Blog Post #2- Fate

                The character, Mr. Norton, shows us the mindset of the upper-class white people.  He is shown as a man who believes he has “power of a king” or “a god” because of his influence over the school (45).  He feels bad about what his ancestors did and feels he can make up for it in the work he does with the school.  Mr. Norton says “you are important because if you fail I have failed,” and “I am dependent on you to learn my fate.”  After Trueblood explains his story, Mr. Norton feels he has to pay him for revealing this scandalous secret.  These statements and actions show he believes he is above others and how he is determined to change the fate his ancestors created for him.

                Mr. Norton repeats the idea of the students “contribution to [his] fate” as if that is the most important thing in his life (108).  It is interesting to see Mr. Norton’s ideas about fate and if others really do shape his fate.  If a student fails—does that really change his fate?  Nelson Mandela’s quote, “I am the master of my fate and the captain of my destiny”, contradicts the Norton’s ideas.  The paradox created by these statements helps reveal an important idea in this section of the book.  Does the narrator also believe his outcome at the school will shape Norton’s fate and/or his own?  It could be argued on both sides, that others create your fate or that you create your own fate.  The narrator seems to believe he is controlling his fate by fretting over every move he makes in the presence of Mr. Norton.  However, he also seems to think Norton controls his fate because of his status and power he exudes.

Black and Blue

        Racism is the overriding conflict throughout the story. The narrator is hardly seen or noticed in everyday life simply because of the color of his skin. During this time period, African Americans were seen more as animals than humans. This was evident during the Battle Royal when the narrator had to fight for his life.
       While the invisibility was not always a terrible thing, everyone needs needs some type of outlet to release their stress: a baseball player breaking the bat over his knee, Sean cursing out the maintenance crew on a golf course. The narrator's outlet is the smooth tunes of Louis Armstrong. He senses the invisiblity in the music and is able to sympathize with it. His music during the Civil Rights' Era provided aid to many people who felt invisible or lost.  They drown themselves in the music and forget about the obstacles they face every day. This feeling gives them the ability to suppress their hate and move on.
       This link is the song the narrator listens to in the story and relates to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vDm1lomVHU

Blog post 2

In "Invisible Man" a group a black men were blindfolded and forced to fight against eachother. This competition was put together by a group of upper class white men that saw it as a simple act of entertainment, when in actuality they were turning the black men against one and other. The blindfolding is metaphorical. In the book the men were literally blindfolded but the blind folding could in a sense be that white men are trying to keep black men for seeing what they truly are. And instead of standing together as one, the black men then fight and argue amongst themselves instead of with the bigger conflict; their lack of social equality.

During these times, those of color we're looked down upon and thought of as a separate society then that of the people. Instead of the fighting eachother, the men should have came together and thought about their current situation. Why should they fight like wild dogs for payment as if their lives have no meaning? 

The part of the novel that scares me the most is the fact that when the narrator attempted to compensate with the other fighter, his opponent denied. And instead wanted to continue to fight. Regardless of who won, the two were both going to be paid, but the conflicting fighter would rather have fought. This scares me because it shows how racism can in a way can pit blacks against each other. When they should be in actuality standing together as one and fighting the bigger problem, racism. 

This same act of pitting black men against eachother in fights in the 1930s correlates with that of a scene in the move Django Unchained. In the scene of the movie, slave owners put their strongest slaves to the test in which they would fight to the death. A depiction of this is shown as white men cheered and placed bets on who will win treating them as game. The same kind of occurrence happened within "Invisible Man" as the men would forces to fight one another as a battle royale. This shows that the same basis beliefs can be universal no matter what time period it could be. Django Unchained taking place during slavery in the 1800s and Invisible Man taking place within the 1930s.

Blog Post 2

            The brawl at the Golden Day exemplifies not only the racial tensions present at the time, but also some of the social tensions of the post-world war ii era. The presence of a rich white man causes some to throw sardonic comments, like how Mr. Norton is “Thomas Jefferson,” (77) “John D. Rockefeller,” (78) and even “the Messiah” (78). The bitterness and resentment of the black veterans is overly present here, as it was the rich white men that sent them to war. “These forgotten men built airfields, cleared mines, unloaded ships, maintained roads and rail lines, served as medics and drove the trucks that supplied the armies.” (Colley, http://www.historynet.com/african-american-platoons-in-world-war-ii.htm). The black veterans received no glory and no honor having served, and thus the health of Mr. Norton was not of high concern to them – “he’s only a man!” (86).

