“After years where I was the only brown speck in attendance, lately there’d been a noted effort to populate the guest list with more ‘Third World Artists.’”

Anita speaks these lines at the party in the very beginning of the novel. Anita’s attunement to issues of race in the art world is astute, and the politics of race as they intersect with visual art will become an important thematic focal point in the narrative. These early contemplations therefore set the tone of the novel as a whole.

“But a thread existed between them, each knowing that no matter where they chose to socialize, they were an Other in this space.”

This passage elaborates upon Raquel’s characterization and signals the novel’s focus on eurocentrism and racist attitudes in the world of art. Both Raquel and Mavette are students of color at a majority-white, Ivy League school, and they both remain aware of their outsider status, even as they successfully move through their new social settings. Because they are not white, they will always be seen as “different” from their professors and peers.

“‘What are you working on, Anita?’ And my answer would be…what? Supporting Jack emotionally? A feminine performance piece about retrograde relationships?”

These lines highlight the gender politics of both heterosexual romantic relationships within the art world and articulate the increasing sense of inequality that Raquel observes in her relationship with Nick. The novel features multiple male characters who monopolize the time of the women in their lives and overestimate the value of their own work.