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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Caste, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Caste, Race, and Social Division in the U.S.
Caste as a Global Problem
How Caste Sustains Itself
The Costs of Caste
Summary
Analysis
LeRoy “Satchel” Page was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball—but because he was Black, and because began his career at the height of Jim Crow, he never rose to the fame or success he could have. He could throw a fastball at over 100 miles an hour, and Yankee star Joe DiMaggio described him as the best pitcher in history. Paige and his teammates in the Negro Leagues made major contributions to the sport—but poor record-keeping and little press coverage showed how little the country valued these players.
By telling the story of Satchel Paige, the book points out one of the many costs of caste. Caste systems sideline even the brightest, most talented members of the subordinate caste—and so rare talents like Paige are relegated to the sidelines because of a fixed, arbitrary system.
Themes
In 1946, when major league baseball opened up to African American players, Paige was nearly 40—he was well past his peak. Yet at 42, he played for the Cleveland Indians and helped them win the World Series. He pitched a few more seasons, but his most successful years were behind him.