            The brawl also represents the animosity present within the black race – they were not a unit, they were separate men trying to “charge [their] batteries,” (81) and thus have no respect. The order attempted from Supercargo had no effect once he was out of his white uniform, as the men almost immediately charged him. This sparked the brawl, and caused the narrator to have “such an excitement that [he wanted] to join” (84). This reflects back to his time in the ring as entertainment for the white man, and his restraint shows his growth from then. He acts civilized and attempts to care for the schools trustee, for he knows that both their intertwined destinies are worth more than a physical fight – they are worth a fight through time. Their dreams will be earned in decades, not in a well placed fist.

Masked

Chapter one flashes back on the narrator in his high school days and reveals a much more naïve character. The blindfold symbolizes how the narrator himself is blind to the world around him and it also symbolizes how others are blind to who he really is. He thinks he has the prestige honor of giving a speech, but it ends up all being a part of a grotesque form of entertainment. He must box his fellow black classmates- blindfolded. The literal blindness unmasks the metaphorical blindness of the narrator and the men. The boys in the ring are literally blinded while the men watching them are blind to the boys’ true identities. The battle royal proves how members of the black community are viewed: like animals, sometimes even non-existent. Before the narrator moves the blindfold, he mentions how he was "unused to darkness" (21) and that it scared him: foreshadowing invisibility as the reader knows that he will fade as a character into more darkness as the novel progresses.

Just like the men, the boys are also metaphorically blind to the racism in the white men surrounding them. The men are concealing themselves as good people while in reality they are just watching the boys conform to black stereotypes: aggressive and savage. They then tricked the boys into believing that the money on the electric rug was real and watched them throw themselves at it in agony. Only later did they find out the money was worthless "brass pocket tokens". They were blinded by white generosity.  

Either Invisibility, or Entertainment

Through our main characters "battle royal" scene, we are shown the true nature of the world in this time period. Respectable businessmen and social leaders are stripped down to nothing but drunken racists. As the ring fills with victims, it becomes clear how much these "leaders" see black people only as their play things and nothing more. By the end however, He is rewarded for his efforts through a full scholarship to college. Now one might say that it was worth it, that he paid his dues entertaining them and now he can move on to bigger and better things. But as the chapter ends we're given even further confirmation on just how much black people in this time period were treated as pawns and animals. "To Whom it may Concern, Keep this Nigger-boy Running". As his grandfather's laughter fills the room, he realizes the truth of the situation. His speech did not earn him this scholarship. It definitely helped him sure, but all in all it was his obedience, his loyalty to those white men, and his overall determination that gave him that scholarship. Why? Because he is strictly entertainment. The "whom it may concern" will be his new audience/master, and him "running" will hold less speeches than he thinks. While I haven't read further, I can only guess that this concept is expanded on, he is treated this way again, and eventually realizes that being a successful black man in this day of age is nearly impossible. And so he takes up his mantel as the invisible man, and follows his own agenda. Not successful, but not someone's clown either.

Mr. Norton's Incestuous Infatuation: A Reversed Oedipus Complex

When Mr. Norton first hears about Trueblood, he is very eager to learn more of the Trueblood family: "I must talk with him" (50). In Trueblood's town, there are two general responses to Trueblood's sins: praise and disgust. The whites benefit from Trueblood's actions since they dehumanize blacks. The blacks berate Trueblood; his sin destroys their chances of proving themselves worthy members of society. However, Norton has a completely different reaction. 

As Norton shows a curiosity in the Truebloods, his true meaning is realized when connected to the rumination about his dead daughter. He speaks about her beauty with a strangely strong passion: "She was rare, a perfect creation, a work of purest art." Norton even goes as far as saying "[he] could never believe her to be [his] own flesh and blood" and "[he] found it difficult to believe her [his] own" (42). 

