Themes and message

The gap between the rich and the poor

The theme of the short story “DHSS” by Doris Lessing explores the gap between the rich and the poor, and how it affects individuals.

It is highlighted from the beginning that the man and the woman belong to two different social categories, because although they are both dressed casually, they wear their clothes differently and they give off different impressions (p. 63, ll. 23-24; p. 63, l. 22). The difference in their income is later confirmed as we learn that the woman still needed social security to get by even when she had a job, suggesting that the job she had was not well-paid enough to secure enough income for her and her family. The man, on the other hand, even after having quit his job at the DHSS, earns enough to “manage” (p. 67, l. 15) to support his wife and two children. 

In all their interactions, the woman comes across as resentful, both at having to rely on the ma...