Blog Post #3

The narrator is taking Norton to see the countryside around the campus. As he is doing that, they see the old slave quarters, and the narrator begins to regret driving him out that way. He regrets it because Jim Trueblood lives out there, and Trueblood is looked at in hatred and disgust throughout the campus for impregnating his own daughter. After they talk with Trueblood and he explains what happened that he ended up impregnating his daughter, the narrator takes Norton to a near by tavern that also serves black people, because he fears that Norton will die of shock. At the tavern, a couple black war veterans carry Norton inside since he has fallen unconscious. As Norton regains consciousness, a brawl breaks out and Norton becomes unconscious again. A veteran takes Norton upstairs to where the prostitutes stay. This veteran claims to be a doctor and a graduate of the college. The veteran says that Norton only sees the narrator as a mark on his scorecard of achievement instead of a man, and the narrator sees Norton as a god. 

This veteran's analysis of Norton and the narrator, seems true in my opinion. Norton doesn't respect the narrator as a man, but instead respects the deeds and favors he does for him. The relationship between the two could be compared to Amir and Hassan's relationship in the beginning of "The Kite Runner". Although Hassan sees them as friends, Amir only used Hassan whenever he wasn't busy doing something else. In other words, only respecting Hassan for the stiff he did for him. The narrator seeing Norton as a god, is also like how Hassan saw Amir. Hassan was ready to do anything for Amir in the blink of an eye. Although the narrator might not know it, he would probably do the same for Norton, because he wants to get to the same social status as him.

 

Dr. Bledsoe had a meeting with the narrator, where he was informed that he must act a certain way with powerful white leaders. He must put aside his culture and his own personality to be the well mannered suck up that he is taught to be. It seems that this era is the transition period between segregation and full natural rights for black people. A point where the law forces these schools and businesses to accept them, but the people there won't. Therefore these big leaders and high up white men want the black people to conform to the most respectful and inhumane personalities. Making them almost like servants, and labeling it as the only way to be respectful, meanwhile the white men are doing awful things and facing no consequence for them. The double standards of this time period once again represents the racism present amongst even the higher up of white men. The "separate but equal" laws seem to still be In action all those years later due to the white men's inability to change. I'm sure this theme will continue to be displayed up until the point where our narrator realizes that it's either conform or live on his own, invisible

Blog post 3

   In the Invisible Man, the narrator joins up with an organization made up of all blacks who all refer to each other as "Brothers". Referring to each other as brothers while not related, shows that a significant bond exists between all of the members of this group. The bond stands for one of the earliest signs of blacks conforming to their own sets of rules and standards as opposed to the degrading standards the white men want the blacks to abide by. They are all black men that seek to "create the race" the want to become, so that they can create a "culture" all their own. The individualism style of thinking is exactly the kind of thinking we think of when we hear about Martin Luther King Jr. and all the other civil rights leaders. The brotherhood the narrator is in could very well be an origin the civil rights.
   The narrator also puts emphasis in the lighting of the building they meet in. The building they meet in has dark rooms with few "low-hanging bulbs" so that they can see their way through. This point further symbolizes the importance of light. The light, meaning purity, is the real light that fills the building. The light of purity is the light that bathes the brotherhood, while it is scarcely found in the major landmarks the white men dominate. The need of physical light is something this brotherhood would find as a something that isn't a nesecity when they have purity. The blacks seek out the light of purity while the whites seek out the light that the devastating fires of absolute control creates.


http://www.ehow.com/list_6854688_list-civil-rights-nonprofit-organizations.html

Blog Post #3

Dr. Bledsoe wears a mask to cover his true intention of protecting his position in the college.  He admits to the narrator that he will “have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am.” (143)  Instead of carrying on the Founder’s idea of progressing the black race, Dr. Bledsoe keeps the student’s from their true potential.  It seems like Bledsoe is running this college to appease the white trustees.  Bledsoe belittles the narrator even though Norton supported him after his mistake.  He tells the narrator “you’re nobody” and expels him without a second thought. (143) 

This reminds me of lyrics in the Panic! At the Disco song Emperor’s New Clothes.  This song explores a new era, which is what the Founder had in mind for progressing education.  Dr. Bledsoe was supposed to continue this era but deviates from the original plan.  Bledsoe, like the person in the song, almost sees himself as above others since he now has the “crown.”  Now that he has this power he does not want to give it up so he does whatever he needs to do to keep it: “finder’s keepers.”  Since Dr. Bledsoe has had a taste of this authority he will do whatever it takes to make sure he won’t loose it and remain on top.

