What does the book teach us? What is the value of this novel?

Perhaps because of his own unhappy childhood and his somewhat strained relationship with his mother, Capote often portrays young men who find nurturing, maternal influences in a character other than the biological parent. After the mother's death in Other Voices, Other Rooms, the father can claim Joel for whatever designs the other characters, especially Randolph, have on him, but the father is almost a cipher except as a tool to advance the plot.

Another major concern is the conflict between community values and individual values. Joel first becomes aware of this conflict when he realizes that he is not accepted by his schoolmates in New Orleans, but the dimensions of that conflict are made clear to him shortly after his arrival in Noon City, when the barber, the beautician, and the cafe owner all condemn Idabel Thompkins for her refusal to wear a dress or behave in a ladylike manner. The conflict between individuality and social convention is further developed when Joel meets Idabel's twin sister, Florabel, who observes all the rules of dress and etiquette. One of the links between Idabel and Miss Wisteria is their common perception of themselves as "freaks" or social pariahs. Even Amy Skully eventually succumbs to the rule of society, trying to gain Randolph's favor by telling him how "good" she was: "... I wore my nice grey dress,. . . made little tea-cakes, and the house was so clean, and really she liked me ... ."