The themes of invisibility and succumbing to a higher power are
a big part of this novel. The narrator wants to make a good impression on Mr.
Norton. He drives him wherever he wants to go and gets him whiskey. He is even
impressing Mr. Bledsoe. Although he is also black he is of power. Mr. Bledsoe normally
is disgusted or avoiding white people. When Mr. Norton is hurt and maybe
angered by the events, Mr. Bledsoe is doing whatever he can to be on his good
side.
This
brings up an interesting idea of a chain of desires to impress. In The Kite Runner, Hassan always wants to
do well in Amir’s eyes. He is constantly trying to satisfy Amir. Hassan does
anything for Amir because he is the servant and he feels like he must impress him.
When Amir grows up, he goes back to Afghanistan. He is not necessarily
succumbing to the Taliban when he goes back, but there’s a certain element of
fear. Amir must be careful as Afghanistan is dangerous. In order to get Sohrab
he must surrender to an extent.
There
always seems to be a chain. There’s always somebody to give in to. Whether it
be an actual higher power or just a higher social class, someone is taking
advantage of someone else. Someone takes advantage of another and that person
is below someone else. It’s inevitable and will always occur in life. This
brings in an element of invisibility. If a person is always taking advantage of
someone else, the higher power may not really see the lower person, but instead
just see them as a person who will do anything for them—a shadow passing
through. In some cases though the lower person may mean a lot to the higher
power. Amir did not know this until it was too late.
I love how you made a connection to the Kite Runner because when I read about Mr. Blesdoe, I never thought about the connection. The narrator is constantly being used as an object rather than a human being. Along with your examples of Mr. Norton and Mr. Blesdoe, the battle royal scene also serves as "succumbing to the higher power". During the battle royal, the blacks, including the narrator are used as mere entertainment for the whites to enjoy. Just like Hassan obeying Amir to please him, the narrator also listens to whatever the whites tell him to do, believing genuine obedience will win him respect and praise.
ReplyDeleteYou made a very interesting connection between the Invisible Man and the Kite Runner. As humans we are always going to try to impress people; it is in our blood. Mr. Bledsoe would do anything to remain in Mr. Norton's good graces, just as Hassan would do for Amir. To want to impress someone is one thing, however, there comes a point where enough is enough. In the novel, the narrator tries to impress Mr. Norton so much that he become "blind" and ends up doing things in which he would not ordinarily do which then resulted in him getting expelled.
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