Previous
Part 1, Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Harlem Shuffle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Crime, Class, and Social Mobility
Identity and Duality
Community, Change, and Loyalty
Systemic Racism, Injustice, and Power
Betrayal, Vengeance, and Integrity
Summary
Analysis
At home, Carney tells his wife, Elizabeth, about the young couple at the store. He suggests moving to the couple’s apartment complex, which is nicer though more expensive. Elizabeth is on bed rest. Her mother, Alma, visits regularly to help with their young daughter, May. Elizabeth’s parents believe she settled for Carney and his impoverished lifestyle, and her father, Leland, refers to Carney as a “rug peddler.” Alma and Leland live in Strivers’ Row, Harlem’s nicest neighborhood. Elizabeth tells Carney there’s no need to move, that their children can share a room. After dinner, Carney steps out to meet his cousin Freddie, who has been absent recently.
The combination of Carney’s desire to move to a better apartment and his in-laws’ disapproval suggests he is, to some extent, self-conscious about his underprivileged upbringing. The name of Alma and Leland’s neighborhood—Strivers’ Row—again emphasizes the importance of social mobility in the city, and particularly within the Black community. There is a sense that Carney—a self-made entrepreneur—is eager to ascend to his privileged wife’s class and be seen as her equal.
Themes
Carney takes a roundabout route to meet Freddie, wanting to pass by “the building.” Summer has arrived in Harlem, and the blocks are filled with music and the sounds of children playing. Carney is cautious because of recent muggings, heading to Riverside Drive. He has picked out one of the beautiful apartments for his family, to imagine them all living in spacious luxury where they can look out at the river. In the evenings, Carney likes to comb the city for such places, fantasizing about living in the city but also apart from it, when he has the money.
Ritualistically, Carney chooses Riverside Drive as the ideal locale for his family, as if trying to manifest that dream by walking past the apartment and imagining his life there. This fantasy shows how deeply obsessed Carney is with climbing the social ladder through financial success. It is worth noting that Carney wants to live in the city but also be separated from it, switching between public and home life in an interesting mode of duality.
Themes
Nightbirds—the bar where Carney meets Freddie—is a rough venue that has come under new management. The new owner is striving for a more reputable business. Feeling his father’s city is “disappearing,” Carney locates Freddie. His cousin claims he has been working, which Carney interprets as illegal activity, knowing Freddie to be “crooked.” A man named Miami Joe, who specializes in armed robbery, approached Freddie for a job, who recommended Carney. Carney has acted as middleman for Freddie’s stolen goods throughout the years, though he feigns ignorance. Freddie insists Carney doesn’t recognize his own potential. The plan is to rob the Hotel Theresa. A fight breaks out in the bar.
Nightbirds contrasts sharply with the luxurious Riverside Drive, pointing to the way the city—like its residents—is multifaceted. Carney’s intimate knowledge of the city suggests he loves his home, but the references to his father taint this contented feeling. Freddie, like Big Mike, is “crooked”—making his money through criminal means. Though Carney clearly thinks of himself as an upstanding businessman, Freddie’s readiness to involve him in the heist hints at a burgeoning willingness to engage in crime. It seems Carney hides this part of himself, even from himself, thinking of Freddie’s stolen goods as “gently used” in previous passages. That Carney feels the need to sugarcoat his illegal activities in this way reveals his discomfort with what he views as ethical compromise.
Themes
