Hi Julia! I am going to talk about the first
chapter of Invisible Man.
The first chapter has six main scenes. (1) the
grandfather's deathbed scene, (2) the narrator's arrival at the hotel, (3) the
naked blonde women dancing, (4) the battle royal, (5) the narrator's speech,
and (6) the narrator's dream.
The grandfather scene represents the narrators
feeling towards slavery and establishes his want to forget the past and move on
with his life. The arrival at the hotel represents the beginning of lies and
betrayal. The woman dancing represents the messed up view of the american dream
and what is supposedly expected of women.
The battle royal represents a struggle for life and it has "no
rounds [and] no bells at three-minute intervals". It also shows the social
and political struggle of mankind. The narrators speech introduces irony and a
sense of duality. He does a lot of what he does without the approval of others,
just because he wants to and thinks he is right. The narrator's dream
symbolizes the myth of the American Dream, holding that Americans can achieve
their dreams, if only they are willing to work hard and pursue their goals.
Clearly, the narrator's experience has taught him that this is not true for
black Americans.
What do you think about the book so far? How do
you feel about each of these main scenes in the first chapter? Do you think any
of the narrators thoughts and judgments will ever change?
ReplyDeleteHi Myah! I think the book takes on a unique perspective of the Black American in the 1950’s, it is very different compared to some of the other books I’ve read which relate to the topic of racial injustice during the 20th century. Ellison takes on a philosophical and psychological perspective of the life of this invisible man (who really isn’t, he doesn’t have any superpowers). While I was doing a bit of research on this book I came across the existentialism movement; this movement which was going on during the time period this book was published wanted to define the meaning of individual existence in the seemingly meaningless universe. This movement is basically the outline for this book, except that the individual is the invisible black man and the meaningless universe is pre-civil rights America. The psychological portion of this novel is the phenomenon of the main character viewing himself as invisible (others can’t see him) and other people are blind. The invisible man wrestles with how people view him and the identity that he gets from their perspective of him, they are blind because they cannot see his true self or his individuality. This is how the narrator himself describes it:
“That invisibility…occurs because of a particular disposition of their eyes…a matter of construction of their inner eyes, those eyes with which they look through their physical eyes upon reality” (Ellison, 3).
Rather, they just see his skin color or some negative label due to this he would rather make himself invisible to others. I find this whole idea to be quite fascinating, this book seems to truly dig deeper into the metal effects that the loss of individuality due to racism can have on one’s psyche.
Hi Julia! I love how you explained some of the psychological pieces in the novel that relate to racism. They are very accurate and insightful.
ReplyDeleteChapters 3 and 4 discuss the chaos and violence at the Golden Day. The two chapters also consider what is more of the standard of normal: A bar in which crazy people, openly expressing their feelings and challenge a corrupt system that denies them the right to lead productive lives, or a college that accepts white supremacy, while trying to prepare its black students to become productive members of society. This is shown by the vet's reference to Hester, the prostitute, as "a great humanitarian" whose "healing touch" enables the vets to cope with their broken, empty lives, while Norton, is likened to "a formless white death” (64).
The car is a key element in these chapters and it symbolizes power. Although the narrator is driving, he is not in control and the car he is driving is not his own. While the narrator exaggerates his importance as Norton's driver, the only power he has is what Norton gives to him. Realistically, Norton is in control and the narrator is being driven to conform to his expectations.
What do you think of all the metaphors is the book so far? Do you have any favorite characters in the book yet?
Chapters 5 & 6
ReplyDeleteHi Myah! First off, to answer your question I think that the metaphors that this book employs are really useful when approaching a difficult topic such as racism.
For my entry today, I want to discuss the character Dr. Bledsoe. This character hides behind a mask of fake ignorance in order to gain his position in life; he acts in a subservient role to the powerful White men who are in charge of the campus in order to remain in his position. In an essence, the author is showing the downfalls of Booker T. Washington’s approach to remedying the racial issues of that time; his method was to tolerate the discrimination for the time being while concentrating on elevating themselves through hard work and material prosperity. In other words, the equality for blacks would follow after they rose up on the social and material ladder of life. Bledsoe demonstrates in a mocking way that he portrays himself as an “ignorant negro” in the following quote from chapter 6:
“I’s big and black and I say ‘Yes, suh’ as loudly as any burrhead when it’s convenient, but I’m still the king down here. . . . The only ones I even pretend to please are big white folk, and even those I control more than they control me. . . . That’s my life, telling white folk how to think about the things I know about. . . . It’s a nasty deal and I don’t always like it myself. . . . But I’ve made my place in it and I’ll have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am.”
