- your reactions
- your questions
- your thoughts
- words, phrases, or sentences that stood out to you
- your engagement with the novel: dissect it, unravel it, work your way around in it
- what you think will happen next or at some point in the future
Note: I want you to be honest about your thoughts, but this is not your opportunity to whine or complain. Let's keep these posts thoughtful, intelligent, critical, and insightful.
Do not make your post simply a list of questions you expect someone else to answer.
Nor do I want a summary of what happened.
Finish the novel for Monday!! We'll work on a MWDS in class next week.
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66 comments:
IM's life appears to be going in an endless cycle. Right when we think that a new beginning has arrived, hence the yams, everything just becomes all to familiar.
The eviction scene was somewhat sad, and his speech was quite repetitive, somewhat irritating, simple, and ironic since he did not plan on starting a riot.
The brotherhood seemed like it was just perfect for him at first, but then I started to realize that they didn't see him as a human being with feelings just like Bledsoe hadn't, but that they were using him as a tool to progress their communist movement throughout the city of New York.
I love Mary, and her humility and modesty inspire me.
I am still hoping that this novel will end in happiness and that he will eventually find his true identity.
I feel sympathetic towards the narrator because as outsiders we see that this new lifestyle of his will end in a downfall but he is unable to see this. I don't think that this situation is enough like the lesson he learned from the set of letters from Doctor Bledsoe, so I understand why he seems so naive. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in things that appear to be good that we can't even see the real truth of things until it is all over with. The only possible way we can see the whole view of things is by taking a step by and looking in from the outside, but the narrator never sees this necessary so he keeps going full speed ahead. As much as I would like to see the narrator find his true identity and for him to find out the truth of things before his destruction, I think this might be a rather sad ending with our narrator realizing the truth about life too late.
As IM begins to join the Brotherhood we see him begin to lose his identity again. Although he thinks he is being a new person we know that he is not becoming himself but someone else. Just like at the college, the Brotherhood is using IM to benefit themselves. He has shifted from the interest of uplifting himself to uplifting his whole race, which in the long run both are forming his identity into something other than who he really is.
IM has had a few "mentors," I guess you could say, so far in the novel. First his grandfather, then the vet, Mary, and now Ras. With each mentor he gets more advice but all of it points to bettering himself and later turns to bettering his race. Although all of these mentors give good advice, he has failed to follow his own heart and mind. No matter how good the cause, he will never find his identity until he pursues something on his own.
As Lisa said, it's a cycle. The Godless Commies are the University all over again.
Mary: Biblical stuff? Bla bla bla, there is no such thing as the author not carefully choosing names, literary analysis, etc.? She was pretty cool. Reminds me of somebody I knew once.
As for the Brotherhood, my cynicism sent up red flags that this would end badly, just like his college adventure. I'm of the opinion that nothing truly good is going to happen to this guy; the Brotherhood is simply too good to be true. We will all live together peacefully sounds pretty cool, but it just doesn't happen in the world. Jesus, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King all said that; they got shot. Even in Europe, the politically correct land of equality, there is quite a bit of racism and animosity against certain groups (North Africans, Turks, Muslims in UK).
The party scene ("is he black enough?") confirmed this for me early on. Sounds like our Utopia-minded friends want a nice figurehead says me. They get their figurehead, and then they chop him down because he's a threat to their power. I remember a quote, can't remember it off the top of my head, but it said something like "the tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut." Also, there was the "society chews up their leaders and spits them out" bit at the party; oooh, foreshadowing.
Also, a quick question: Brother Jack is white, isn't he?
One thing that stuck out ot me in these chapters was Im's reaction to Brother Jack at first. He is very cautious and rejects the ideas he proposes. To me, this seemed a lot like Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye. It is only for an instant, but his whole "I did something good, but it does not matter, I just did it and everyone is suspicious of me" seem to reflect Holden's outlook on life. This could be a sign of his depression at that time in the novel, since Holden was a depressed character.
I thought that the scene where the Brotherhood seems to turn against him is especially sad. Just when he felt like he was belonging, even if the organization was not that great, he has another Dr. Bledsoe-ish incident. Brother Westrum really got on my nerves because he is so mean in trying to undermine the narrator. He seems to try to reject his heritage, in favor of fitting into the Brotherhood's mold.
Also, I thought the eviction speech was interesting because from the way he started, I thought that he was going to try to talk them out of action, but as he talked ,he seemed to talk himself and the group into action and gain their support.
One thing that really stood out to me in the section of this story is the main character's speaking ability. When he first started talking at the eviction, I got the feeling that he did not even mean to excite the crowd the way he did. The words he tried to make sincere dripped with sarcasm. He could not hide the truth in his words. And later on, during the speeches, his attitude surprised me. Who knew such rebellion had developed inside him? Once the brotherhood hears the power in his words, they have to modify his speeches for their own needs. But I believe that first speech with the brotherhood shows his true beliefs and feelings at that stage in his life.
