New York City

New York City is the most populous city in the United States, and it is the main setting of the novel. Although the narrative mostly focuses on the sociopolitical phenomena affecting the predominantly African-American neighborhood of Harlem, it also examines the downtown area of the city in order to give focus to the racial and sociopolitical interplay of ideas and agendas that define the heteroglossic and often chaotic nature of the extremely populous city.

Harlem

Harlem is a predominantly African-American neighborhood of New York City. Most of the novel’s principal characters are residents of Harlem. The Hands to Ethiopia is a Harlem-based organization with which many of the characters are actively associated. One of the primary tensions of the novel is a figurative battle for the sociopolitical soul of Harlem. While most of the novel’s principal characters are verse to the influence of fascism...