Alice feels proud of the fact that she is the same Alice as before and she has not changed as everyone thinks. Hence pride is one of the main themes that revolve around the characters in each short story.
Obstacles in family relationships can create problems and all the three authors focused on this theme. The characters struggle to get along with their families. In the short story "Borders" the two main characters mother and her daughter Laetitia does not share a healthy relationship. Laetitia is a high handed character who wants things her way. She wants freedom and decides to move to Salt Lake City despite her mother's disapproval. She tells her mother that "[She] can go and come as [she] please."(21) According to Laetitia "[Mother] is just angry because [she] wants to see the world."(22). But towards the end when mother finally crosses the border and meets her she realizes that her real place is back home with her family. "Laetitia said that she is thinking about moving back, and mom told her to do so as she pleased, and laetitia said she would."(31) Similarly the story "Saturday climbing" is all about the relation between father and a daughter. Barry, a single parent of a teenager, encounters difficulty in his role as a father. He has trouble keeping track of what Moira, his daughter, does and Moira is willing to let Barry in to her world by telling him what is going on. Barry still views her daughter as a small, innocent girl and is fearful of the changes that may come as a result of his daughter's independence and its impact on their relationship. On the other hand Moira seeks to escape from her father's protective grasp and explore world on her own. Moira wants to take on more responsibility and freedom, two wishes that her father is wary to give her. But towards the end Barry realizes that his daughter is grown up and no longer his little girl. He accepts Moira's independence and realizes that he cannot continue on holding her back.