WELL! These chapters were the most interesting to me. I think it's funny how white people are still controlling the IM with this whole speaker stuff. They are completely manipulating him into what they want him to be: the black stereotype. Some think he isn't black enough to form into this new black figure. Brother Jack surpresses the IM's true feelings about being black, and eventually Brother J. just kicks him to the side because the IM doesn't want to conform. Sounds like he's getting an identity.
This section is the best so far. Once again, IM is being controlled, this time by the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood mimics the college in their stance at improvement. However, when IM goes with Brother Jack and some of the other men, it is easy to see that he is nothing more than a pawn in their larger scheme. This is even more reinforced by Emma asking if he was "black enough". This shot up red flags for me. He is a figure head that the Brotherhood wants to use. They even go so far as to give IM a new name. IM even gets in trouble for not speaking scientifically enough, although he does entice the crowd.
It seems to be a n endless cycle of IM trying to gain his place in the world and gain some respect, but as soon as he starts to accomplish this, it all falls apart.
I'm getting really tired of the narrator putting his entire life into something and then having someone destroy his hope. He should know by now that he can't trust the Brotherhood and yet he still won't see it.
I had hoped that when he started to eat the yams that he would continue to discover that he should be himself. Unfortunately, just when he starts having an epiphany, someone comes over to mess everything up.
By the way, I hate Brother Jack! He ticks me off. He just walks around running people's lives and no one does anything about it. He's so much like Bledsoe, and personally, I think he sent that letter to the narrator to scare him.
The invisible man's attraction for money has been his downfall up to this point in the book. After the battle royal, when he should be angry and humiliated, he let's the briefcase and scholarship make up for the white's mistreatment of him. Then he allows Bledsoe to compromise with the letters and gives up his fight against him because of Bledsoe's empty promises. Finally, he lets the brotherhood bribe him into joining their false cause. All of this he has brought upon himself and it is annoying to read the book seeing him never fight for himself until after he has already been screwed over. He angers over trivial occurrences rather than realizing he himself is the root of the problem. Ellison hints at this when the invisible man gets mad at the bank, but it is never clear why he hates the bank. I believe it is because he sees himself in it and can't stand to see himself portrayed as such.
The narrator often mentions "contradictions" in the things his mentors tell him and society tells him. I thought this was very evident in the scene when he is talking with Brother Wrestrum in Chapter 18. When he's trying to convince the narrator to remove the chain link Brother Tarp gave him, Wrestrum says, "We have to change this way we have of always talking about how different we are." Yet, on the next page he wants banners and flags "specially for us black brothers." He thinks the chain link draws too much attention to the differences between black and white, but banners and flags don't? Wrestrum also warns the narrator that "some call you Brother to your face and the minute you turn your back, you're a black son of a bitch! You got to watch 'em." And then he turns around and says, "We have to learn to trust our other brothers." What is the purpose of these mixed messages? I would guess just to confuse him and get him talking. Wrestrum's real agenda in this scene seems to be to spy on the narrator in order to find something to accuse him of because Wrestrum is afraid of the narrator's power.
The ending of chapter eighteen made me SO MAD! I hate in books and movies when the good guy gets screwed over by some other guy who's lying just because he's jealous. It would have been one thing if the Invisible Man would have actually lived up to his accusations but he can't help it that everyone in Harlem strives off of his ideas; he never meant to sound like he was the leader of the organization.
I want to know who wrote the letter because apparently it is someone he knows because he said the handwriting was familiar and whoever wrote it had a really good idea about what was going to happen.
By sending the Invisible Man out of Harlem, the Brotherhood is halting the production made in assimiliating the black community wih the white, something they never fully intended to do anyways. Harlem will not be nearly as successful without the Invisible Man. However, I think he will return regardless of being sent away and regardless of the stupid excuses the Brotherhood had for doing so.
I believe it is obvious that the narrator is going to have to leave the Brotherhood and find himself once more. It is frustrating to watch him come so close to finding the road of true self-discovery and be sucked back into the manpulative world of the upperclass in an instant. I thought he should have learned his lesson at the college about the manipulative types of people in charge, but of course, he falls back into the same mess. In my opinion, Brother Jack is a lot like Bledsoe. I do not care how nice and supportive he may seem on the surface. Underneath this facade, I believe he is more manipulative than the others in the Brotherhood, and maybe even more manipulative than Bledsoe. He has the whole Brotherhood at his command, and I believe that Brother Wrestrum brought the charges of selfishness upon the narrator due to Brother Jack's influence. By listening to Emma and Brother Jack's conversation, it is easy to see that the narrator is just a posterchild and spokesperson of the black race. They plan to use him from the start until his usefullness wears out. They needed someone to represent the black race, and the narrator just happened to be in the right place at the right time. They do not care what he thinks; he is only a puppet, mimicing the ideas of the Brotherhood for money. The coin bank of a smiling Negro seems to represent this idea. Money is pushed down the statue's throat to keep the strangled smile on his face and the controls and levers working in the back. The narrator cannot seem to give up on these "easy" ways out. Only when he stops being so naive and scrapes up some dignity can he truly find himself.