Norton is drawn to Jim Trueblood, due to the attraction Trueblood felt for Matty Lou. As Trueblood relays his story, Norton lives vicariously through Trueblood, igniting life into the fantasies he never acted upon. 

Both Trueblood and Norton's situations strongly connect to the "Oedipus complex", studied by Freud and Jung. The term is derived from Oedipus, a prominent character of Greek mythology, who kills his father and then marries his mother. The "Oedipus complex" is seen in children who are sexually attracted to their parent(s). In Invisible Man, Jim Trueblood and Mr. Norton reverse the terms of the "Oedipus complex"**, as they are attracted to their daughters, instead of their daughters being attracted to them. 

This scene is very important to Norton's character development. His standards and the way readers perceive him  transform in a very short length of time. 

** https://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/definitions/oedipus.html

A Character Comparison

             Jim Trueblood is frowned upon around town because he impregnated both his wife and his daughter. The sense of regret the narrator feels upon arriving at Jim Trueblood’s house shows that the man has gained a suboptimal reputation. The narrator says, “I was sorry that I had blundered down this road” (46).

            Trueblood’s story relates, in part, to the story of Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird. Though distinctly different characters, their stories share a common thread. Robinson is tried for the rape of a young girl, and because of the racism in Maycomb County, he is not triumphant in the court even though he is innocent. The town shows immense hatred for Robinson and his race plays a large part in this. Similarly, people denounce Trueblood because of a sexual occurrence, though his actually happened.

             Trueblood is disliked because he is not part of the population of blacks that live near the school and aim to please the white man. The others were embarrassed by him because they believed “he brought disgrace upon the black community” (46) and “did everything it seemed to pull [them] down” (47) while they constantly tried to pull up those like him. They believed this even before the incident with his daughter occurred. 

            Tension between the races plays a large part in the perceptions of both characters within their communities. Blacks aiming to please whites resent Jim Trueblood and a lot of whites in Maycomb detested Tom Robinson. Discrimination and perception alter the views of these two men’s lives.

Internalized Racism

Internalized racism is one of the largest concepts throughout this novel, highlighted most through the  differences in perception through both races that surface. When the narrator takes up the job of driving Mr. Norton nearby the college and he partakes interest in Trueblood's log cabin, the epitome of internalized racism begins to arise. In the black community, one that is constantly frowned upon by whites, when an unlawful act is committed within it causes an ever deeper hole to climb out of almost causing the race to disassociate with one of their own. By having sex with his daughter, Trueblood caused an added struggle to the fight for equality and acceptance the black community already faced at the time. Trueblood's curiosity about why the white men keep offering him money or work exposes the crave for supremacy in the story. The white people are paying him for basically lowering the black community and making the white community look better because they had not experienced the negative impact. "How can he tell this to white men, I thought, when he knows they'll say that all Negroes do such things?" (58) The shame Trueblood brings benefits the white man and makes the black community look like 'savages' just as society wants them to be perceived, this is why the college students don't associate with Trueblood, because, while their trying to prove their worth, he is causing them to fall right back into the perception that they need to be controlled or should have never been able to assimilate with the white population. Mr. Norton reestablishes this disfigured concept when after saying how disgraceful Trueblood's act was, gives him money just like the countless other rich white men that pass his way.
http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/a/internalizedracism.htm

Blog Post 2; 11/20

Grace Mullee

In the beginning of chapter five, Ellison makes an author’s choice to describe, in great detail, the narrator’s journey to the chapel. The chapter starts out with the noises he hears. He hears “the sounds of vespers” and “their (the group of students) voices in the mellow dusk.” (pg. 109) Then he goes onto illustrate the “yellowed globes of frosted glass” and “the leaves and branches”. (pg. 109) Ellison uses these descriptions to insinuate how the narrator is walking to the chapel. The descriptions and details imply that the narrator is strolling along the pavements absorbing his surroundings. He is taking his time to arrive because he doesn’t like going to the chapel- it makes him uneasy. Ellison explains the smells that the dusk holds. The scents of “lilac, honeysuckle and verbena, and the feel of spring greenness.” (pg. 109) The minor details, like the aroma, indicate how the narrator is observant of the things he sees, smells, and hears in his small walk. Ellison uses an onomatopoeia, “Dong! Dong! Dong!” highlighting that church has started and the narrator is late.  (pg.109) This could infer how long he took to get to the chapel.  The narrator dreads to go to the church because he doesn’t want to face his impending doom. Once he arrives at the building with the “doomlike bells” he describes the pews as “straight” and “torturous” because being there can make people stiff and uncomfortable. (pg. 110)The narrator’s illustration of the inside of the chapel informs the audience of his feeling towards being there. Also how he perceives the church and why he took his time getting there.

