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Part 2, Chapter 7
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
On a Saturday, Elizabeth fetches Carney from the store for a family picnic. On the way out, he signs for the delivery of a new, secure safe. Rusty takes a family photo for Carney outside the store. Walking to the park, Carney asks how Leland is doing. The Harlem Gazette, Duke’s long-time detractor, has published several of Zippo’s photographs, showcasing his poor hygiene and throwing the Dumas into disarray. Duke himself is on the run. Additionally, more people are coming forward about Duke’s other crimes, including the embezzlement of investments for his bank. Leland was one of Duke’s investors, and Elizabeth reports her parents might file for bankruptcy. Carney quips that Duke must have been under a lot of pressure.
In the aftermath of the Duke job, Carney’s life seems even more idyllic. He has not only orchestrated Duke’s downfall, but caused his arrogant in-laws their own fair share of trouble. Oddly, Carney’s scheme, which he considered crooked behavior, has actually earned him retribution for several injustices. In a corrupt world, this suggests, crime can not only be a means for social mobility but also a mode of righting social wrongs. In expressing fake sympathy for Duke, Carney returns the banker’s humiliating attitude.
Themes
During the job’s execution, Carney felt he was debasing himself. Now, he feels payback has been served, and not just to Duke. He thinks of calling Pierce to get the inside scoop on the fallout within the Dumas. Carney wonders where Miss Laura went, having dropped her off near the Port Authority and Penn Station. Cheap Brucie was arrested again shortly after his release for battery. Now, Carney reflects with gratitude on his family. He no longer wakes for the dorvay and feels that the need to keep his two lives separate was unnecessary in the first place. Carney calculates the cost of setting up Duke, determining the expenses were “all pleasure,” not business.
It is possible that Carney feels less ashamed about photographing Duke because, as Miss Laura said, he only exposed the man’s true self to the world. The Duke job has helped Carney accept the crooked parts of himself even more fully, seeing now that such pursuits can bring him pleasure as well as financial gain.
Themes