I agree with Lisa, this poor guy is stuck in a cycle masquerading as new beginnings. On the surface he starts down a totally new path, like when he goes from the college to the paint factory, and from there to the Brotherhood. But really these jobs are all part of the cycle because what defines them turns out not to be what they are doing, but the people that are doing it. And the most of the people he meets and interacts with are the same. They mold him into an identity that is useful for them, destroying, or at least burying deeper, his true identity. By this treatment of him, these people, in the brotherhood for example, just show that they are using him; treating him like an object. Hopefully some of that made as much sense as it did in my head!!
my favorite part of these chapters was the yams. i hate yams but my mouth was watering from his description. i thought it was hilarious when he starts yelling at Bledsoe ("Bledsoe") in the middle of the street about eating chitterlings.
i also really liked the leg chain link that Brother Tarp gave IM. Wrestrum thinks he should get rid of it but i agreed with IM and thought it was very important because it symbolizes black oppression and slavery and they need to constantly be reminded of what they have overcome and still need to. Wrestrum is such an ignorant jerk i hate him! he seems to me like he wants to recognition IM has and to eventually gain all the power of the Brotherhood. too bad he's stupid.
Chapter 15 seemed, at first, like the most random thing ever, besides I guess the hospital scene. I've been wondering how the IM hadn't noticed the bank with the black man's grin painted on it. Was he just "blind" to it, like he has been to so many other things? This bank was standing next to the door, so every time he walked in and out of his room, he had to walk past it. The only explanation I can come up with, is that he is blind to it. Blind to the stereotypical, greedy black man that the bank symbolizes. I think that he finally realizes what he has become, but he doesn't want to believe it. By smashing and destroying the symbolic stereotype, the IM is trying to destroy that image that he's made for himself. But as we know, he can't. Everywhere he tries to leave the remains, they always end up coming back to him. Sort of like a bad dream, where you're running away from the bad guy or something, but he just pops up everywhere. Well, maybe that's a stretch. But either way, the reader can see through this chapter alone, that the IM can't get rid of the stereotype that he's become.
After all those moments of rebirth in the hospital scene, I had so much confidence in the narrator to really grow into himself instead of falling subservient to another group. I enjoyed seeing him lash out at the police in the eviction scene then I was just set up for disappointment again because he joins the brotherhood. Everything seems so familiar in these chapters because it is as if he is going through all the stages of life again just in a different setting. While reading about the "yams of freedom" or whatever he referred to them as, I got extremely hungry and also admired his spirit and indignation for his own culture. Again, another disappointing set up. All in all, I hope he finally realizes that he is in a tireless cycle and is able to climb out of the hole he continues to dig himself into.
I was always wary of the Brotherhood when I stated reading about the particular orginization. The whole orginization seems shady and sinister in a way; I was also surprised when I found the narrator was getting 60 dollars a week for a salary. That amaount of money was huge for this time period, and I am still confused as to how the Brotherhood can afford to pay its emplowees so handsomely when there doesn't seem to be a significant source of income to the orginization. Later, the Brotherhood also essentially throws the narrator out, sending him to work on the "woman question" far away from the narrator's current line of work. How can the Brotherhood can afford to pay him the same salary, but send him to work on a much less important task than his current one? The orginization seems hypocritical in some ways and I hope the narrator will leave it soon.
Everything happens to the invisible man so fast. One second hes eating yams then hes leading a riot then hes swept away and expected to joing the Brotherhood. I feel sympathy for him because it has to be majorly overwhelming. How can anyone be expected to make big decisions that fast? Little did the invisible man know, he would regret joining the Brotherhood because it merely put him right back in the situation he was in before, simply taking orders from others. I think that the invisible man often lets people take control over him because he doesn't know how to be independent or is just not confident enough to do it.
IM recieves adivce throughout the entire novel but I believe that some of the best comes from Ras. Though Ras tries to kill Tod Clifton, he still attempts to help IM see who he really is. As a black man Ras wants to get it through IM's head that he is also. Ras wants them to leave the white Brotherhood beacause he believes that they will never fit in with another race. Basically Ras' advice is that white men should not be in control, so as black men they should step up. But by stepping it up IM must stay himself and not try to fit in and he shoudl try to always keep his own identity.
