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Part 3, Chapter 5
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 visits Pepper at Donegal’s, the bar he frequents. Pepper asks if Carney wants him to do more legwork for the police. Carney admits he did not consider how Pepper’s involvement in the Duke job would play out. Pepper admits he enjoyed watching so many “upstanding Negroes get theirs.” The bar feels familiar to Carney, who realizes his father must have brought him there. He tells Pepper everything about Freddie’s botched heist and Linus’s death. Pepper brings up the riots as a good cover for crime, while Carney insists the protesters had a good reason. Buford, the bartender, claims the entire country is founded on theft. He understands the protests, but believes nothing will change. Carney finds this perspective cynical.
Like Pepper, Carney adheres to a personal code of ethics, which is why he apologizes to Pepper for his lack of transparency during the Duke job. Like Carney, Pepper enjoys watching the condescending Black elite get humbled, showing how classism erodes empathy between hierarchical levels. Pepper and Buford call out Carney’s idealism regarding the riots, citing the country’s long history of injustice as proof that White crime against Black people is essentially legal, as it is never punished.
Themes
Carney wants to hire Pepper as security, in case someone comes looking for him or Freddie. Pepper says Carney’s father would cut Freddie loose, but that is the exact reason Carney insists on helping his cousin. He has plans to sell the emerald necklace. Pepper agrees if Carney will throw in a recliner. Pepper tells Carney Mike used to say Carney was smart enough to be a doctor, but also smart enough to know he could make more money “being crooked.” Later, Carney meets Pepper outside his apartment and hands over the keys to the furniture store so he can keep watch. Freddie is laying low in Brooklyn until Carney can procure the money to send him out of the city.
Carney’s trust of Pepper seems born of their similar moral codes. In remaining loyal to Freddie despite his risky behavior, Carney proves himself more ethical than Big Mike, who would have simply abandoned Freddie to the consequences of his actions. Pepper does not directly say that Big Mike would be proud of Carney, but implies that his father understood Carney more than he let on in life. Carney’s association with Freddie puts him and the furniture store at personal risk, as his crooked and straight lives are no longer separate.
Themes
Elizabeth, May, and John appear. When Carney introduces Pepper as an old friend of his father’s, Elizabeth invites him to dinner. Pepper’s gruff nature warms to Elizabeth’s questions, and he tells John his favorite color is the green of the park in springtime. Carney tells his family that Pepper used to bring him toys as a child. Elizabeth remarks that business is picking up at the travel agency again. Carney thinks of the map on her wall with pins to mark safe routes for Black people to move within the White world. He reflects that they need to help one another to survive. With Pepper at the table, Carney feels both of his lives—“the straight and the crooked”—are present.
Carney’s double lives become even more intertwined when Elizabeth appears, as he has—up to this point—successfully kept his crooked dealings away from his family. Despite Carney’s reservations, Pepper proves he is more than a criminal—he is a human being with favorite colors and other nuances that make him neither all good nor all bad. Carney’s thoughts about the larger Black community suggest that Pepper’s presence, while odd, feels right, reflecting the communal need to support one another despite differences. At last, Carney feels his dual selves are not only united but appreciated for what benefits they each provide.
Themes
