On the surface, the message of the story is that black people are stupid, deceitful, unkind, violent and a threat to white people. This man who was almost a man, but not quite, deserves to be called "boy" at 17 and forever. The story ends with a kindly white man being cheating out of $50 and Dave, the black boy-man, riding off into the night with nothing but anger, a gun and a long track record of …showed first 75 words of 656 total…

…showed last 75 words of 656 total…think of Dave in those terms. He sees Dave as a mule. If he fires him it would be like shooting his own mule. The point is to keep Dave working. Dave senses this and that's why he talks about taking a goodbye shot at his "white house" to put a little fear in him. At least he would be reacting to him with a little human emotion and the fear would serve him right.