From the moment Brother Jack showed up, I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong, and that IM shouldn't trust him or the Brotherhood. I mean, they even gave him another name that we don't even find out; yet another identity mystery for our main character. I thought that I was just being silly when the Brotherhood seemed a perfect match for him. He was useful and was making money; just what he needed to do in New York. Also, the fact that his speech talent was helping him made it even better. Then, of course, the author throws someone in that screws it all up and IM is back where he began.
I really enjoyed Mary though, she was a great character to influence IM; her generosity and kindness gave the novel a much-needed sense of good and happiness, even if only for a little bit.
I'm hoping that the narrator is able to get his life back on track, especially after his humiliation with the Brotherhood.
One of the most ironic points in these chapters happens in the bar where IM meets Emma. Emma is talking to Brother Jack and the IM when she asks Brother Jack if IM is "black enough." It is crazy that IM will still choose to be with the Brotherhood after he realizes that he is being used as a "natural resource." Even more so after his whole "I yam what I yam" thing. He blindy allows himself to be used as a tool for the others. He is running away from the true problem. He does not want to accept the fact of him being a pawn.
It seems not only through chapters 13-18 but throughout the whole book at one moment the I.M. life is just a big stereotype but other times he is not. for example the yams is very like a southern black black man. no i do not think this is bad at all cause i like some good ole soul food myself. a good quote i quess you could use is you can take the girl out of the honkie tonk but you cant take the honkie tonk out of the girl. where ever someone is from people always go back to what they grew up on, or at least they will always have a love for it. no matter how much the narrator would like to forget his past he will alwasys remember the good things about it.
After reading of the hospital scene with endless references to a new birth, I was really expecting to see a fresh, new side of the narrator. Instead, we get thrown back into a new story of him building trust and belief in a cause (not so much the group itself); only to find him betrayed again. I believe this is because the narrator had no time to rediscover himself. Sure, he says that eating the yams set him free, but they really only symbolize a temporary stirring of emotions inside the narrator that, like anything else stirred, soon settles back down to the bottom of the glass.
After his "rebirth", he, like a child, exists in a state where he easily influenced. After he passes out on the subway, he is immediately under the influence of a motherly figure, Mary. She tells him (or hints) that he needs to be a strong community leader. He didn't develop that aspect of himself on his own. After the eviction situation, as if Mary's impact on him wasn't enough, Brother Jack slides into the narrator's life as a father figure. Like Bledsoe earlier in the novel, Brother Jack proves to have a secret agenda which does not include uplifting the narrator.
Overall, I agree with brianna in that these chapters are the best in the novel so far.
First, the more and more I read this book, the more I feel that the narrator will not find his actual identity. He constantly strives to achieve identity and importance, and right before he does, he is struck down. Good examples would be the college and the Brotherhood, both places he is expelled right before he achieves his identity or something of importance.
Secondly, I think Brother Wrestrum wrote the letter to the narrator. It is too coincidental, Wrestrum is very interested in the proposed interview of the narrator and then, towards the end of chapter, he accuses the narrator of using the Brotherhood for his own personal game, calling him an opportunist.
In my opinion, part of the reason why the narrator failed at the brotherhood is his overt ambition and naivety. He is too ambitious and naive, two major shortcomings of the narrator. He is blinded by it, in a way Homer Barbee is physically blind. The narrator is metaphorically blind and Barbee is physically blind.
First, I would like to agree with Alyx on the yams. Sweet potatoes and yams are two of the most putrid, repulsive foods I can think of, yet the description (e.g. the melted butter and the scent) was enticing.
Speaking of yams, this food is one of the many objects that makes the narrator nostalgic. As my friends have noticed and begun to detest, I am also an extremely sentimental person, and this nostalgia can be sparked by nearly anything: a song, dejavu, etc. In the narrator's case, it is yams. Ellison uses the narrator's sentimentality as a means of revealing the cycle that was mentioned by Lisa and Sean.
Im joins the brotherhood thinking that it will be his salvation and that it will bring him a sense of accomplishment and true identity just as many of us feel finding an activity or sport we love will shape us into the person we want to be. However, this is not the case, and instead of becoming confident and assured IM becomes even more lost and confused. It is as if he is fighting to hard for his identity instead of just opening his eyes and realizing the truth behind everything around him. The reader gets a sense of hope when the narrator eats the yams, hoping that he will stay true to his heritage and his past and that will lead him to a new identity. Instead, it is short lived and he goes back to not standing up for himself and what he believes in.
As a reader it is frustrating to see IM making so many wrong turns and dumb descions. In reality, IM is just an exaggeration of each and every person in society. Everyone makes bad descions without realizing it.
