54 pages • 1 hour read
Brendan SlocumbThe Violin Conspiracy
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 4: “Music Making”
Chapter 14 Summary: “Debut; 11 Months Ago”
Ray arrives at his soloist debut and finds that the air conditioning is broken; everything is sweltering hot. Janice introduces Ray to the conductor, who tells them that the music lineup has been changed at the last minute. Ray and Janice aren’t happy, but Janice tells him that it’s a good learning experience. He practices with the orchestra before the show, and Janice berates the conductor for his unprofessionalism. When Ray goes home to prepare for the evening, he discovers a letter from Andrea Marks thanking him for finding their family’s lost heirloom violin and encouraging him to return it promptly. The letter unnerves him, but he puts it aside to perform. When he begins, he realizes that the stage lighting is directed so that he can’t see his music. He plays it from memory successfully and revels in the experience of soloing with a full orchestra. Partway through, his mother arrives and noisily disrupts the audience. However, Ray manages to play through all his distractions and obstacles and feels empowered. When he finishes, he holds the violin out toward the audience. This gesture goes on to become a hallmark of all his shows.
After the show, his mother arrives with flowers for him and wants to investigate his violin. Ray tells her that he loves her. When he gets paid for his show, he distributes the money among his family members. At his next performance, he loiters in the wings uncomfortably. Out of sight, he overhears some musicians talking about him, calling him a “PR stunt” (151). When they get together to rehearse, Ray is unenthusiastic and lacks energy. In the evening, he renews himself by reminding himself of his grandmother. He impresses the audience and his fellow performers.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Performance; 10 Months Ago”
Ray prepares to go on to the next stage of his journey: Janice is taking him to several festivals where he’ll perform and offer master classes. Janice has been using her extensive network within the classical music community to find him opportunities. Meanwhile, Ray receives another coercive letter from Andrea Marks. As he performs, his mother and the rest of his family continuously harass him for money.
At one festival, Ray sits on a judging panel for young musicians. The other two judges are malicious and harsh, while Ray tries to be encouraging and kind. One of the musicians is a Black teenager named Bryce. After he auditions, Ray invites him to come to his master class. The other judges are dismissive. At the master class later, Ray helps Bryce to improve his technique. After they leave, one of the organizers approaches Ray and tells him that there have been complaints about biased treatment. Ray stands up for himself and tells the organizer that their festival needs more diversity. He speaks with Bryce’s mother, who tells him that they can’t afford private tutoring and Bryce only has a rented school violin. Ray privately buys a starter violin and sends it to Bryce’s family.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Family Visit; 8 Months Ago”
Ray is performing regularly. At the summer’s end, he goes home for a week. A couple arrives at his door telling him that they’re his “biggest fans” (163). They force their way into his apartment and admit that they’re here about the Stradivarius violin and reveal themselves to be the brother and sister Dante and Andrea Marks. Dante tells Ray how grateful they are to him for keeping their lost treasure safe but announces that they’ll be taking it away with them. Andrea presents a letter from her ancestor about Leon. They attempt to bribe Ray with a cheque for $200,000, but he refuses. The Markses become increasingly aggressive, and Ray orders them to leave. Afterward, he calls his Aunt Rochelle in a panic and tells her what happened.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Birdland; 8 Months Ago”
Ray has returned to New York for a new concert and is meeting with a lawyer to discuss the Markses. His new lawyer, Kim, tells Ray that their claim is far-fetched and that he shouldn’t worry. After he leaves, he considers his growing relationship with jazz music; the improvisation and lack of structure makes him nervous, but he enjoys being in jazz clubs. He often performs now at the local Birdland Jazz Club. He’s also becoming more familiar with the city. Ray reflects on how many beautiful women there are in New York, although they always seem out of reach. After one jazz performance, a gaudy woman approaches him, and Ray thinks that she’s expressing interest. However, he quickly learns that she’s actually his Uncle Thurston’s girlfriend. After making small talk, she asks Ray for a loan. Ray declines and spends the next few days fielding texts and calls from his uncle.
Black History Month arrives, and Ray is booked solid playing shows featuring work by Black composers. Ray is proud of his work, but he begins to notice that event organizers are slotting him into predetermined categories because of his skin. He eventually stands up to one group, telling them to “invest in some diversity training” (177). Meanwhile, his following is growing. He works toward the Tchaikovsky Competition, vowing to win. However, he knows that he needs to improve his technique and showmanship. He learns of a musician named Kristoff van Cordan who specializes in performance techniques. Once Ray is officially accepted into the competition, he reaches out to Kristoff for help.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Demands; 7 Months Ago”
Ray plays a sold-out show. Afterward, he’s approached by a rude man who introduces himself as Kristoff. Ray immediately doesn’t like him but decides that his expertise is worth the challenging experience. Later, he receives an email from his Uncle Larry asking him to get in touch. When he does, Uncle Larry asks Ray for a loan of $20,000. When Ray declines, Uncle Larry tells him that he’s already arranged for a loan with the violin as collateral. Ray asks for time to think it over. In the meantime, he meets with Kristoff to begin his training. Kristoff suggests that Ray open his shows by dancing as a “nod to [his] African ancestry” (183). To Ray’s disdain, Kristoff then suggests beginning by offering a rose to a woman in the audience. Later that night, Ray tries the technique and finds that it wins his audience over. He sees that Kristoff may be able to teach him after all. The next time Ray hears from his Uncle Larry, he tells him he can’t risk losing the violin. Uncle Larry hangs up, disappointed.
