Harlem Rhapsody

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism and gender discrimination.

As the title suggests, music is an important symbol in Murray’s novel. When Jessie first arrives in Harlem, she notes that what she hears “isn’t a cacophony, it’s a rhapsody” (2). Music represents the diverse and creative culture of Harlem. Murray includes lyrics to songs by Irving Berlin and Mamie Smith to give readers a taste of the music of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as to connect poetry and music. Lines of poetry are offset like the song lyrics that Murray includes. Furthermore, the lyrics reflect Jessie’s romantic struggles, such as when Mamie Smith sings, “He will always win in the end” (130), at Happy Rhone’s. This reflects how Will has control over Jessie’s career and their affair.

Murray includes information about the short life of a Black recording company, Black Swan Records. One of the company’s musicians, Fletcher Henderson, goes on to head the house band of Club Alabam after the company is dissolved. The novel ends with Jessie thinking about poetry lyrics as if they are part of Harlem’s music. Lines by Jean, Langston, Countee, and Gwendolyn are “the music that resounds in [Jessie’s] mind” as she leaves the brownstone Will got for her (371).