It seems like IM is constantly making the same mistakes and it all is just a big endless cycle. He surrounds himself with people who really don't care about him, but keep him around for what he can do for them. He is never his own person, he shapes himself into whoever he needs to be for that particular person at the time (Dr. Bledsoe, the Brotherhood). If he would just make a choice for himself he would probably see things 100% clearer for what they are.
The narrator is a frustrating character. As soon as he starts to form his own identity in Harlem, he joins the Brotherhood, which symbolizes his regression and further "blindness" as to his personal identity.
I think images like his briefcase and the black coin bank at Mary's house symbolize important issues of race the narrator has to face. The briefcase represents his denial and desire to assimilate into white culture and fit into the mold the whites have set out for him. The black coin bank represents his heritage and the identity that perhaps he already knows but has refused to accept. (this is similar to the symbolism of the yams)
I think for the narrator to continue on in the path of the hero, which we discussed in class. Someone has to die.
In all epics the hero's mentor must die in order for the hero to reach his goal and establish his (or her) identity. But I don't know who will die, especially since the grandfather's already dead.
It's Ashley (again, sorry).
I had one quick question about a small scene on page 391 ("...I had just dismissed a woman seeking to free her husband, who had been jailed for beating her..."): Why would any person in their right mind want to free someone who uses them as a punching bag? Is she reliant on him, subservient to him, just as the blacks are to the whites? Despite the abuse, why do both defend their oppressors?
One of the vet's predications came true--our narrator did end up dancing with a white woman, and he did so with the ease as if he'd always done it.
Brother Tarp's story of the leg chain was gripping, because opened up to show his vulnerability but also his immense strength and determination during the ordeal. When the narrator put it around his knuckles, it immediately brought to mind brass knuckles. The chain now is used for violent imagery, rather then oppressive imagery. The narrator carries it around in his pocket, so perhaps he will use it for violence against someone later on in the story...
I thought the most interesting part was towards the very end of the section. In chapter 18, when the man on the telephone is begging IM for an interview, IM continues to state that it's not him that is responsible for everything that the Brotherhood has done. He's very reluctant to take on this role as the 'leader' of the Brotherhood, to the interviewer, at least. I think that IM denies the fact that he is the leader of the Brotherhood because the leader is supposed to have a standout character and personality; and, maybe he knows that the identity that he has taken on is not his. Also, there's the fact that the Brotherhood really doesn't support personal identities. Although they say that they do allow for individualism, they secretly want IM to just be a face for their organization, nothing more, nothing less.
I noticed in these chapters especially that the narrator is being controlled even when he thinks he is getting his own identity. he joins the brotherhood where he recieves the title brother, the same title as all the other men working there. also, he is making speeches and standing up for what he believes in but only to an extent. when he talks at a rally about something the brotherhood approves but when he speaks his own words to a reporter, brother jack gets mad. He is so easily pushed into situations, like after the interview when he is forced to move out of harlem and work on something else that is not his own ideas but those of the brotherhood.
I hate that the Invisible Man joins the Brotherhood. I feel like he is losing more of his identity by joining this. He then transforms into being what they want him to be and less of who he truly is! I didn't think it was a good idea even from the beginning.
He should have stayed with Mary and tried to create himself before he joins a group that he can easily lose himself in because they are trying to control him.
The Invisible Man just keeps getting crazier and crazier to me. This whole nonsense of the "Brotherhood" (which is more of an oppresive society than a family). I thought at first that it would be perfect to perpetuate his orator talents. However, it seems that it's more of a society to oppress those skills. The keep him down with pointless, scientific jargon. I find it so idiotic that the narrator is unable to truly find himself. I cannot wait to see what happens next!
IM's joining of the Brotherhood furthers his conformity to society. He follows what they say, they give him a name-change his identity to who they want him to be. However, IM speaks in a "selfish" manner, as to further advance him self, not the Brotherhood. The scene where IM gives a speech-the blinding light and crowd-is exactly like the Battle Royal scene. IM must find a balance if he wants to gain self-autonomy.
I was getting happy for the narrator. He was gaining power and respect through the Brotherhood and leading Harlem, but then Hambro ruined it for him. I think it just shows that you might think you are getting ahead, but you're really not. You have to evaluate your situation and be constantly aware that you might not make it.
One thing that really stuck out to me was the leg chain that Brother Tarp gave the narrator. I'm not sure why, but if you were to ask us the question "what symbol is most important?" again I would say the leg chain. It represents a past struggle, present struggle, and possibly a future struggle for both the narrator and black people in general.