Ray continues to work with Kristoff on his performance. He also receives numerous requests from his family members asking for money or investments. Only Aunt Rochelle doesn’t harass him and instead expresses interest in his career. One day, Kim reaches out to tell Ray that the Markses have hired a lawyer. They discuss the Markses’ claims; Kim wants to know more about the violin’s history and encourages Ray to talk to his family. He remembers the envelope he found in Grandma Nora’s attic with Leon’s name on it. He calls his Aunt Joyce and tells her about the lawsuit and asks for documentation. She promises to look. As Ray prepares for his next show, Kristoff encourages him to find a “costume”; Ray settles on a pink dress shirt to match his grandmother’s bathrobe.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Baton Rouge; 6 Months Ago”
Ray drives toward his recital in the city of Baton Rouge. He changes lanes illegally according to the directions on his GPS, and a police car begins following him. Ray pulls over, and the police officer takes out a gun and orders him out of the car. He sees Ray’s violin and believes it’s stolen, so he assaults and arrests him. Despite Ray trying to explain, he’s taken away to prison where no one will answer his questions. After several hours, he’s allowed to make a phone call and calls Janice. She gets in touch with the music department at the university where he was meant to be playing, and the dean comes to pick him up. The police return his violin, and Ray goes to his hotel. The next day, he holds a conference to explain his absence from the recital and draw attention to the racist police department. After the conference, Kristoff arrives and tells him that he should have been more apologetic. Ray fires him. Shortly after, Ray receives an email from Aunt Rochelle saying that his family is suing him for his violin.
Part 4 Analysis
Part 4 follows the upward trajectory of Ray’s blossoming music career that generates the rising action of the novel. In contrast to his earlier life as an unwanted son and part-time high school musician, this section sees Ray growing internally and becoming a young working professional. In particular, he turns to teaching young people who are beginning new journeys of their own. He’s drawn to a young, underprivileged Black player in whom he sees his own disadvantages and dedication reflected back at him. Ray is compassionate and encouraging to the young player, a moment that mirrors the final closing scene of the novel in which he prepares to teach another lesson. This shows that one of Ray’s core strengths is his ability to engage with and inspire others, a quality that Slocumb uses to connect the reader with the protagonist; this mirrors the connection that Ray must strike with the public when crowdfunding for his violin ransom. In this scene, both Ray and the young student face racial discrimination from those around them; however, they’re able to stand together as a unit of hope. Between this young student and PopPop, Slocumb expands the temporal scope of the novel beyond the present-day narrative of his protagonist and builds a sense of the generations of Black people in America experiencing and fighting racism.
At this point, the novel’s assorted forces of antagonism begin gathering together with greater urgency as Ray finds himself fighting multiple interlocking battles. This section introduces the Marks siblings, who symbolize white privilege and white supremacy in the wider world. Slocumb places these systemic harms alongside domestic conflicts in Part 4: He also heightens the tension between Ray and his greedy, oppressive family. Ray finds them also being increasingly entitled, like the Markses. Both parties vie for the violin, yet the socioeconomic disparity between Ray’s family and the Markses draws attention to the systemic issues underpinning both conflicts. Ray is caught between his family’s financial aspirations and wanting to honor his grandmother and his music. Slocumb explores the novel’s theme of Art Versus Commerce through this tension. However, Ray finds some reprieve in his growing relationship with his Aunt Rochelle, who, consciously and unconsciously, steps into the space that Grandma Nora left behind.
The section closes on a scene that serves a similar purpose to Ray’s experience at the wedding but is amplified in parallel with Ray’s growing career. Like the wedding, Ray’s time in Baton Rouge is a source of trauma and revelation about the state of systemic racism in America. Like the wedding, it is also drawn from the author’s own personal lived experience. The author uses sharp, visceral language to communicate the irrationality of the encounter, such as the description of the police officer’s gun and the interior of the police car. Chapter 19 uses a fictitious lens to illuminate a real truth that Black Americans face each day. The events of the chapter also enhance Ray’s determination to continue on his course and stand up to injustices like these.