Inattentional Blindness

             While driving Mr. Norton around town, the narrator wonders how the campus has become a part of Mr. Norton's life. The response Mr. Norton offers is a rather interesting one; as he continues to justify his reasoning Mr. Norton states “I had a feeling that your people we're somehow connected with my destiny. That what happened to you was connected with what would happen to me…”(41). 

       The way Mr. Norton views the situation is that by helping young African American men get a higher education in order to “succeed”, his future and reputation will be brighter. To the naïve students at the college, Mr. Norton is an invisible man- the young men are blind to his true intentions. The students at the college idolize Mr. Norton and view him as an affluent white man who is giving them a chance at success, despite society's prejudice thoughts. Little do the students know that Mr. Norton is only assisting them to boost his own ego. 

       At the Golden Day, a veteran makes a statement in which reveals the narrator’s and Mr. Norton's blindness to one another. The vet claims “ Poor stumblers, neither of you can see each other. To you he is a mark on the scorecard of your achievement, a thing and not a man; a child, or even less- a black amorphous thing. And you, for all your power, are not a man to him, but a God, a force-” (95). The veteran's statement solidifies how unaware the students are of Mr. Norton's true motives. Mr. Norton is pretending he cares about the students well beings, while he genuinely views them as charity cases that will determine his “fate”. 

                            

                                                                               

When one looks into a funhouse mirror, their reflection is distorted and different from their actual physique. Similar to fun house mirrors, Mr. Norton looks like a successful, genuine man, however, his inner motives do not coincide with his outward appearance.

        

Statue

While the narrator is discussing his time at college, he brings up the bronze statue of the Founder of the college. The narrator is troubled by this statue unable to tell whether the Founder is lifting the veil or lowering it into place. He debates whether he is "witnessing a revelation or a more efficient blinding." (36) Under the surface, the narrator is trying to figure out if this man was really the great so-called "Father symbol" he is meant to look like in this statue. Ellison uses this internal conflict in an attempt to give a voice to all the other "invisible men" society has had to offer over the years.

"Why is a bird-soiled statue more commanding than one that is clean?" (36) Maybe, because a statue that is soiled is a better representation of real life. Statues aren't supposed to be shiny and luscious forever. After awhile they begin to show signs of wear, but what was Ellison's purpose in addressing this question? A soiled statue is usually one that is old and forgotten. This nameless Founder (Coincidence?) may have attempted to have a face in his society back in the day, but as the narrator debates we realize it was a failed attempt with the narrator describing the statue's "empty eyes" as they "look upon a world I have never seen." (36) The Founder of the college had enough impact for society to put up a statue, but he did not have enough impact to be remembered. The narrator is puzzled by this statue because it addresses what he struggles with daily. The ability to have a voice in society, and now due to society the author walks around the world with those same "empty eyes."

Blog Post #2

The narrator receives a plethora of hints about the truth of society, but he refuses to acknowledge it. A vet in the Golden Days calls the narrator a  “walking zombie” because he believes in the “great false wisdom taught slaves and pragmatists alike, that white is right” (94-95). Later, when the invisible man spots him on the train, the vet instructs him to “learn to look beneath the surface” (153). He cautions the narrator to stay away from “Mr. Nortons” (156) and to enjoy his new freedom. The narrator is clearly being warned not to trust selfish people, but he ignores the vet's advice. The narrator wants to link himself with the college because he still believes in the Founder and the white citizens there. Even though he has a whole new taste of freedom in New York, he is fixated on returning to the college.

