"Miss Cynthie" is an interesting work for the time it was published because it was written by an African American. At the time of publication, African American literature had started to become more profoundly recognized because of the Harlem Renaissance. Although Rudolph Fisher was living in New York City at the time of this story's publication, his works and the idea of an African American cultural revolution was sweeping across the country. It is important to remember that when the work was published, jazz music may have been sweeping across city street corners, but America was in the midst of a deep economic depression.
With this in mind, it is easy to understand why Miss Cynthie would want her grandson to go into an honorable profession that would make him a good amount of money. Traditionally, one such profession would be a doctor. However, with the Harlem Renaissance in action, and easier and quicker way to strike it rich was to become a performer, due to a high demand for entertainment from people that wanted to get their mind off of being in extreme poverty.
When Miss Cynthie realizes that her grandson is not a horrible person for defying traditionally Christian methods of employment, Fisher is making a statement on the changing cultural views of the nation. Slowly but surely, people are becoming smarter and thinking harder about what morals mean. Christian values are one thing, but strictly following a religious doctrine is another.
Fisher uses many complex literary devices in his work, including dynamic presentation and suspense. A great example of the suspense seen in the novel is the long time it takes for Miss Cynthie to realize what her son is actually doing to be able to acquire such large sums of money. The reader is not informed right away, but is told before Miss Cynthie is that Dave is a performer. Told in a third person omniscient point of view, the story better helps readers get a complete understanding of both sides of the religious and moral arguments of Miss Cynthie and Dave.