I didn't like the book at first, but it is growing on me. (:
I really didn't like the way that the narrator just let the Brotherhood completely take over his life the way he did. I think the only reason he joined it was because they offered him money and he got to give speeches. Other than that, there was really nothing in it for him. He is very naive (and curious) for falling into their traps. He could have stayed with Mary and found something better to do with his life.. which may have in turn helped him find his identity faster; however, he chooses to move out because Brother Jack didn't think it would be safe. From what I've gathered thus far, only the narrator is responsible for creating his identity, and he seems to be doing everything in his power to stay lost by following people that he doesn't know.
I hope he enjoyed those yams, because at this point, that's just about the only thing he's getting to do for himself.
The narrator seems to be trying to escape from what eventually is coming to due to the fact that he has not found out what it means for a black to live in a white-ruled society. He tries to find himself in Harlem; he first starts to see his past with a positive strive for the future when he eats the sweet and buttery yams. But he gets caught up by the Brotherhood, which seems like a good group to join, but it turns out that it is not that great. In chapter 18 it is made clear that the brothers have problems, including Brother Tarp. One thing that stuck out for me, was when Tarp says that "there are those amongst us who don't really believe in Brotherhood."(pg. 393) This clearly shows that the group has liers, which makes it a bad situation for the invisible man. Overall, the narrator is going to have a hard time to find himself in a 'messy world.'
I think it is interesting how the narrator never seems to do anything through his own ideas or in his own way. For example, his first speech for the Brotherhood - he used his own thoughts in the speech, then, after he was criticized, stepped away from these thoughts. He then went through a "training session" with Brother Hambro, where he learned how to "speak." It is as if the narrator either does not know what to think, or he is incredibly naive. I believe that he is naive, for he could not realize what was occurring at his college, either. And, finally, he is put on trial by Brother Wrestum, yet he does nothing to defend himself. It is as if he is living a dream-like state, where he does not realize that anything bad is happeneing to him
I really liked these chapters. I thought that the eviction part was really sad. I hated his speech though. I didn't think that he was making very much sense. He was just rambling, which kind of killed the sad moment and made me get annoyed with him.
When he met brother Jack and was getting a job I was happy for him. The Brotherhood seemed to be something that he would be able to do to make him happy by giving speeches; but the Brotherhood was just there to use him as a hood ornament to dangle in front of the audience they wanted. I hope that he will discover his identity by the end of the novel. Well, in a way he did because he labels himself as "invisible," so I guess he does find his true identity, but its not that great of an identity.
I was kinda disappointed and really aggravated that the narrator went back to relying on the Brotherhood in order to find his identity. I thought after the whole "rebirthing" at the hospital, the narrator was finally going to see that conforming with society and depending on others is not the way to self-discovery. When he made his emotional speech in the boxing ring, I was hopeful that the invisible man would see the importance of being content with yourself. But the leaders of the Brotherhood only make him feel naive when they send him to Hambro to get his "scientific ideals" right. I think the single good thing that the narrator takes from the Brotherhood, before being attacked and transferred to speak for the women, is meeting Tod Clifton. Though Ellison implements Clifton as a foil to our narrtor, I think this is what IM should be striving to be. Now I'm just waiting for the narrator to have the inevitable epiphany that lets him realize he cannot depend on the subjective world to find complacency with himself.
I think that by joining the Brotherhood, IM thinks he is finding himself, but I think he is actually losing more of his identity. When he makes speeches, they are good but the other men act like he is not following their ways. It is like they want him to just be the figurhead and not show his true colors. I think he trusts people too easily. Even though IM thinks Ras's advice is just junk, I think that deep down, IM knows that Ras is right.
I liked the part where the invisibke man is trying to throw away the bank, but can't seem to get rid of it. The lady gets mad and tells him he's "ruining things" by throwing away trash. The irony of it is the IM is doing what any respectable citizen should do and she's calling him a bad person. She's really the trashy one in the situation. The IM also encounters a man who thinks it's some kind of a drug deal, just because he's young and black. I'm sure the IM looks nothing like a thug, but he's descriminated against anyway.
I think that the narrator makes a huge mistake by joining the Brotherhood. Yes, he is doing ot for a good reason, but he doen not realize what it could do to him. The Brotherhood ends up being just like the college and Mr. Bledsoe, eventually destroying everything he put into it. The narrator thinks he can find his identity through the Brotherhood, but in reality it only takes him farther from finding it. The Brotherhood forces him to act and think how they want, not how he wants.
I think that it was not only a mistake that the IM joined the Brotherhood, but every other group he has joined was a problem too. Every time the narrator joins a group it ends in disaster--and even though the Brotherhood may or may not fail we know it will from the chapters. My signal to that was when Emma said Brother Jack always said heroes are chewed up and spit out by their society. Ellison wants him to figure out himself and then see where the chips lie, not just see where other people put their chips and go off of that. Ellison speaks of self-discovery and then immersion into society, and we know from the prologue that the narrator will attempt the first stage.
