In the novel, invisible man takes an interesting ride with
Mr. Norton around campus; even the parts nobody ever dared to go to. Along the
way, Mr. Norton says his fate is dependent on invisible man. He asks the
protagonist to tell him his fate. “…whatever you become, and even if you fail,
you are my fate. And you must write me and tell me the outcome. (Ellison 44)”
Mr.
Norton may be trying to say the students at the school decide his fate. If they
do well at the school and enjoy it, the school is regarded as favorable. Mr.
Norton seems interested in the protagonist specifically though. The protagonist
wants to just tell Mr. Norton that he helped make the school what it is. When
he does, Mr. Norton says it’s not enough. Mr. Norton says “…if you fail, I have failed by one individual, one
defective cog… (Ellison 45)” To an extent, everybody is dependent on someone
else to decide their fate—parents, teachers, everyone closest to them. The way
one is raised or taught or molded predicts who they might become.
Mr.
Norton believes his fate rests in the students. He doesn’t realize that he can
choose his fate. He should care about the school and the students and what name
the school has, but he shouldn’t make the school decide who he is or what he
should do. He should realize he needs to decide it on his own. Fate is decided
partly by the people closest to you, but a lot of it rests in your own hands.
I absolutely love how you connected your blog post to the article about Deepak Chopra. People often need other people to evaluate their fate and success, and Mr. Norton is a great example of this. However, fate is an impermanent part of our lives which can be changed through doing good deeds and continuing to improve mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This is exactly what Deepak Chopra believes in, as seen through this great article and the opening poem he references.
ReplyDelete