The Broken Harmonica

The Broken Harmonica is the story of Cornelius Wright. The story begins with Cornelius in the later years of his life where he is elderly and living alone in his New York City apartment. There he is met by a researcher who asks him to reflect on his long and tumultuous life. Cornelius recounts his story starting from his birth into slavery on a Georgia plantation. Cornelius reflects on both his absent mother who passed away and his spirited father who was often brutalized by the oppressive system of slavery. Cornelius from a tender age begins to understand his place in this system following the relationship he forms with Will, the master’s son who soon begins to reject him when he too begins to understand Cornelius’ inferior status. Cornelius recounts how he and his family were disrupted when his father killed his master who was repeatedly raping Cornelius’ sister. Cornelius was subsequently sold a second time to a different plantation after his master accused him of the attempted rape of his daughter which was unsupported and blatantly false. Cornelius suffered brutal treatment at this next plantation leading him to escape and travel north. He is taken in by a Quaker abolitionist family and eventually joins the army after the outbreak of the Civil War. Cornelius fights bravely and participates in several major battles. Following the war Cornelius returns to the army where he is sent to fight Native Americans on the plains. Later he moves to New York City. His time in New York is where he succumbs to vice while playing harmonica in a band. This takes a toll on his family and his marriage which is almost disrupted. Cornelius is given a second chance and he reforms. His family is later moved to an emerging black community in the South where he becomes a landowner. At this time much of the saga transfers to the successive generation where his children as well as himself encounter turmoil as the KKK harass them. The saga ends in 1931 upon his death.
Much of what Cornelius experiences serves to shape him as reflected in his narrative which is often discussed through self-analysis documenting his personal growth and the significant changes in his world view.