness

      The short stories, "Nineteen Fifty-five," "Blue Winds Dancing," "The Man Who Was Almost a Man," and "Seventeen Syllables," share the theme of the sorrow of powerlessness in American society that minority members feel because of their race, social position, and/or immigrant status. All characters of the four aforementioned stories have one thing in common: all of them are the most vulnerable members of American society. In "Nineteen Fifty-five," Grace is an exploited Black woman. The narrator of the short story "Blue Winds Dancing" is a Native American neglected in White society. Furthermore, in "The Man Who Was Almost a Man," Dave is a Black adolescent laborer who works for a White landowner. Finally, Tome Hayashi in "Seventeen Syllables" is a Japanese immigrant who lives an oppressed life. These characters try in their own ways to resolve their conflicts and soothe their sorrow resulting from the powerlessness they experience in American society.