50 pages • 1 hour read
Harlem Shuffle
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Themes
Racism in Mid-Century America, and the Limitations of Capitalism to Address It
Racism is ever-present in Harlem Shuffle, to the point where characters struggle to envision a world with equal rights. Despite the civil rights protests which are scattered throughout the book and the awareness of inequality in society, characters like Ray take a pessimistic view of the issue of racism. Ray tends to fantasize about a more successful future, one in which he lives in lavish buildings and provides everything his family could desire. However, these reveries are notable in that they never eliminate racism. He is always living in buildings owned by White landlords, and he is always forced to explain himself to White authority figures. Racism is so prevalent that even the most ambitious characters cannot see a future in which they are not marginalized.
In the novel’s depiction of Harlem, racism is a more nuanced issue than simply Black versus White. While the African American characters are oppressed by White society, there are divisions and fractures within the Black community based on skin color. The Dumas Club is renowned for only admitting light-skinned African American men, meaning that Ray is doubtful about his chances of becoming a member. Likewise, the dark color of Ray’s skin is an issue for his in-laws, who hope that his children inherit Elizabeth’s lighter skin. While all these characters are African American, the lightness or darkness of their skin makes them subject to further prejudice. Even within marginalized communities, prejudices regarding the darkness of a person’s skin persist.
A key element of the depiction of racism is the way in which White characters are permitted to commit the crimes that they associate with African Americans. Throughout the novel, the African American community is dismissed as a hive of criminality. However, Ray discovers that the White politicians and business leaders are even more violent, ruthless, and amoral than the criminals he knows in Harlem. The racism of society is shown through what White characters are permitted to do and actively celebrated for achieving. Everyone in New York knows about the cunning and brutal Van Wyck family, but their names are on the façade of some of the city’s most famous buildings. Their criminality is celebrated, while the petty criminals of Harlem are used to disparage an entire demographic of people. Society and race are intertwined in an irreconcilable way, showing how the African American characters are framed as criminals while the White characters are celebrated as civic leaders for the same fundamental behavior.
The Sins of the Father
Ray’s father is a notorious figure in the community. Big Mike Carney was a criminal who cast a long shadow over his son’s life. Whenever Mike was present, Ray feared him. Whenever he was absent, Ray learned about his father’s bad behavior from everyone in the community. Ray feels burdened by his father’s reputation and he does not want to become the criminal that Mike is. Desperate to be seen as an upstanding and honorable man, Ray studies hard at college and becomes a respectable furniture salesman. The money is not as important to Ray as the opportunity. His name above the shop door is a reminder to the community, announcing that the name Carney should be associated with quality furniture rather than crime. Ray does not want to be burdened with his father’s sins, so much of his behavior is an attempt to distance himself, at least publicly, from his father’s reputation.
Like Ray, Linus rejects his father’s behavior. Linus and Ray share many motivations, in that they both wish to shed themselves of the association with their ruthless father. While Mike Carney was a street criminal, Ambrose Van Wyck is a respected member of the New York upper class. His name is found on buildings and he attends high society parties. However, he is a ruthless, violent criminal. He dodges taxes using his son’s name, he hires henchmen to commit murder on his behalf, and he abducts his wayward son and subjects him to electro-shock treatments because Linus is gay. Linus’s flaws and his reliance on narcotics are an attempt to step out of his father’s shadow, performatively rejecting the New York high society life that defines his father. Linus does not share his father’s ruthlessness and wants to live life on his own terms. The burglary at the Van Wyck house is not only financially motivated; as well as the emerald necklace, Linus takes the documents giving his father power of attorney. Linus is attempting to seize back control of his life from a domineering father. He dies during a last, desperate attempt to reject his father’s influence on his life. Whereas Ray succeeds in making himself a pillar of the community, Linus cannot triumph. His father is simply too rich, too powerful, and too ensconced in the institutions that control the city.
Ray’s family also gives him an opportunity to reject his father’s reputation. While Mike Carney had no qualms about exposing his son to his criminal behavior or his notoriety, Ray expends significant effort attempting to keep his personal and his criminal lives separate. He lives two lives, one on each side of the line of morality, ensuring that his children are never exposed to the danger or criminality which he experienced during childhood. The way Ray treats his children functions as an explanation of his relationship with his father. Ray demonstrates that he does not want to be burdened with his father’s sins by trying hard to ensure that his children are only ever associated with a furniture salesman, rather than the more criminal elements of his life. Ray’s children allow him to set a new precedent in the Carney family, addressing the problems which Ray experienced as a young boy.
Self-Delusion as a Defense Mechanism
A frequent theme among the characters in Harlem Shuffle is the importance of self-delusion. The characters create identities in their mind which massage their egos but which bear little semblance to reality. The clearest example of this delusion is Ray, who believes he is an important community leader and self-made man, even though he is just as much of a criminal as those he disregards. Ray runs a successful furniture store, but his success is built on an immoral foundation. The money he used to set up the store was stolen by his father, while the money he uses to expand the store comes from a criminal partnership with Chink Montague. Throughout this time, Ray continues to present himself as a typical self-made businessman. Even as he becomes involved in murder, theft, and extortion, he refuses to categorize himself as a criminal, as doing so would mean that he is simply following in his father’s footsteps. Ray creates the false identity of a moral businessman and then conveniently ignores anything which challenges this identity, allowing him to believe in his other mythic persona.
Other characters also refuse to acknowledge their criminality. Wilfred Duke presents himself as a community leader who is building a better society for the African American residents of Harlem. At the same time, he defrauds these same residents and eventually flees with millions of dollars of their money. Ray’s father-in-law Leland is an accountant who prides himself on how much he helps his clients avoid taxes, believing that he is a skilled accountant rather than an enabler of tax-dodgers. In all these instances, the characters prefer to believe the delusion rather than reality as it is a more comforting and self-congratulatory lie.
When the self-delusion fails, characters struggle to maintain control. Freddie would like to see himself as a bright, intelligent young man, but he struggles to equate this delusion with his reality. He has no education and no opportunities, so he struggles to convince himself that he is the person he wants to be. He deals with this mental fracture by turning to drugs. Narcotics provide Freddie with a different kind of delusion. The world melts away until all that remains is Freddie’s increasingly desperate dependence on narcotics. The need to create delusional identities becomes dangerous when these self-delusions no longer function. Freddie struggles to create an identity, so he turns to drugs. In doing so, he becomes everything he disliked about himself. His tragedy fuels itself, worsening until his death.
One of the only characters who lacks any self-delusion is Pepper, who is content to see himself as a criminal. Pepper has no qualms about being feared or disliked, so he does not need to create a delusion in which he is a moral person or a hero. Instead, he accepts his role in society and he performs it well. However, the final part of the book suggests that delusions are beginning to creep into Pepper’s psyche. As he sits in a bar, he turns a disparaging eye on the aging criminals and washed-out failures who surround him. He cannot see that he is stuck in the same position. Pepper might not delude himself that he is moral or upstanding in any way. That said, he struggles to deal with his new place in a changing society, and so he mentally categorizes himself as somehow different to the people around him. Pepper feels the need for self-delusion, even if he does not reach the delusional heights of the other characters.
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