Numerous writers have analyzed "Survivor" as a metaphor for race, particularly for the experiences of African Americans during the time period in which the novel was written and published, and as a metaphor for racial relations. Alanna, herself a combination of her African American and Asian parents, is placed in a position of having to negotiate with and integrate into three groups: the predominantly white Missionaries, and two groups of Kohn, Canaan natives who are literally "people of color" - who determine their social status and hierarchies primarily through the color of their fur.