''Plan B'' is an unfinished novel published posthumously in America in 1993 by

Chester Himes Chester Bomar Himes (July 29, 1909 – November 12, 1984) was an American writer. His works, some of which have been filmed, include ''If He Hollers Let Him Go'', published in 1945, and the Harlem Detective series of novels for which he is best ...

, which is the final volume in the Harlem Cycle. The story is even darker and more nihilistic than the preceding volumes, culminating in a violent revolutionary movement in the streets of America. The first edition was published in France, in 1983 (Editions lieu commun), translated by Helène Devaux-Minié.

Plot summary

The story differs somewhat from the other volumes of the cycle in being less a detective story and more a surrealistic tale of a racial apocalypse in America. The story hinges on the efforts of community leader Tomsson Black to stir up racial tension in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

in order to force a radical change in race relations. The novel begins as a

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

detective story Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

, then, when the characters' revolt begins, transitions to

apocalyptic fiction Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

Major themes

In an interview, Himes once noted that he had wanted to "depict the violence that is necessary so that the white community will also give it a little thought, because you know, they're going around playing these games. They haven't given any thought to what would happen if the black people would seriously uprise." Most notably, ''Plan B'' features the death of both of the protagonists of the Harlem Cycle.

Gravedigger Jones The ''Harlem Detective'' series of novels by Chester Himes comprises nine hardboiled novels set in the 1950s and early 1960s: List of novels * ''For Love of Imabelle'', a.k.a. ''A Rage in Harlem'' * ''The Real Cool Killers'' * ''The Crazy Kill'' ...

kills Coffin Ed Johnson in a dramatic final scene, before being killed himself by Tomsson Black. Throughout the story, the usually level-headed Gravedigger gets caught up in the revolutionary fervor, while Coffin Ed is uncharacteristically skeptical and calm.

References

Unfinished novels 1993 American novels Novels by Chester Himes Novels published posthumously Novels about race and ethnicity Novels set in Manhattan Harlem in fiction African-American novels American detective novels {{1990s-crime-novel-stub