Joseph Ucci
Blog
Post 11/20/15
After
dueling on the bus for some time, the vet gives the narrator a heavy piece of
advice that leaves him feeling unsure and confused. “Now is the time for
offering fatherly advice," he said, "but I'll have to spare you that
-- since I guess I'm nobody's father except my own. Perhaps that's the advice
to give you: Be your own father, young man. And remember, the world is
possibility if only you'll discover it. Last of all, leave the Mr. Nortons
alone, and if you don't know what I mean, think about it. Farewell.” (156) When
the vet tells the narrator to “be his own father”(156), he is reminding him to
constantly use self-check in to make sure he is along the right track and he is
following the rules of being a black man. The vet embraces that the narrator
explore and discover new things of the world up in the north but warns him to
avoid making contact with any “Mr. Nortons.” (156) What the vet means by this
is to remember that white folks do cruel things to blacks and that the narrator
needs to realize that he is inferior to any white person he comes in contact
with.
The
man and woman in the
article believe that racism in the South is obvious and can easily be
found, but in the North it is hidden and people are only discreetly discriminate
against others. In correlation, the narrator will still experience racism in
the North. The vet warns him that even though there are myths about full freedom in the North that people will still be judgmental because of his color.
The quote Joey mentioned ("be your own father") is something the narrator must realize. The narrator cannot allow Dr. Bledose or anybody else to alter his identity by serving as his father figure.The vet also offers this advice: "come out of the fog"(153) and to "play the game, but don't believe in it..." (153). The narrator should understand the guise that some people will put on and what is necessary for success. Listening to the advice of others will hinder the narrator's achievements.
ReplyDeleteI like that you picked this quote to talk about because it acts like a sort of turning point. When the vet brings his attention to the reality of the world, he begins to question his life. He is left feeling in limbo in a way as he is not sure what to think. This train of though is partially what makes him the man we meet at the beginning of the book-the man he grows up to be.
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