Detroit Shuffle: Analysis of Major Characters
"Detroit Shuffle: Analysis of Major Characters" explores a diverse cast of individuals navigating complex socio-political landscapes in early 20th-century Detroit. Central to the narrative is Will Anderson, a troubled engineer grappling with physical and mental health challenges, who becomes embroiled in a dangerous plot to protect his love interest, Elizabeth Hume, an independent suffragist dedicated to advancing women’s rights. Elizabeth's commitment to her cause puts her in peril, prompting Will to take drastic measures to safeguard her. Detective Thomas Riordan exemplifies the struggle against corruption within law enforcement, balancing his duties with personal stakes tied to Elizabeth's safety.
Warren Brennan, a detective agency operative, is depicted as a professional ally in this tumultuous environment, while the antagonistic figure of Andrew Murphy represents the corrupt power structures resisting societal progress. Other characters, like Elizabeth's brother Robert, who battles schizophrenia, and Francis Beckwith, a fellow patient with his own demons, add layers to the narrative. The text emphasizes themes of justice, loyalty, and the fight for equality, showcasing how personal struggles intertwine with broader societal issues. Each character's journey reveals the multifaceted dynamics of their world, inviting readers to consider their motivations and the societal challenges they face.
Detroit Shuffle: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: D.E. Johnson
First published: 2013
Genre: Novel
Locale: Detroit, Michigan
Plot: Historical mystery
Time: Early 1912
Will Anderson, is a young engineer at the Detroit Electric Automobile Company, which is owned by his father. Will admittedly is the firm's worst employee and, ultimately, is fired. He suffers headaches, blackouts, and memory loss stemming from radiation treatments received at the Eloise Hospital some months prior. His right hand also is damaged, causing him often to wear gloves. He also wears sunglasses to ease frequent headaches. Will is in love with Elizabeth Hume and desires to propose marriage. He owns a brace of Colt. 32 automatic pistols, one of which he often carries in a shoulder holster. To concentrate and clear his mind, he throws knives and has four daggers and a target in his apartment. Will previously had been a heavy drinker and smoker and is struggling to defeat those habits. He has a strong sense of justice and is willing to break the law to see it done. When Elizabeth's life is threatened he takes it upon himself to unveil the assassin when the police and private security hired to protect her prove inadequate. He solicits the help of Elizabeth's brother, Robert, and Francis Beckwith, both former patients at Eloise Hospital, to help unmask the woman's would-be assassin. Will is trying to overcome the sins of his past but often is thwarted by his mental and physical condition, which causes people to disbelieve him.
Elizabeth Hume, is a young woman working with Detroit's Suffrage Club to get an amendment passed that would allow women to vote. She lives at home with her wealthy parents and her mentally deficient brother, Robert. Elizabeth is intelligent, independent, strong-willed, and sexually forward. She is in love with Will Anderson, but fears that he hasn't fully recovered from his previous mental and physical ailments, which cause delusions. She initially doesn't believe him when he claims to have thwarted an attempt on her life at a suffrage rally. She is fully committed to her beliefs in women's equality and puts her life in jeopardy to see them come to fruition. Elizabeth is a strong supporter of Theodore Roosevelt's run for the presidency. She and the other suffragists campaigning for Roosevelt's election and women's rights are being protected by Warren Brennan and fellow operatives from the William J. Burns International Detective Agency.
Detective Thomas Riordan, is an investigator with the Detroit Police Department. He is married to Anna, who he loves fully. Riordan has a strong sense of duty as a police officer within a department rife with corruption. He smokes foul-smelling cigars incessantly. Although he an honest cop, he has been forced to assist Andrew Murphy, the corrupt director of the Michigan Liquor Association, in skewing the election so that Roosevelt and women's rights lose. Murphy possesses evidence that will cause Anna to be arrested, convicted, and hung for murdering a man who raped her when she was young. Riordan harbors paternal feelings for Elizabeth and protects her.. He initially assists in Will Anderson's investigation to keep Will safe, but when Will discovers that Riordan is in Murphy's pocket, the detective risks all to bring Murphy down.
Warren Brennan, is an operative with the William J. Burns International Detective Agency, which is hired by the Detroit Suffrage Club to protect Elizabeth Hume and its other members as well as women from fellow suffrage organizations following anonymous threats against them. Brennan is a large, physically imposing man who is thoroughly professional and dedicated to his job. After David Sanford is shot and killed, Will chases down and fights with the believed assassin who is Brennan, who claims to have been following Will. Although Will Anderson suspects that Brennan secretly is being paid by the suffragist movement's enemies to allow Elizabeth and others to be killed, Brennan is proved to be fully trustworthy and Anderson's suspicions unfounded.
Andrew Murphy, is an Irish immigrant and the director of the Michigan Liquor Association. He is rich, powerful, and corrupt. Murphy is scheming to defeat the suffragists' pursuit of voting rights for women because he believes that women will vote for prohibition and destroy his business as well as elect “namby pambys” into office and scuttle the United States' endeavors to become a dominant world power. Murphy blackmails Detective Riordan and hires various thugs to sway voting at the polls so that prohibition is defeated.
Robert Hume, is Elizabeth's brother. Robert, although brilliant with machines and electronics, is schizophrenic and incapable of caring for himself. He lives at home with his parents and Elizabeth. He was a patient in Eloise Hospital where he met Will Anderson, whom he calls “John Doe,” and another mental patient named Francis Beckwith, who becomes his best friend. Robert and Francis help Will break into the hospital to steal the voice-recording equipment, which they later install in Murphy's offices in order to acquire incriminating evidence against him. Will takes Robert and Francis to a self-serve restaurant where, like children, they eat only deserts.
Saphira Xanakis, is a prostitute and criminal. She is dark-haired, beautiful, and alluring. She works for Andrew Murphy as a “secretary” but her principal duty is to fulfill his sexual yearnings. She loathes Murphy and provides Will Anderson with information that will help send Murphy to prison. She provides Anderson with the name and address of Robert Fikklund, Murphy's former accountant who holds evidence proving that Murphy tampered with election polls. Murphy eventually discovers Saphira's duplicity and uses her as a pawn when trying to retrieve incriminating recordings from Anderson. Saphira receives an overdose of narcotics that will prove lethal if she's not treated immediately by a doctor. She survives.
Francis Beckwith, is the 19-year-old son of Dr. Beckwith, who runs the Eloise Hospital and is a criminal. Francis is schizophrenic. He is friends with Robert Hume, whom he meets at the hospital and comes to live with Hume's family after his father is arrested. He helps Will Anderson and Robert illegally enter the hospital to steal his father's voice-recording equipment for the purpose of installing it in the offices of Andrew Murphy, the corrupt director of the Michigan Liquor Association.
David and Eli Sanford, are brothers plotting to kill Elizabeth Hume. Both men are criminals with prison records. David attended high school with Will Anderson. David is employed by Andrew Murphy as a public relations officer. Eli previously worked on the railways, where he discovered information regarding a scandal involving the railway's officers, which he uses to blackmail them. David and Eli's father was framed for embezzling funds by Elizabeth's father, his business partner, who actually was guilty, and the brothers plan to kill her in retribution. David attempts to shoot Elizabeth at a woman's suffrage gathering but is tackled by Will, who he fights off, and escapes. Eli is murdered by Murphy's henchmen, and David is killed by Will during his second attempt on Elizabeth's life.
Robert Fikklund, is Andrew Murphy's former accountant who holds incriminating evidence against Murphy. Will Anderson meets with Fikklund, but a gas leak at his house caused by Murphy's men causes Fikklund to hallucinate, and he eventually dies from gas inhalation.