He mocks his façade that he wears in order to remain in power by using the dialect that was common among many uneducated Southern blacks saying, “I’s” in place of “I am.” The narrator’s realization of Bledsoe’s devices opens his eyes to the horrific consequences that this type of action can have on the black community as a whole. Bledsoe’s trickery comes from a place of selfish want; he wants to get ahead in life no matter what the consequences are for everyone else. Do you think that Washington’s method has any validity at all?
These three chapters mark a big transition in the narrator's life. He leaves college behind and heads to New York. Traveling from the South to the North, the narrator follows the path of millions of blacks who left the South to seek a new life in the North during the Great Migration. But unlike the individuals who left the South with a sense of hope and promise, and leave behind the labor of the plantation life, the narrator doesn't want to leave his college. In fact, the only thing that sustains him is the thought of returning to the campus as soon as he earns enough money to continue his education and gained Dr. Bledsoe's forgiveness.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator's conversation with the vet on the bus illustrates his continuing blindness to events around him. While the vet reminisces about his own adventures in Chicago and talks about all the exciting things the narrator has to look forward to, the narrator never stops to ask the vet why he returned to the South, nor does he make any conscious connections between the vet's transfer to Washington, D.C., and his own transfer to New York. Instead, he worries that the vet may become violent and resents being forced to sit with him and Crenshaw in the Jim Crow section of the bus.
At this point, the narrator has not yet recognized the power of words as weapons and draws no connection between the vet's violent outburst at the Golden Day and his own violent outburst in Dr. Bledsoe's office. Nor does he recall the violent impact of his grandfather's dying words or the battle royal. Only when he discovers the contents of Dr. Bledsoe's letters does he become fully aware of the formidable power wielded by those who use words as weapons.
What do you think about the outbreaks and the thought of words being weapons?
Chapters 9 & 10
ReplyDeleteHi Myah! To address your question, the idea of words being used as weapons is a commonly occurring notion that I have seen throughout literature as well as in my life. I think that words can have a huge impact on an individual as well as the collective. Especially when it comes to a group’s civic rights or in this case the lack there of. Words are often the precursor to actions and that is how African Americans achieve their civil rights down the road.
For this section I want to discuss the narrator’s trip to the Liberty Paints plant, a plant which is located in the North. The author uses this location to dispel the idea that the North offered true equality to black when the South still did not offer such liberties to Blacks. The North just took a different approach to the oppression of Blacks, and this can be seen through racist imagery (slogans) and economic oppression. Liberty Paints is famously known for their optic white paint, a paint that can cover any other color in fact the paint is described this way: “Our white is so white you can paint a chunka coal and you’d have to crack it open with a sledge hammer to prove it wasn’t white clear through.” This paint is created when a “foul smelling” brown liquid is mixed with a few drops of a black chemical, this combination magically transforms into the purists of whites. The whole topic of this optic white paint also lends themselves to the running theme of invisibility that the narrator is dealing with. The optic white paint can cover the blackest of blacks, it can even disguise a piece of coal, this image reinforces the concept that blackness becomes invisible underneath whiteness. Do you think that the paint plant serves as a good metaphor for what the narrator is struggling with? What are your thoughts on the name of the paint plant?
Hi Julia! To answer your question, I do think that the white paint has a significant meaning. The book describes it as being able to cover a black paint so well that the black paint is completely gone.
ReplyDeleteIn chapters 19 and 20 there is a lot of talk about the brotherhood. The narrator speaks at a seminar for a woman’s activist group. There he meets a white woman who invites him to her house to talk about the brotherhood. She had a “problem… with certain aspects of our ideology” (317). Once they get to her house she seems to have ulterior motives other than talking about the ideology of the brotherhood and tries to seduce him. She is successful and they end up sleeping together. The woman’s husband comes home and pops his head into her dark room and does not seem to see the narrator. He then goes to his own room because the couple does not share a room. The narrator then leaves and can’t figure out if that was a dream or not. He seems to have some psychological and moral issues with this situation.
in chapter 20 the narrator sees Clifton selling dolls on the street. He then sees him quickly pick them up and take off as he sees police officers coming close. It is obvious that Clifton knows that he is not supposed to sell the dolls on the street. The narrator then sees a large group of people around Clifton so he goes to see what is happening. He then sees Clifton get shot.
