"The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead." (6) Why does Ellison decide to include a piece from the end of the book right in the prologue? This is a common strategy used in many books and director Christopher Nolan is also notoriously known to start at the end then go back to the beginning, and see how the story got there. Ellison is using this strategy as a representative of change over time, or rather the lack of it. The nameless narrator changes over time going from being a part of society paying outrageous rates in Harlem; to the invisible man he now is residing in a shut off basement. Society, however, does not change.This narrator is viewed by the white society as a phantom. After bumping into a man one night, he is called an insulting name causing him to pull a knife out on the man. The failure to put an end to racial prejudice against blacks caused the narrator to act out in a violent way, and ultimately become invisible. The narrator tells us "the end is in the beginning" because society fails to change. History just keeps repeating itself on an infinite loop. White society will always have the power, while the narrator is just a faceless menace. The narrator mentions the "inner eyes" (1) of these people to give the reader incite on how they look at him with the hate that has been developed in their minds since birth. Ellison is trying to connect with people that this is a never ending issue that won't go away unless change is made.
Thought provoking post! I didn't catch that but thinking back now, that makes a lot of sense. Eventually, after years of being complacent in his role in society and simply following the white mens' insane commands (like to fight each other), the narrator realizes that his compliance essentially gets him no where. He is always viewed as the lowest on the totem pole. He feels that the way he started out is the way it all ends up.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning, the narrator was optimistic and believed he could achieve a lot in the world. However, he soon realizes he won’t get far because of the color of his skin; the white citizens, in the novel, will always threaten and embarrass black people to suppress them and demonstrate white supremacy. As you said, the “infinite loop” becomes palpable. This reminds me of "A&P" because the manager embarrassed the girls in order to maintain his position of power. He even tried to threaten Sammy when he quit his job to show he can easily ruin someone’s life. Although Sammy had high hopes, he eventually realizes, like the narrator, that his actions do not matter. He, in a sense, is also invisible.
ReplyDeleteI love how you picked up on Ellison's use of foreshadowing and its importantance to the novel. Ellison purposely states "the end is the beginning and lie far ahead" to show change. Continuing off what you said, the "nameless narrator" will change over time while society will remain the same- staying true to their prejudice views. The use of foreshadowing gives readers something to look forward to; I'm excited to continue reading!
ReplyDeleteThe quote "the end is in the beginning" is extremely true in this case and does stay present in many real life themes. As stated, it simply means that nothing will change, and that his hopeful path towards equality was over before it begun. While I'm not far enough in the book to decide how things change, It's clear from his adopted invisibility persona that he has accepted that his presence will do nothing to the world around him. Maybe the entire books theme revolves around him not being able to do anything about racism and thus becoming invisible? Probably. Just need to read more
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with everything in this post. It really got me thinking about how racism in America has evolved over the years. It is funny to think that society can change you so much as an individual, but you cannot change society. In today's society, racism is nothing like it used to be, but in a way it's almost worse. It's scary to see that racism has become multi-faceted, and it is engrained into our brains (blazoned to our eyes), like an ever-mutating, ever-multiplying vitus. Racism will never die out. The only way to fix society would be to destroy it.
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