Symphony of Secrets

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and analyzes the source text’s depiction of domestic abuse, racism, and institutionalized racist violence.

A central theme in Symphony of Secrets is that of racism enacted by both individuals and institutions. In the chapters set in the early 1920s, Delaney, a white man, steals the music written by Josephine, a Black woman. He rationalizes his theft by claiming that her songs “wouldn’t be worth as much” if Ditmars knew that a Black woman wrote them (282). In addition to refusing to give Josephine credit for her own music, Delaney also neglects to split the profits with her evenly. Delaney’s racism against Josephine escalates over the course of the novel, intensifying into outright physical abuse. When she doesn’t produce music fast enough for him, he locks her in his room. He believes he owns her music, as well as her. He tries to convince her that “Fred—and only Fred—was her lifeline. That the music she was writing was Fred’s and no one else’s” (508). After Josephine sells her music to Miles, Delaney murders her. Delaney’s discrimination and violence are comparable to the racism and violence of his descendant, Kurt.

In the chapters set in the 2020s, Kurt Delaney makes racist remarks to Bern and uses his power as a board member of the Delaney Foundation to harm him. Kurt starts with microaggressions, like calling Bern “young man,” which Bern immediately finds to be “overly familiar and demeaning” (319). Eventually, Kurt’s language becomes more overtly racist, and he goes so far as to condescendingly call Delaney “son,” which has connotations related to the era in which slavery was widespread in the United States. In addition to these personal insults, Kurt hires police officers to assault Bern. This example of institutional racism includes two institutions—the NYPD and the Foundation. Significantly, Kurt does not inform the other board members about this escalation, and it is clear that he is the most racist person on the board. Mallory’s microaggressions against Bern and Eboni are minor compared to Kurt’s decision to hire corrupt police officers to illegally jail and beat Bern. Thus, both timelines of the novel highlight the myriad effects of racism.

Specifically, Josephine’s perspective offers more insight into the racism rampant in the 1920s. For example, one of Delaney’s entourage casually tells him, “Rescue a dog from the street, it’s yours for life” in reference to Josephine (451). She overhears this, and it haunts her for the rest of her life. Josephine’s experience of racism is also filtered through her neurodivergence. She experiences racism itself as a color, and her narrative states that she “felt their dislike of her like an orange moss upon her skin” (140). To her, racism feels orange. Despite these unique perceptions, her neurodivergence keeps her from realizing that Delaney lies to her. When Josephine sells her music to Miles, she is “silent, still marveling over his words, how being a [Black person] didn’t matter to the music” (468). Once she is aware of Delaney’s deceptions and discriminations, he murders her. Josephine’s tragic end due to Delaney’s racism contrasts with Bern's overcoming the racism of his era.