Invisible Man
...the book, Invisible Man. An example of this is the boys who fought in the “battle royal.” Wearing blindfolds symbolized their weakness in realizing that the white man is suppressing them and appears as if slavery is still in existence even though it was outlawed. The fact that the Founder’s statue at the college has empty eyes is also significant. This symbolizes the founder’s stubborn views which neglect racist realities. Reverend Homer A. Barbee was also affected by the blindness. He lacks an eye but hides it with a glass eye. He looked at the Founder and Brother Jack as heroic. The invisible man also experienced moments of blindness. His failure to see when he addressed the black community was a result of his lack of insight. In the book the invisible man tried to follow his grandfather’s last words but ended up just like him, being the good slave. He tried to advance in society by conforming to the white society. He portrayed blindness by not realizing what he was doing. Blindness played an important role in Invisible Man and was found throughout the entire book. The many motifs such as blindness helped develop the story and make the book what it is. Installment #4 The many different themes in Invisible Man played different roles. The theme black vs. white is simple yet complex. The novel Invisible Man is about racism in America. It is also about how black people suffer because of racist white people. Traditionally black symbolizes evil and white stands for good. Ralph Ellison, the author of Invisible Man, changes this around. For example the invisible man denies his blackness at first but then he goes into a dark black whole for a long time. The novel also shows the results of when black and whites are mixed. At the paint company the blacks do all the hard critical work, while the white people only sell the products and make the most money. Also the incident with the machinery at the factory also symbolizes black vs. white. It represents that the blacks always need to be watched just like the machines. Also the ingredients of the white paint represent white supremacy. When the invisible man fell into the black whole he filled it with 1,369 light bulbs. This is also parallel to the black vs. white team. The black hole symbolizes darkness and invisibility. The light on the other hand symbolizes the white. It also represents the white people hiding and ignoring the black people. Although the whites resented the blacks the blacks felt the same way towards the whites. It is also evident that much did not change from the time of the novel and now. Racism is still a problem and will always exist. Installment #5 Anger is one of the many important themes in Invisible Man. Anger is an incentive for much of the action throughout the novel. This anger often affected the invisible man. You first come across the anger through the invisible man’s grandfather. The old grandfather dies angry with himself for never standing up to himself and always obeying the white people’s rules. This anger also affected the invisible man. Mr. Norton’s anger also affected the narrator. The only reason why Mr. Norton has the power to irrevocably change the invisible man’s life is because the narrator is black and Mr. Norton is white. Due to the fact that the invisible man knows how dangerous Mr. Norton’s anger really is he is frightened about what will happen when to returns to school. In chapter 11 Brockway is angry due to the fact that the paint company sent someone to work with him because he thought that the invisible man was trying to take over his job. On the contrary in chapter 10 the invisible man is angry with Dr. Bledsoe for betraying him and setting him up to fail. He wanted to vindicate him because of it. The narrator also becomes angry at his first boss from the paint factory, as well as the men in the union meeting who had called him a fink. Due to the anger the invisible man picked a fight with Brockway. The invisible man also becomes angry because after devoting himself to the Communist cause in Harlem, he gets charged with using the cause to better his own status. The leader of the Brotherhood later became angry at the invisible man for acting without his instructions. They did not like the way that he was taking the initiative instead of taking orders. The invisible man once again became angry at the brotherhood for deciding to sacrifice the people of Harlem and their needs in order to further the Brotherhood itself. Through these examples and much more examples found in the book it is evident that anger could be found throughout the entire novel. Anger played an important role because it not only affected the different people and groups but also led to the many different situations in the book. It also contributed in making the book much more interesting. Installment #6 One of the most important motifs in the book, Invisible Man is invisibility. This motif is what Ralph Ellison based his book upon. The narrator came to the conclusion that he was invisible because he felt that the world was full of blind men who could not see him for who he really was. He came to the conclusion that one person becomes invisible because another person is blind. According to the narrator, invisibility can bring freedom and mobility. It is due to this freedom that the invisible man is capable of narrating this story. The veteran at the Golden Day and the invisible man’s grandfather supported invisibility as a position from which one may safely exert power over others without getting caught (spark notes). In the prologue the invisible man shows this power when he fills the hole with lights. The electric company realizes the loss but can not detect the source. Towards the end of the novel the invisible man realizes that while invisibility can bring safety, actions done in secrecy have no true impact. Invisibility not only shows that people see only what they want to see, but it is also a separation from society. While the invisible man is in his hole he is invisible, therefore he cannot be seen by society. He is invisible because he chooses to remain apart. In this case invisibility is associated with hibernation. Invisibility also suggests the lack of self-hood. A person is invisible if he has no true identity (Barrons). Invisibility is another main thing in which Ralph Ellison based his novel upon. It also helps us depict what society was like at that time. Installment #7 The book, Invisible Man is also full of different examples of betrayal. From the very beginning of the novel up until the end there are different examples of betrayal. In chapter one the invisible man experiences betrayal by people and their beliefs that he trusts. The betrayal began when the invisible man went to the men’s club expecting to give his speech. He felt very honored for receiving this invitation. After arriving at the club he realized the only reason he was there was to entertain the white men of the town with his own humiliation. In chapter 2 trueblood betrays his race because in the eyes of his people, he goes against every thing that black people had accomplished by committing the foul sin of incest. Dr. Bledsoe is also an example of betrayal. He betrayed his race and his college by showing Mr. Norton the defective members of his race. On the other hand Dr. Bledsoe betrays the invisible man by letting him believe that he is going to write letters of recommendations to help him when he is really just trying to get him as far away as possible from the school. This hurt the invisible man because he respected Dr. Bledsoe and wanted to be like him. The invisible man was also betrayed by one of the Brotherhood members when he was accused of using his position in the communist group to make him look important. The fact that it was a black man who accused him made it even more important because he never thought one of his own would try to bring him down. At the end of the story the invisible man was completely betrayed by the Brotherhood and by his people by being treated as a puppet for the Brotherhood. When he fell in the manhole and couldn’t get out he thought about all the betrayal that he faced and decided that it was better to stay in a dark hole. It is evident that almost everyone in the novel was affected by betrayal in some shape or form. Betrayal affected the invisible man because as previously stated he felt it was better not to come out of the hole. Installment #8 The Liberty Paints plant also serves a purpose in the novel Invisible Man. It is a metaphor for American society in relationship with race. It is defined by liberty and freedom but embedded with racism in its core operations just like America. Due to the fact that the factory produces paint Ellison is able to make literal statements about color. An example occurred when the authorities of the factory showed off their white paint, the white paint symbolized white supremacy. Also when the plant claimed that its trademark “Optic White” was capable of covering up any tint or stain, it implied t...