I think it is pretty pathetic how the narrator keeps falling into the same situations over and over again. I would think that he would have learned the first time around what kind of people he should avoid. It is ironic how extremely similar the scenarios of the Brotherhood and the college are. He is invited because of a speech he gives, asked to do some nonproductive task, then he is kicked out of both without even knowing until later. He is the blind leading the blind. In his speech, he is blinded by the light, just like Homer Barbee, the fighter who lost his sight in that ring, and himself during the battle royale. He needs to realize an official group does not always follow its official goals. As shown through his speeches, he does not need to be part of a group or organiztion to instigate action in the people. He is able to do that by himself, the Brotherhood is holding him back just like the college did.
I must say, I got a pretty good chuckle from the narrator's dream-like fantasy of calling out Bledsoe on being a chitterling eater. Especially at the part where he describes Bledsoe running out with literally feet of chitterling while being laughed at by the overly proper people that Bledsoe associates himself with. At first the Brotherhood confused me, but I think I get the picture now in that their just a bunch of communists. I find it quite ironic how the narrator is all about finding his identity and trying to break the stereotype of a black man back in those times, but he plays right into it in the Brotherhood.
I think he's called the IM because he is the man that doesn't embody self-identity. He is invisible because his personality is absolutely nothing. His talents and traits are molded into the conformity of what others deem correct so he doesn't have a chance to be himself. His willing to please anybody that symbolizes some form of success, deemed by society, is what is ultimately killing him. I think the saddest aspect about it is that he thinks he'll always last in a group depending upon work ethic, behavior, poise, and appearance and that if he completes all these items then he will be prosperous.
Brother Tarp gives IM a piece of metal from his shackles. The broken shackle should represent freedom, however, Brother Tarp still walks as if though in chains even years later. He keeps the chain as a reminder of what he is truly fighting for. Brother Westrum tells IM to put the shackle out of sight when he sees it out on his desk. Brother Westrum chooses to forget about the history of slavery rather than address the issue.
Once again, we can see the trouble that the narrator is getting himself into by joining the Brotherhood. As the reader, we are able to see that Invisible Man is trying to become what everyone else wants him to be, while never gaining an identity of his own. The narrator life is starting to reapeat itself, because of the stark similarities of the Brotherhood and the college. Both try to put the image of striving for social equality, when really they are lowering the veil farther. As the narrator continues through these chapters, I become more sympathetic towards him because I knew this job would not turn out the way he planned. Then, in Chapter 18, he does get moved out of Harlem.
What really confused me was what Clifton was talking about after his and the narrator's encounter with Ras. How Ras had chosen to "plunge" outside of history. I am still not sure exactly what he meant by it, but I think it may tie in to why the narrator is, or perhaps chooses to be an invisible man. Perhaps the narrator will himself choose to make the plunge. I hope the book can clarify these question as I read through the last of the chapters.
I thought this section of the book started getting pretty intense. I really enjoyed the fight in the street with Ras and his gang. I kinda respected Ras for being stubborn. It seemed as though he was so stubborn that his confidence was way higher than the narrators. the invisible man shows his weaknesses and i suspect that he is going to soon loose faith in the brotherhood. this may be the climax of the story?
The narrator's speech at the stadium is very appropriate for the occassion. He talks a lot about blindness and relates it to how black people have been oppressed. It is particularly appropriate because he gives the speech in the same place where a famous black boxer was blinded. In these chapters, I noticed that the brotherhood seems more like a business than a civil rights group. Everyone makes a lot of money. The group is structed like a business with ranking officers, figureheads, marketing, a they are promoting their product, which is a "scientific" approach to civil rights. They even have office politics like when wrestrum accuses the narrator of trying to spread his own rhetoric in the interview. They all want the narrator to do things their way even though it doesn't work, because their way makes them money without actually causing change. So the brotherhood wants to keep things the same for as long as possible, so they can all make a lot of money.
In IM I feel sympathetic yet I am disappointed as the narrator once again falls into a trap, as he joins the brotherhood, that will end in him reaching more difficult obstacles. Once again we see him change to satisfy the wish of those he sees as superior. Later as he faces these problems he realises that the brotherhood it is not exactly what it seems to be.
I felt a lot better during chapters 14-18 than the others because I could actually start to see the invisible man learn about what is really going on. He soesn't seem to agravate me as much as before when he would fall back into the same traps over and over again. Though, he still makes careless mistakes and is blinded by alot, he seems to be gettting closer to that point of reality that I know is coming because of the prolouge.
