Light and Dark in Harlem
The predominant imagery in the novel is associated with darkness, mystery, intrigue and the persistent possibility of finding the light. This recurring motif is established in the opening paragraphs which describe Harlem on a winter night as a combination of the two extremes:
“But all of black Harlem was not thus gay and bright. Any number of dark, chill, silent side streets declined the relenting night’s favour. 130th Street, for example, east of Lenox Avenue, was at this moment cold, still, and narrowly forbidding; one glanced down this block and was glad one’s destination lay elsewhere. Its concentrated gloom was only intensified by an occasional spangle of electric light, splashed ineffectually against the blackness"
The Murder Scene
The motif continues shortly thereafter to tremendous effect when Dr. Archer arrives at the behest of those who reported a suspicious death. Notice the way in which the truly oppressive darkness of the room is offset by the potential for a clarifying illumination:
“The chamber was almost entirely in darkness. The walls appeared to be hung from ceiling to floor with black velvet drapes. Even the ceiling was covered, the heavy folds of cloth converging from the four corners to gather at a central point above, from which dropped a chain suspending the single strange source of light, a device which hung low over a chair behind a large desk-like table, yet left these things and indeed most of the room unlighted.”
Suspicion
The author, Rudolph Fisher, is almost showing off his truly majestic talent for imagery when he reveals even the ability to continue this motif of darkness with an almost irritating potential for better lighting in this masterful portrayal of a wary contagion of suspicion:
“The others, directed by the detective and led by the physician, entered the black chamber from the front room…Over the far chair…hung the device which projected a horizontal beam of light toward the entrance. Most of the visitors fell to the one or the other side of this beam, but at the distance of the semicircle, its rays diverged enough to include two figures directly in its path, those of Martha Crouch and Spider Webb. Mrs. Crouch’s dark eyes were level and clear…anticipative but not apprehensive. Spider Webb also betrayed interest without profound concern, his countenance manifesting only a sort of furtive malignancy. The rest were mere densities in the penumbra.”
There is a word to describe that last line there: masterpiece.
Psychology
What is a better example of the mysteries created from the conflict between shadow and light, that which is dark and that which can be illuminated, than the human psyche? One very fascinating bit of imagery is projected as a potential explanation for why a man’s closet might not show one single bit of feminine influence that is almost too subtle. It is almost too easy to gloss over if one isn’t attentive, but the imagery says much about not just the person being spoken of, but the person speaking about him, who determines that one explanation may—possibly—be that he is a:
“Lothario of the deepest dye.”
