Themes

The story “How Did I Get Away with Killing One of the Biggest Lawyers in the State? It Was Easy” by Alice Walker includes various themes and motifs. The main themes can be considered deceit and abuse. Key motifs in the story are racial discrimination and sexual objectification.

The story is an example of adult abuse of childhood innocence, touching upon racial discrimination against African Americans in the 1960s, and the vulnerable position of African-Americ…

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Abuse

The theme of abuse is closely linked to the motifs of sexual objectification and discrimination. The story explores abuse in several contexts.

Firstly, it explores abuse at a physical level, as the narrator is raped—once when she is 12 and again when she is 14. Being a young, poor African-American girl in a time when African Americans were discriminated against and women had little p…

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Deceit

The theme of deceit is explored in the story through the male characters. The first hint at this theme is the reference to the narrator’s mother always falling for men who do not really care about her. These men, like her father, use the narrator’s mother, sleep with her and leave her. However, the consequences of these affairs (a child and abortions) are borne only by the mother.

The most important way in which the story explores deceit is through Bubba’s character, a manipulative rich lawyer. He tricks the narr…

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