"Rachel" portrays the life of an African-American family in the Northern United States in the early 20th century, where hundreds of thousands of blacks had migrated from the rural Southern United States in the Great Migration. Centered on the family of the title character, each role expresses different responses to the racial discrimination against blacks at the time. Grimké also explores themes of motherhood and the innocence of children. Rachel develops as she changes her perceptions of what the role of a mother might be, based on her sense of the importance of a naivete towards the terrible truths of the world around her. A lynching is the fulcrum of the play.