The main theme of the story is stratification of society, its division into classes, estates, leading to social inequality and contradiction in the needs, values ​​and motivations. So, Mrs. Parker by renting her rooms before exploring the future tenant, trying to sell him a more expensive room, “Convinced by her second-floor manner that it was worth the $12.” And only when she was sure that it is impossible to give more expensive room you hear, ” Two dollars, suh,” Clara would say in her half-contemptuous, half- Tuskegeenial tones.

The next theme of the story is the behaviour of people from different social groups and their attitude towards the other people. As we see in the story, the landlady Mrs. Parker, clearly aware of her higher social status (the status of the landlady), attitudes to the tenants differently.