Hopefully the invisible man is starting to learn his lesson by now! Like Lisa said, he seems to be going in a cycle. He trusts people, giving them complete control over him; they deceive him and he seems to realize it; he resists trusting people for a little while; then he inevitably falls into the control of someone else! He feels like he has to be a part of a group to be a part of something meaningful. I think that for some people, it may help them to be in a group--a group that encourages them and keeps them motivated, but the invisible man allows too much of himself to be lost in the group. Whenever he joins a new group, he is willing to throw himself aside and act any way they want him too. He is exactly like all the clowns, puppets, and dolls, he has mentioned so often in the book. He lets them twist him and make him smile and dance, the whole time him looking like a fool. I think in the prologue, when he is in his hole, is where he will find his identity (if he ever finds it). I think that interacting with other people is a vital part of defining yourself, but for the invisible man, I think it is best for him to separate for a while, because he can't seem to just interact with them and learn from them without becoming them.
This section of the book was very frusterating for me, since i expected the narrator to somewhat learn from his earlier mistakes and not fall into the same trap. He seemed to have a strong realization while eating the yams, but instead of picking up on his realization and changing, he falls subject to the brotherhood and continued to be used. He thinks that he is becoming and creating his own identity, but instead he is just being used by others. As others have already said, his life is like a cycle where he starts on a new path, you think he will change for the better...and then he falls into the exact same position he was previously in.
Sorry for the lateness, I have been having some issues with my account. Somehow it locked me out and I had to reset my password.
In chapters 13-18, the IM seems to start realizing what his problem really is. He starts to see that he is ivisible not only because of others, but because of his willingness to submit to their ways. I find it very interesting that Brother Clifton disappears. The whole time that IM and Clifton are talking with Ras, Clifton seems mezmerized by Ras's words and ideals. I think this represents a realization for IM because Ras puts it in perfect words just how the white people are contorlling them to think they are making their situation better. IM starts to change his motives in the chapters to come.
It was easily noticable from the beginning of these chapters that the Brotherhood was sketchy and was not going to be a good thing for him. However, all seemed well and he was finally on his feet and fitting in. But, of course, everything has to end badly, so the Brotherhood does turn out to be a croc and a bad experience. It is apparent to the reader, but he has yet to open his eyes and see it. He never should have left Mary. She would have led him in the right direction and helped him along the way; too bad he screwed that up.
I feel sorry for the IM. He is so naive that his life is miserable to be in or apart of. People are always back stabbing him and he doesn't learn from his mistakes. Its really sad to see someone live there life that way and you can't do anything about it. That's really what i wish i could do. I wish i could randomly jump into the story slap him in the face and explain reality to him. It would save him a lot of trouble. He just needs a giant reality check
IM really is going in a cirle just as Lisa said. He goes away from one group which is the college and then he starts to work at factory. But just when we think he is reborn with the yams(yams equal freedom), he becomes a part of the Brotherhood, which molds him and gives hima new identity. He lets them control him like a puppet. Jack is like a father figure to him and Mary is like a mother figure to him. Tod Clifton is a foil of the narrator. The Brotherhood is like a communist party. They control everything that is going on. They even give IM a new identity, in which they do not tell us what it is, making him even more invisible.
I particularly enjoyed reading these chapters, however I dislike how the narrator continues to fall into obvious traps. I could not comprehend how the narrator finally fights for something worth while when he makes his speech, but then he becomes consumed by this illusion that he must sacrifice himself to the better of the Brotherhood. My favorite part though had to be his description of the yams. I do not even like yams, and his descriptions made me extremely hungry. I thinks these chapters forebode that something big and destructive is going to have to take place for the narrator to realize the deceitful ways of the Brotherhood.
During these few chapters, we see the leader in our narrator. He goes and speaks and does not try to arouse the crowd but ends up having them all riled up. He continues with his speeches with the Brotherhood but gets in trouble for using emotion. But to have the crowd truly connect you must use some emotion. I think the Brotherhood is nothing more than a stepping stone on his path to his identity that he may or may not find in the end.
This section of the novel shows that even when you think the narrarator has learned his lesson, he goes and makes the same old mistakes. He goes into that whole big thing about the yams of freedom and then he gets roped into the Brotherhood. It really doesn't seem like he will ever learn his lesson and he is just doomed to be the lacky for every white man he meets. He doesn't seem to know how to find his own identity, so he just adopts the one that everyone around him believes he should have. He needs to learn to be his own person and not just what everyone thinks he should be.
One thing that really stood out to me was IM's continual inability to see what was really going out there. Despite the many hints of him being used by the Brotherhood, he failed to see that they were controlling his every move by telling him how to speak to the crowd. Ever since chapter one of this book, IM's ignorance has caught up to him, constantly bringing down his optimistic view of the world. I believe that by the end of the book, the author will have a new sense of meaning of the cruel world in both many good and bad ways.
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