Blog Post #3

In the novel Invisible Man, the narrator is expelled from the college university of which he was attending. Even though he was a great student, he makes a series of mistakes while giving a white trustee of the university a tour of the school's country side. The narrator exposes him to a local farmer who has performed incest on his own daughter and an all black salon full of mental patients.

Since his expelling from the university, the narrator was then sent to work in New York to work for a year. Ultimately promised that if he is to find a job and work he may return back to the university. 

This same scenario in Invisible Man has a correlation with that of the film The Interview. In the film, two reporters are sent to North Korea to interview Kim Jung-un. Upon their arrival all seems well within the country at first glance. The people are happy, prospering, and living no form of tribulations. But in actuality they are not. Once the reporters get a real glimpse of the country they see for themselves what is actually going on within the country. They see people starving, living in fear of their government. Their only reason for acting as though everything was okay was to delight the outside world over fear of what could possibly happen if they did not.

This is an exact representation of what is going on within this novel. From the outside it may seem as a thriving college university located in an area full of educated invidiuals. When in actuality it is like any other place that has its own inner demons. They attempt to cover up reality but when someone of importance sees for themselves the true atrocities that are happening, that idea could soon change. Reminiscent of what Kim Jung-un was attempting to do in The Interview as to that of those running the university.

Blog Post 3

            Bledsoe and Norton exemplify the contrasting views of simple acts, through the eyes of their race. The invisible man seeks only to please and find Mr. Norton help in his illness, and for that the trustee is grateful. He attempts to clear up any misunderstanding by explaining to Dr. Bledsoe what truly happened. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, he still has hope and “[looks] forward with the greatest of interest to learning [of the narrator’s] contribution to [his] fate” (108).

            The same kindheartedness is not given by Bledsoe, however. He rails upon the narrator “as though [he] had committed the worst crime imaginable” (140). Bledsoe only intended to keep the trustee in blissful ignorance of the slums and ghettos near the college. The narrator had a moral dilemma with doing that though, as he was “ordered” (139) to show the trustee the tabooed area. For following orders, Bledsoe kicked him out under the pretense that “[Norton] wants you disciplined, [although] he might not know it” (143).

            These stark differences in the treatment of the narrator showed how the racial tensions were a stage where people were not aware of their role. Norton’s forgiveness as a white man was out of place to Bledsoe, who thought that any trivial problem was a disgrace to his race. He tries to pull the strings from behind the stage, but making a puppet is not what Norton wants accomplished for his fate. He wants the honorable man that shows him the world, no matter how brutally disgraceful it is.

Grace Mullee, Blog Post 3

Similar to the narrator thinking that Bledsoe is able
to obtain him ajob and him earning money in New York will be simple. Mullee  

 Grace Mullee     

      Naivety is a trait the narrator possesses. It is shown when he believes Dr. Bledsoe supported him in finding a job in New York to “earn [his] next year’s fees”. (145) Also, trusting the letters, written by Bledsoe, contained information to “see that [he] get work.” (145) A wave of apprehension, from the audience, appears when Dr. Bledsoe takes Mr. Norton’s side and is so adamant to punish the narrator. It is quite suspicious that Dr. Bledsoe is taking a white man’s side and not a man of the same skin color. The second red flag is Dr. Bledsoe insisting that, “it isn’t necessary for [the narrator] to open them.” (149) “Them” as in the letters and why shouldn’t the narrator be able to open the letters? Those letters concern him because they are aiding him in acquiring a job. The narrator is entitled to open the letters because he should be able to make sure the letters make him seem credible enough for an occupation. The narrator seems to only want to see the best of people and not the corruptness. Dr. Bledsoe’s actions characterize him as someone to do anything to be on top and in charge. It doesn’t matter if it means that he stomps on one of his own (the narrator) to rise above. The narrator is easily convinced that Dr. Bledsoe is looking after him and wanting the narrator to come back to the college. More evidence of the narrator’s naivety is when he tells Mr. Emerson that he would, “really like to become Dr. Bledsoe’s assistant.” (184) The narrator has faith that Bledsoe is sending him somewhere that will earn him money to return and pay for his educational fees and to continue his educational career.