Bledsoe and
Norton exemplify the contrasting views of simple acts, through the eyes of
their race. The invisible man seeks only to please and find Mr. Norton help in
his illness, and for that the trustee is grateful. He attempts to clear up any
misunderstanding by explaining to Dr. Bledsoe what truly happened. Despite the
unfortunate circumstances, he still has hope and “[looks] forward with the
greatest of interest to learning [of the narrator’s] contribution to [his] fate”
(108).
The same kindheartedness
is not given by Bledsoe, however. He rails upon the narrator “as though [he]
had committed the worst crime imaginable” (140). Bledsoe only intended to keep
the trustee in blissful ignorance of the slums and ghettos near the college.
The narrator had a moral dilemma with doing that though, as he was “ordered”
(139) to show the trustee the tabooed area. For following orders, Bledsoe
kicked him out under the pretense that “[Norton] wants you disciplined, [although]
he might not know it” (143).
These stark
differences in the treatment of the narrator showed how the racial tensions
were a stage where people were not aware of their role. Norton’s forgiveness as
a white man was out of place to Bledsoe, who thought that any trivial problem
was a disgrace to his race. He tries to pull the strings from behind the stage,
but making a puppet is not what Norton wants accomplished for his fate. He
wants the honorable man that shows him the world, no matter how brutally
disgraceful it is.
It is quite ironic that it is a white man that is on the narrator's side and not someone of the same skin. i like how you stated that "the racial tensions were a stage where people were not aware of their role." I agree with the fact that Mr. Norton forgiving the narrator is "out of place to Bledsoe" because Bledsoe had the completely opposite reaction and he wasn't even the one in the car.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting point to make about racial tensions in the novel. Bledsoe seems to be harder on the narrator for the same reason the narrator and others in town are embarrassed by Trueblood. In this society, the approval from whites seems to be of high importance and essential to success. This sought after "blissful ignorance" shows how important Mr. Norton's approval and perspective are to Bledsoe. Even though Mr. Norton was quick to forgive, Bledsoe cannot get past the "disgrace to his race" and subsequently reprimands the narrator for showing Mr. Norton these things.
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