Rooftops is a satiric commentary on the economic divide present in American society. When Crane is ripped from her world of comfort and convenience and catapulted on to "the Tops", she is introduced to a world of women living and working in a futuristic "debtors prison". These women, under constant sedation, unlivable conditions, and government experimentation, are quickly deteriorating both mentally and physically. As she learns the rituals and rules of her new home, including a regimented diet of fast food chicken and an expectation to breed with the rooftop's male watchdog, Crane's hope of ever returning to her old life seems impossible. When an Arab-American man, who is demonized by the media as a terrorist, offers Crane a chance to end the suffering of the rooftop dwellers, but possibly sacrifice herself in the process, Crane is forced to question the worth of one human life versus the freedom of thousands.