How do you think this made the narrator feel? Do you think that the shift of the brotherhood in Harlem had anything to do with this?
Hey Myah! To answer your question, I do think that this has to do with a shift in the Brotherhood. I’m pretty sure that by now we can figure out how unsteady this group is and their actions have been detrimental.
ReplyDeleteFor this entry, I want to talk more about the Brotherhood and its effect that it has on the narrator’s struggle with his identity and individuality as a whole. In chapter 17, we witness a confrontation between the Brotherhood members and Ras’s followers because Ras believes that the Brotherhood will make no progress for Blacks when they call Whites their brothers in the cause. Also, the Brotherhood’s actions are not looking for immediate results and are more ambiguous than anything. Which view point do you think would have the best results for African Americans? Now onto the narrator, the organization was true to their word and they blasted his new name out for all to see. Yet, the narrator realizes that is also comes with a downfall:
…becoming aware that there were two of me: the old self that slept a few hours a night and dreamed sometimes of my grandfather and Bledsoe and Brockway and Mary; the self that flew without wings and plunged from great heights; and the new public self that spoke for the Brotherhood and was becoming so much more important than the other that I seemed to run a foot race against myself. (17.198)
The narrator is being cut in half by his involvement with this organization, he feels as if he private and public selves are becoming far too distant than is healthy. Rather than feeling united for the cause in this group he feels as if he is still fighting (running) to define himself against the invisibility that he has hated.
Hi Julia! You made some great points about the brotherhood. Today, I will be talking about chapter 23. This chapter starts with the people in Harlem being mad about Clifton and his death. The narrator also sees Ras giving a speech that basically says that the brotherhood has stopped the good things that were happening after the funeral.
ReplyDeleteAfter all of this the narrator buys a pair of sunglasses that had dark lenses. As he walks down the street people come up to him and address him as “Rinehart”. At first he is very confused by this. He starts to realize that everyone knows who Rinehart is except him. Rinehart seems to be several different things. One woman says he is her bookie, another says that he is her pimp and a group of people think that he is a reverend and spiritual technologist.
The symbol of Rinehart represents the fluidity of identity and that people can be whatever they want to be. I shows that the individual has the power to form their own identity.
After this, the narrator gets to Hambro’s house. Hambro says that the brotherhood is going to leave Harlem. They have bigger and higher political goals than what they are doing. The invisable man then choses to listen to his gradpa’s advice to “agree, and grin the Brotherhood to death” (216). He does not want to cause trouble with the brotherhood so he says that the city will be ok.
Do you think the city will be ok without the brotherhood? Do you think it will be better or worse? What do you think about Rinehart?
Hey Myah! First off to address your question, I do think that the city will be much better off without the Brotherhood’s presence there. Since we have discovered that this group is not as righteous as they claim to be and do not truly have the prosperity and equality of African Americans as their number one goal. Rather it is a group run by white men who hired black men to be the face of the organization of which is really just a false charity for the wealthy.
ReplyDeleteFor this last section I will be discussing chapter 24 and the epilogue. In this section, violent race riots break out throughout the city thanks to the Brotherhood. Lynched mannequins hang from the ceilings of stores, representing how this organization controlled the narrator. In the epilogue, the narrator finally comes to grips with his identity, his greatest struggle throughout the novel:
And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone’s way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man (Epilogue).
The narrator finally excepts who he is, the self-titled invisible man, he owns this title it is not controlled by the Brotherhood or any outside force, it is his alone. He realized that he had allowed his identity to be controlled and shaped by the expectations of others, social pressures, stereotypes, and (racial) prejudices. The title of ‘invisible man’ shows that the narrator is comfortable with his identity, he knows who he is even though not everybody can see his inner self and he knows that they don’t need to. He can be true to himself and create his own representation of himself and not be focused on the point of views of everyone around him.