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Part 2, Chapter 3
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
Carney arrives at work to find Detective Munson—the police officer he bribes—early for their meeting. He is chatting with Carney’s secretary, Marie, about her baked goods. Marie is just one of the store’s recent improvements: the renovation doubled the size of the showroom. Rusty is too preoccupied with his upcoming wedding to care about Carney’s shadier customers, and Marie turns a blind eye. Pepper now uses Carney’s store as an answering service, and Marie jots down incomprehensible messages and relays them to the strange man. Now, Carney leads Munson to his office, having summoned him earlier than their usual Thursday meeting.
Strangely, Carney’s bribery of Detective Munson is as much a sign of his financial success as the store’s renovation and hiring Marie. Pepper’s attention, too, suggests that Carney is now a well-known and reliable fence. Despite his flourishing illegal business, Carney is still intent on separating his crooked endeavors from furniture business, although he trusts his employees to disregard any shady happenings. In a way, despite his rejection from the Dumas, Carney has successfully formed a supportive community of his own.
Themes
Munson began collecting from Carney after the Theresa heist, when Montague officially added Carney’s name to the roster of criminal middlemen. Munson is cocky, but he helps keep the peace among various criminal elements. Now, Carney offers Munson information on Biz Dixon that would lead to a raid and arrest. In exchange, he wants Munson to arrest a pimp named Cheap Brucie. Munson implies that Dixon pays protection too, meaning he must investigate the implications of the man’s arrest on the neighborhood’s “circulation of envelopes.” Carney wonders if it was a mistake to make his pitch to Munson, though he spent all night considering it.
The nature of Carney’s relationship with Munson becomes clearer: he bribes the detective not to turn him in to the police as a known criminal. Now, Carney has called Munson, hoping to use the detective’s resources and strike a deal which will benefit them both (though Carney’s plan is as yet unknown to the reader). Again, these illegal dealings are unnervingly similar to any legal business transaction. Munson must take Dixon’s own payments into account, highlighting how the criminal ecosystem can potentially fall into chaos if even one piece is removed. This conversation provides a brief glimpse at the intricate inner workings of the crooked realm and reveals its similarities to the straight world.
Themes
Carney returns home early to have dinner with his family. He thinks of dorvay as “a period of focused rage” which is counterbalanced by domestic happiness. Carney tries to find his features in his son John’s face, and thinks of how he himself is more like Big Mike than ever. Elizabeth tries to convince Carney to take a vacation and tells him she fought with her father. Leland invested in Duke’s bank and views Carney’s rejection from the Dumas as the organization upholding its reputation. Carney thinks it likely Leland undermined his application. Later, Carney takes a photo of his wife and children with his new Polaroid, feeling it is fitting he is not in frame because he does not deserve them.
That Carney fluctuates between rage and domestic bliss emphasizes how skillful he has become at keeping his two lives separate from one another. But being around his family also shakes Carney’s sense of identity, leading him back to worries about his father’s crooked inheritance and what he will pass down to his own son. Speculation about Leland’s betrayal is unsurprising to Carney, who is accustomed to his father-in-law’s condescension. In the context of his disquieting thoughts on legacy, Elizabeth’s loyalty only makes Carney feel he does not deserve his family and their sound morals.
Themes