The narrator was also told, by his grandfather, to “live [his] head in the lion’s mouth” (16) and always agree with the whites, although it may be traitorous to his race. Mr. Bledsoe executes this by pleasing the whites in order to maintain his position of power. He is “willing to have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning” (143) to remain president of the college, but under the mask, Mr. Bledsoe despises white citizens. Even though the narrator realizes how corrupt Mr. Bledsoe is, he still trusts him and his letters of recommendation. The narrator clearly is naïve until he sees tangible proof. When he reads the letter, it changes how he thinks about the world; he is filled with vengeance now. The advice he acquires warns him against the traps of deceptive people, but it is futile because the narrator learns through experience instead. 

Post #2

   In the Invisible Man, the narrator receives a recommendation for a job position at Liberty Paints. While seemingly an opportunity on the surface, deep down Liberty Paint is as "dark" as the Empire State Building and Broadway. It is perhaps even darker. While not "invisible" yet, the narrator is still has an experience with racism in the work environment.

   One of the sources of the racism comes from the labor union at Liberty Paints. Once our narrator is introduced to this labor union, most of the members label him a "fink". They call him this because his superior, Mr. Brockway, is a long standing member and founder of the company who happens to be black. The labor union, which contains entirely white men, are trying to get Mr. Brockway removed from Liberty Paints. Racism is apparently a leading factor to the labor union's hatred over Mr. Brockway. Being met with heavy racism, the narrator feels uncomfortable working in Liberty Paints and feels the urge to quit the job.

(Face paint with white stretching out and covering the black paint that reveals a face.)

   Another form of racism occurs more subtly as a symbol. This is hinted at when the narrator is working on white paint. The narrator has to improve the quality of white paint by adding a substance known as dope. The dope resembles the black society in the eyes of white men. The narrator describes the dope as black and gives off a heavy stench which correlates to how whites view blacks in the story. When mixing the dope into the white paint, the dope seemingly vanishes. The vanishing represents the white society's efforts to get blacks to conform to their standards and views of blacks of the time. While refilling the dope container, the narrator accidentally deposits paint remover to the container which also happens to be black. The remover acts as a killer to the paint when mixing the two together. The hideous mixture acts like an interpretation for what the white society fears will happen if the black community is left unchecked. According to the company slogan, "If it's Optic White, it's the right white," or more accurately, "if you're white, you're right."

Blog Post #2 Fate

In the novel, invisible man takes an interesting ride with Mr. Norton around campus; even the parts nobody ever dared to go to. Along the way, Mr. Norton says his fate is dependent on invisible man. He asks the protagonist to tell him his fate. “…whatever you become, and even if you fail, you are my fate. And you must write me and tell me the outcome. (Ellison 44)”

                Mr. Norton may be trying to say the students at the school decide his fate. If they do well at the school and enjoy it, the school is regarded as favorable. Mr. Norton seems interested in the protagonist specifically though. The protagonist wants to just tell Mr. Norton that he helped make the school what it is. When he does, Mr. Norton says it’s not enough. Mr. Norton says “…if you fail, I have failed by one individual, one defective cog… (Ellison 45)” To an extent, everybody is dependent on someone else to decide their fate—parents, teachers, everyone closest to them. The way one is raised or taught or molded predicts who they might become.

                Mr. Norton believes his fate rests in the students. He doesn’t realize that he can choose his fate. He should care about the school and the students and what name the school has, but he shouldn’t make the school decide who he is or what he should do. He should realize he needs to decide it on his own. Fate is decided partly by the people closest to you, but a lot of it rests in your own hands. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/i-am-the-master-of-my-fat_b_6054828.html

The Power of Words

 As president of the narrator’s college, Mr. Bledsoe is supposed to be someone African-American students can look up to.  Instead, he treats the students, especially the narrator, with lies and disrespect although he is African American himself. Rather than enlightening and providing the students with the education they need to prepare and function in the real world as educated adults, Bledsoe preserves the myth of white supremacy. 

