Blind Man with a Pistol

Chester Himes

2 ideas

1. The blind man shoots on subway

   At the novel's climax a blind Black man on a crowded subway train is provoked, pulls a pistol and fires at the person he believes wronged him, but hits bystanders instead, and the panic spreads into Harlem-wide chaos. Meanwhile Coffin Ed and Grave Digger, blocked from solving their murder cases, end up shooting at rats in a condemned building. Himes offers the blind gunman as the book's image of violence that has a real grievance but no sight of its target.

2. Detectives diverted from their murder cases

   Coffin Ed and Grave Digger are competent, but they cannot close their murder investigations. Their superiors pull them off those cases to chase supposed riot conspiracies. As Harlem's disorder turns collective, the novel shows the detectives unable to act on it, ending up shooting at rats in a condemned building.

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