Themes and message

The main theme of “Cold Calling” by Chuck Palahniuk is racial prejudice and stereotyping in contemporary US society.

Prejudice and stereotyping in the US

The story follows Bill, an American teenager who works in sales. Cold calling potential customers, he repeatedly has to deal with the racial prejudices of the American people he calls. Most of the potential clients assume Bill is calling from an Asian country like India, Pakistan, or China. 

Through the characters of the people called, the writer illustrates various types of prejudice. One type of prejudice refers to religion. It is illustrated through the first customer, who believes Hindu people are not normal people because they pray to different gods. The woman’s prejudice is influenced by the media as she mentions seeing reports in papers and on TV about people in Asian countries who work in call centers pretending they are from the US. Additionally, the woman’s prejudices are also influenced by economic factors as she believes these people steal jobs from American people: “…you’re taking food out of the mouths of our own sweet babies…” (p. 127, ll. 24-25)

Another man’s prejudices are a...