The narrator returns to the college with Mr. Norton after an encounter with a black veteran who offends Mr. Norton by saying, “To you he is a mark on the scorecard of your achievement, a thing and not a man; a child, or even less - a black amorphous thing” (95). The narrator’s decision to show Mr. Norton the hidden abominations shames and angers Mr. Bledsoe. In his tirade, Mr. Bledsoe shocks the narrator by addressing him with derogatory terms such as “nigger” and “boy” (139). These harsh and prejudiced nicknames Mr. Bledsoe utilizes are ironic because he is an African-American himself, more specifically one who is supposed to exemplify dignity and sophistication. Such words are hurtful towards black because it removes them of their identity. “That, [the narrator] thought, noticing the throbbing of a vein that rose between his eyes, thinking, He called me that” (139). Being the leader and mentor for the students, he demoralizes them such as telling the narrator, “You’re nobody, son. You don’t exist -- can’t you see that?” (143). 

Mr. Bledsoe perpetuates white supremacy by condescending to the narrator. As many white people during his time, he reacts to the narrator’s mere mistake with blind rage. Furthermore, his main goal is to remain in control of the college, much like an overseer did with his slaves. 

For an article on the use of racist words, click here

A Living Parable of Proven Glory

Odysseus: a great man, husband, father, and leader.
Can he really be compared to the Founder?

Heroes are those who were raised in modest homes, but always seemed to have a great purpose. They are eventually turned into protagonists of everlasting stories because of their ambitious endeavors and success. Reverend Barbee glorifies the Founder by immortalizing him and his beliefs in a similar fashion. This long, epic story about a determined man is comparable to one very popular story: The Odyssey. Therefore, it can be said the Founder is a literary hero who embarks on a journey.  

The Founder in his youth is much like other heroes: driven, intelligent, and obviously someone with great potential. He is a slave trying to self-educate himself “through shrewd questioning of his little masters” while he “learned the alphabet and taught himself to read” (119). In the monomyth, this is often called his Ordinary World. He then is approached by a man whom Reverend Barbee claims is “an emissary direct from above”, who tells the Founder where he should go to become a great man (121). This is the Founder's call to action. At this secret location is his archetypal mentor, a “seemingly demented black man” who teaches him everything (121). The Founder then moves throughout the country, going on his journey, until he gets what he wants — to be able to inspire a population of black people to become great. This was his goal, and he was willing to die for it. Die for it, he does. 

Plus, Reverend Barbee’s first name is Homer. He speaks in an eloquent manner like Homer, and is blind like Homer. If a man named Homer is telling a story about a great man who endures through trials to achieve his goals, then this Founder must be a hero, right?

 
Or, is this what Reverend Barbee wants the students to think?

             Want to know more about what makes a hero? Click here.

Joseph Ucci: 11/20

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.

Theme for English B and Page 43

"So you see, young man, you are involved in my life quite intimately, even though you've never seen me before. . . you are my fate," (43).
This quote from Mr. Norton stood out to me because it has similar characteristics to "Theme for English B".
"You are white- yet a part of me, as I am a part of you," (Hughes lines 31-32).
Both pieces are driven by the theme of race relations. Mr. Norton speaks as if his future depends on the success or failure of the narrator. Likewise, although the narrator does not see it, Mr. Norton is right when he says the great Founder affected the whole race with his ideas and actions (45). In a greater sense, the future of blacks and white both co-depend on each other. "That's American," (Hughes line 33). This statement equalizes all races because we are all unified by one flag. The pigments in our skin are overshadowed by red, white, and blue. However, humans have shortcomings. We are blinded by racial inequality that we can't truly see how we live inside one another- the invisible man would agree. I presume he gets angry at people for ignoring him because he wants them to recognize their individual role that continually recreates society's stereotypes. American society should follow how the great Founder "transformed barren clay to fertile soil" (45) and apply it to it's stereotypes. Only then will there be visibility for all.
MKL remix

Truths

Speaking truth is always a risky decision. People tend to live in their own little worlds where their truth is the real truth. However the two rarely coincide.

