Racism
The overarching theme of "Out of All Them Bright Stars" deals with racism and how it affects both the minority and the person who is being racist. In the story, an alien comes into a diner and wants a salad. He is described as bald, blue, and having very deformed hands. The main indication that this story targets racism is the color of the alien, blue, very much like those minorities being targeted for the color of their skin. When the owner of the diner refuses to serve the alien, he rants about how the government forces him to serve "negros" and other minorities, but it doesn't say anything about aliens. This shows how people serve those that are different from us because they have to, not because they should since those people are human too and deserve better treatment. At the end of the story, the alien is escorted out of the diner by government officials even though he very clearly did nothing wrong. This shows how in our society, the blame is never placed on those people who hold power, even when they are at fault. This short story plays on the theme of racism and how minorities are misjudged and mistreated due to the sole fact of their appearance.
Kindess
This theme in "Out of All Them Bright Stars" focuses on the kindness of the Alien when being dealt with in a very rude way by the owner of the diner. Charlie, the owner, treats the alien very badly, and the alien says nothing. He does not complain or say anything about why he is being treated so unfairly. This shows that although in the story, the aliens were treated so unfairly and with complete disrespect because they are "different", humans can still learn from them, especially from their kindness. The humans in the story claim that the aliens are the bad guys and that they should not be on Earth, but their kindness is seen ten times more than the rude behavior of the humans, especially Charlie. The Alien sits there while he is being talked about and dragged out of the diner, yet he does not resist or even say a word. When John says "I make so little difference," it really shows that he has been put down by so many people that he believes he is insignificant when in reality his kindness is something so big.
