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Part 3, Chapter 4
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
The narrative shifts to Freddie’s perspective as he tells Carney about Linus’s idea for a heist. He feels Carney’s office is like a submarine cabin, hidden from the world above. Freddie also uses this analogy to describe the two days he spent in prison after being arrested with Biz Dixon, which left him traumatized. In Freddie’s story, Freddie calls Linus to bail him out instead of Carney because he doesn’t want to be lectured. Afterwards, Freddie moves into Linus’s apartment, and the men spend their time getting high and partying. Linus’s family sends him checks every month as long as he keeps up appearances for family functions. This continues until Linus’s family suddenly spirits him away to a sanatorium for psychological treatment.
Freddie’s perception of Carney’s office as a submarine cabin recalls his cousin’s vision of a secret criminal underworld hidden from normal city life. The torture Freddie endured in prison can be thought of as a kind of legalized crime, acceptable because he, as a Black criminal, supposedly deserves such punishment, at least according to systemic racism. Freddie’s reluctance to come to Carney for help shows that Carney has behaved judgmentally toward his cousin, similar to how Alma and Leland condescend to him. Such judgement makes Carney and the Joneses less likely to feel empathy for the one being judged. That Linus’s family is willing to bankroll his hedonistic lifestyle speaks to their extreme wealth and influence.
Themes
Lonely without Linus and missing his and Carney’s boyhood, Freddie thinks back on his life’s missteps. He gets an apartment of his own and works regular jobs, hoping to straighten up for good. (He never told Carney about his jobs, wanting to “reemerge when he had his shit together.”) But then Freddie reconnects with Linus, and the two pick up where they left off. Linus does heroin now, but Freddie abstains. They spontaneously travel to Florida after Freddie mentions Miami Joe, landing in St. Augustine. The city is a hotbed of civil rights unrest, and the KKK’s presence disturbs Freddie. On their way back to New York, Linus proposes stealing from his family home.
Freddie’s brief foray into straight jobs and getting his life together demonstrates a surprising amount of self-awareness, given Carney’s exasperated view of his cousin. But Linus, who was born into and abandoned a life of privilege, pulls Freddie back into a hedonistic lifestyle, suggesting he is a bad influence and has no real understanding of Freddie’s life. The trip to Florida reminds the reader that racial unrest is rising all across the country. Linus’s plot to steal from his own family shows that he no longer feels connected to that community at all.
Themes
Freddie has told Linus all about the Theresa heist. Linus thinks they can rob his parents’ apartment in a similar fashion. He and Freddie observe the building’s comings and goings. After the officer shoots James Powell, the police are distracted, so Linus and Freddie enact their scheme. The apartment should be empty, allowing Linus to sneak in and prop open the service gate. Freddie is somewhat worried about Linus being sloppy, although he has been laying off the drugs in preparation. Once inside, Freddie is awestruck at the Van Wycks’ luxury and unsettled by how innocent Park Avenue looks from above, even though Freddie knows the powerful people who live there could easily destroy him.
Linus’s disloyalty toward his family suggests that, despite their influence and wealth, they are not actually a community that cares for one another. Like Carney, Freddie feels somewhat separate from the riots, seeing them only in the context of his own life (in this case, as a convenient cover for a robbery). The Van Wycks’ opulence seems to Freddie like the physical manifestation of power, once again equating wealth with influence. That he feels remarkably unsafe in the luxurious apartment speaks to the significant differences between the Black and White upper classes.
Themes
Linus leads Freddie to the safe in the library, hidden behind a portrait of Robert Van Wyck, the first mayor of New York City. Linus knows the combination. Freddie holds the briefcase while Linus piles things in, including the necklace. Suddenly, Linus’s father Ambrose appears. He is accustomed to being disappointed in Linus, considering the many buildings he owns to be his “true offspring.” Annoyed, Ambrose instructs Linus to return the items to the safe and wait in his room for his mother to come home. When Linus refuses, his father flies into a personal tirade which embarrasses Freddie. Father and son struggle briefly before Linus and Freddie flee the apartment. Ambrose never acknowledges Freddie’s presence.
The necklace seems to summon Ambrose Van Wyck, strengthening its association with the risks of criminal enterprise. Ambrose’s disgust for his own son and loving attachment to the buildings that make him wealthy display how he prioritizes money and status over family. By never acknowledging Freddie, Ambrose communicates that the existence of people of color is totally irrelevant to White people of his status, as he does not even consider them worthy of his attention.
Themes
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Freddie suggests they lay low at the Eagleton. The night after the robbery, Freddie gets swept up in the riots, as he already told Carney. He and Linus agree they need to wait before trying to sell the necklace. Linus becomes paranoid after hearing his old apartment was ransacked, worried his father’s men are after him. Linus asks Freddie to hide the necklace with Carney, who he has always liked. Afterwards, the friends indulge in some debauchery. Freddie stays out too long and returns to find Linus has overdosed in the tub. In the present, Carney wonders if Linus’s death was an accident and urges Freddie to leave town. Carney will take care of the emerald, but he needs Pepper’s help.
In comparison to the crime that instigated the violence of the riots, Freddie and Linus’s theft seems relatively inconsequential. Yet the fact that Linus’s apartment was ransacked suggests his father is especially bitter about being betrayed by his own son. Learning that Linus liked him exacerbates Carney’s guilt over the man’s death and highlights Freddie’s own view of his cousin as a trustworthy companion. Unlike with the Theresa heist, Carney responds to Freddie’s story, not with anger or exasperation, but assurances that he will help as much as he can, emphasizing the strength of their bond.
Themes
