Which two themes interact in this short story? Mules and manual labor were used to perform much of the work on farms that is now done by machines.
Racial inequality still existed even though the slaves were set free after the Civil War.
Dave is rebelling against his situation and trying to prove that he is a man by buying a gun and escaping by hopping a freight train.
African Americans were breaking with their past and their ties to the South to search for new opportunities elsewhere.