Home To Harlem

Jake arrives in Harlem wearing an excellently tailored steel-graysuit that he bought in England. The suit fits him well and gives him an air of sophistication that attracts people (especially women) to him. The suit is a material connection to the experiences he had while living abroad and represents the impact of his travel abroad on his perspective on life. Much like his own body, the suit is worn ragged by his time in Harlem during the first two parts of the novel.

Jake replaces the suit with an American one that he describes as ill fitting and “nigger brown” (288). The only good part of the suit is that its two pockets allow Jake to carry a gun. The suit, purchased in the spring as Jake recovers from his illness, highlights Jake’s re-acclimation to life in America and the potential for violence that emerges from his life in Harlem. Jake’s discomfort in the suit parallels his discomfort with the latter. As symbols, the suits also represent Jake’s shifting understanding of his own masculinity.

An African-American enclave of New York that exploded in population as a result of the Great Migration, Harlem is associated with African-American musical forms,such as jazz, and serves as a place where African Americans can experience a degree of freedom not available in the outside world.

Harlem thus represents modern African-American identity at the turn of the twentieth century. Harlem includes the best and worst of the African-American community, also representing the complexity of the African-American experience.

Felice’s “luck” is a necklace with a blue bead and was given to her by her grandmother on the day she was born. Among African Americans, especially those from the South, the blue bead is frequently associated with protection from misfortune or the evil eye. Felice forgets her necklace on the night that she encounters Jake again and insists on going back for the necklace despite the danger from her jilted lover.

The necklace represents the possibility of happiness for the lovers but also the potential for danger and violence that arises from their relationship. In addition, the bead points to the continuing significance of the Southern culture black migrants brought with them and the complications caused when they attempt to accommodate these beliefs in the North.

The Pennsylvania Railroad employs Jake, Ray, the first waiter, and chef in the dining car, which serves as the site of conflicts between these characters. African-American porters’ work and (to a lesser extent)jobs in the dining cars were considered to be much more respectable than the other forms of employment available to African-American men during this period, so the train was one of the few places where African-American men were able to fulfill any aspirations to black respectability that they had.

Described as a “huge black animal” (123) that moves across Pennsylvania and as a “dynamo” (265) that is temporarily capable of counterbalancing the tumult inside of Ray, the train also representsmodernity and the desire for freedom.