A theme that seems to run through both The Star Side of Bird Hill and Lose Your Mother would be socioeconomic status dictating the success or failure of an individual as well. The hopelessness and suicidal tendencies of Africans in both of these books tend to tread lightly when addressing scenarios like the one on page 158 where Mrs. Loving tells Phaedra of when her mother walked into the ocean and drowned herself. This is a reoccurring theme in both books, only mentioning the incident taking place and the aftermath. There is never a question of mental health or the toll that being black can have on a person. It isn’t just that the problem is being black, the problem is also socioeconomic status and a black person’s ability to create a fulfilling
