Friday, December 4, 2015


In Chapter 10, our Narrator is subject to his first real job in the real world as a normal civilian and not a student. After finding out that he was discreetly expelled from school, his only option is to work in a factory. This leads to problems, one person gets mad, boom a boiler explodes and the real reason we call him the narrator is revealed. He loses his memory, thinks only of his mother when comparing her to the machines of the hospital, and realizing that his fear of powerful white men like Mr. Bledsoe, is gone. This is where the prologue starts to make more sense, as his invisibility truly starts here. He is hinted at becoming invisible as the veteran was telling him on the trip to New York, but now he finally is as his identity is striped from him. This is the Archetype known as a rebirth, a complete change in a characters personality that will usually happen at the climax of a story. I compare this archetype to the one found in "Its a Wonderful Life". George Bailey was a stressed man, putting the weight of the world on his shoulders. At times he could carry it easily, knowing he was meant for this life, but as things go downhill it all comes crashing down. In the beginning we know George is going through tough times, so much so that he has to pray, which he never did before. Guardian angel shows up, shows him life if he was never born, he realizes his impact, and knows that he already makes a difference, no matter what drags him down. He goes through a rebirth, almost the opposite of our narrator. As George goes from wishing he was never born to realizing his importance, our narrator goes from feeling as important as a white person, to knowing that he might as well be invisible, because he makes no difference at all.

1 comment:

  1. Nice connection to It's a Wonderful Life, and right around Christmas time too. I like how you stressed the importance of how the boiler explosion affected his identity, and when he wakes up is where he truly becomes invisible. I like how you contrasted the idea of George Bailey have a gaining effect from his experience with the angel, while the narrator in the invisible man basically loses all he is in that boiler explosion.

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