Divides
Taking into account all of the atrocities happening at the gathering of the white leaders, the most sinful part was the blatant inhumane treatment of the black youth. Instead of being spoken to as fellow human beings, the kids were often referred to as the “big nigger”(1.21) or “that ginger-colored nigger” (1.21). The simple fact that these leaders of the community felt it acceptable to use this language that implies a sort of superiority over the black population as a whole displays the complete disregard for respect; all over the color of their skin. It is obvious that although slaves were freed, blacks were still under the harsh hand of the racist white man. The exercising of power persisted when the boys were then forced to gather money off of an electrified carpet. As if the task was not daunting enough, when the already worn out boys were not suffering enough, the white men began to push them face-first toward the electric current for their own amusement. As the men surrounded the carpet and egged on their entertainment, calling out commands like “Pick it up, goddamnit,”(1.27) and “Get the money!”(1.28), the reader can clearly see that these community leaders were treating the boys like animals; like dogs. The closest thing to this ghastly event is something of that of a dog fight.* People who are in power stand around to watch the dogs viciously attack each other due to the instinct the dog-fighters forced out of them. In an article explaining the logistics of dogfighting, the organization Peta states, “Dogs who are used for fighting are chained, taunted, and starved in order to trigger extreme survival instincts and encourage aggression,”(Peta).
By taunting these poor black boys by dangling change in front of them, they essentially are bringing out their survival instincts- again, for their own twisted amusement. Primarily, the first chapter is demonstrating the social divide between the races and the power the whites demand to make themselves feel greater than the black population.
It is true that the narrator and the boys were treated as dogs rather than humans. During the battle, the whites were commanding the boys like how one would speak to their pets. The nicknames toward the black populations are racist and prejudice. The whites would refer to the boys as "black boy" (23) or "niggers" (27), never mentioning the proper names of the boys. They saw themselves superior than the black population that they fail to acknowledge the blacks as human beings. Once the era of slavery was over, African Americans began to gradually receive freedom in America. Their freedom came with many racial controversies and discrimination that are still going on as of today. There are still people who use the word, "nigger" to try to suppress the blacks.
ReplyDeleteThe blacks in the novel were tricked into coming to this event and ended up fighting with each other to humiliate themselves. As mentioned in this post, they were laughed and yelled at as they scrambled for money on an electric carpet. The whites knew they could manipulate the blacks and the fact that they took advantage of this divided them even more.
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ReplyDeleteI like the comparison you drew between dog fighting and the battle royal. The white men feel a need to treat the black men as game pieces and use them for their entertainment. Like in dog fighting, these men were fighting out of fear and a need to please. The invisible man shows this need when he wants Tatlock to let him win because he believes this will put him in the white men's favor. He plays along even though he disagrees, so he can impress them during his speech.
ReplyDeleteIn the analogous dogfight, one has to admire the narrator's resolve to fight on just to deliver his speech. This resolve defies the whole purpose of the fight - to divide and dehumanize the black youth and establish the white man as dominant. Further keeping his strength in delivering the actual speech also dissolved the integrity of the battle royal. The narrator broke the white man's system by resisting and not allowing himself to be dehumanized. While it did not do much to advance the race relations, every bit helps in the long run.
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