As the narrator pushes through his terrible journey with Mr. Norton, the two men encounter a seemingly crazy vet-doctor. The man offers to help the shocked Mr. Norton but it doesn’t end well. As the vet-doctor forces his beliefs on the two, he ends up claiming that Mr. Norton ,“(He) believes in that great false wisdom taught slaves and pragmatists alike, that white is right”(95). This gives the reader a lot of insight about society at this time. This man is insinuating that white people along with slaves have been taught from a young age the white people are right. The white people hold the power. The white people never make mistakes. The white people are simply better. The vet-doctor calls this mind-set the result of “false wisdom” in the sense that society have come to believe in this idea to such an extent that it has gone from someone’s truth to the reality’s truth.

It is ironic the vet-doctor is viewed as such a crazy outcast of society when he is actually the only person so far who can see the big picture. He has the ability to understand the motivation of society and possesses the guts to speak his findings to anyone he is compelled to enlighten.

This image portrays many people all sharing one mind or idea. The shared though is no one person’s. Everyone is mindlessly believing whatever they are supposed to believe just like the society in Invisible Man.

https://sites.google.com/a/cms.k12.nc.us/ap-psych-2b/anusha-dubey--the-psychology-of-conformity

The Loud Voice of a White Man

Ellison symbolizes the fear of the narrator through Mr. Norton’s incapacitated body. Mr. Norton’s body is the fate of the narrator. More accurately, Mr. Norton’s body is a synecdoche for White society’s compassion towards black people. The dialogue Ellison employs about Mr. Norton’s body further proves this point. “He’s only a man. Remember that. He’s only a man!” (86). This understatement exemplifies the fear felt by the narrator at this moment. His poor decisions have left the symbolic access to a better life half-dead in a saloon. “He was like a formless white death…a death which had been there all the time…” (86). Is this a physical death? Or a death to the prospects of the narrator? Ellison employs the metaphor of the death of white man to propel the anxiety of the narrator forward. 

After reawakening, Mr. Norton begins to talk of his “destiny”. “Why the success of my work [for the university], of course” (94). Ellison utilizes the words ‘destiny’ and ‘work’ when discussing Mr. Norton’s success. By underscoring these two words together, the racial paradox begins to form between them. Norton’s work is to further promote the welfare of black people, and by doing this, he completes his destiny. In a slam poem entitled “Lost Voices”, two poets explain the discontinuity between one party only being able to advocate for another party’s rights. This is parallel to the ‘work’ Mr. Norton does — by advocating for black people on their behalf, he strips away their voice from the conversation. The voice of the oppressed people being silenced in order to help them, yields no such progress. 

Political Cartoon depicting black civil rights in the hands of an outside party.

Blog 2: Freedom & The North

Dr. Bledsoe demands the protagonist to go to New York. He implies that after the summer the narrator will be able to return to the college, “You go there and earn your next year’s fees, understand?” (145). This sparks a sense of false hope for the narrator. Dr. Bledsoe offers the narrator letters of recommendation to help in his search for a job, “These letters will be sealed; don’t open them if you want help” (149).  These instructions foreshadow that the letters may be corrupt. At his last job interview, the protagonist learns what the letters actually say: “he shall never, under any circumstances, be enrolled as a student here again” (190). These letters expose the true character of Dr. Bledsoe —manipulative. Will Dr. Bledsoe’s selfishness benefit the narrator? Will the North allow for unprejudiced societal achievement for the protagonist?

The North is intriguing to the narrator. The white drivers obeying the black policeman directing traffic shocks the narrator. The narrator considers New York as a place of more opportunity for himself. The narrator’s job at Liberty Paints negates any sense of opportunity he believes the North could offer. The following statement by Brockway compares to society, “Our white is so white you can paint a chunka coal and you’d have to crack it open with a sledgehammer to prove it wasn’t white clear through!” (217). The whites in society act like the white paint and render the blacks invisible. The narrator realizes this when he says “If you’re white, you’re right” (218) in response to the company slogan. The slogan shows Liberty Paints relies on the fundamentals of white privilege and racism. It is disturbing these preconceptions will still act as obstacles for the narrator in the North.

The white paint serves as a symbol of purity. The sign displaying “KEEP AMERICA PURE WITH LIBERTY PAINTS” (196) suggests the founders of Liberty Paints believe white is the only pure color. There is some irony involved because in making their white paint they use “glistening black drops” (200) and the work of black men.