InViSiBLe MaN

A.) One of the most interesting scenes in this novel was the scene with Jim Trueblood. This scene was both disturbing and frightening but it represented the ways in which the whites are maintaining their power hold on the black race. Trueblood says himself that since the incident the whites have paid ten times more attention to him; they never cared or bothered with him before but now they are suddenly interested in assisting him and listening to his story. The white society enjoys when horrible things like these are done by the blacks because it justifies their prejudice against them. It makes it easier for them to rationalize their actions by considering the black race almost savage and being able to use such evidence as that in the case of Trueblood as backup. The whites are suddenly paying attention to Jim Trueblood because they know that he is their ticket when asked why the black race is still kept oppressed even though they were supposed to be "liberated". Instead of looking on progressive events such as the experiences of the founder or the achievements of the school, the whites are going to find the lowest denominator (Trueblood, in this case) and dwell on that as their basis for continued segregation and withholding of rights. It is situations like these that anger the narrator because he realizes that these repulsive stories are essentially what is hindering the black race from progressing. Although it is not Trueblood's fault that the whites pick out the worst to accomodate themselves, he just adds to the insult.

This same type of theme is shown with the Battle Royal scene where the black men are scrambling around like animals to get the money thrown on the electric wires. They are treated like complete fools and yet some of them continue to fight through the pain to grab the coins. This is another symbol of how the white race, through acting truly ignorant and cruel themselves, are using their power to manipulate the black race. They are having the black men fight each other for the money because they feel that they can show that the blacks still have not advanced and are basically still far behind the white race. These events help the whites to feel superior.

B.) Bledsoe's hands-
"Then he sat before me, making a cage of his fingers and nodding for me to begin" (Ellison 148).
"His hand was large and strangely limp" (150).

Though they may seem insignificant and be easily overlooked, Bledsoe's hands definitely symbolized the type of power he held at the school and over the fate of the students. Bledsoe was not one for the progression of the race; he was for the progression of himself. Bledsoe really only cared about maintaining his own control over the school, he could care less about the actual advancement of its students. The first quote represents his power over the ultimate fate of the narrator. He makes a cage with his hands symbolizing that he has the authority, he has the capacity to make or break the narrator. He is keeping the narrator in the dark by basically sending him on a wild goose chase to find a job and a place in society. He is giving him false hope in order to keep control over him and students like him. Bledsoe does not want change, he does not want the white people to see the types of conditions the black people around the school are subject to because he only cares about keeping his position in control of the school. Mr. Norton being exposed to the harsh reality of the conditions the black people face threatens his own position in the school and he just cannot have that. He therefore wants to keep people like the narrator, who may threaten his role, in a "cage".

The second quote shows that Bledsoe really has false power. He believes that he has more power than anyone else, even the white people, in that he can manipulate them by bowing down and basically acting as a slave to them. He has a large hand but it is strangely limp means that he comes across as having a lot of power but when you really analyze his position, he is still subject to the white race. He is limp in that he does not hold the power he believes he does. I also think this represents how Bledsoe is shaking the narrator's hand but obviously does not care about his future. He is acting as though he is a generous and helpful friend to the narrator when really again he is 'limp' because he is merely filling the narrator with a false sense of hope. He is cold-hearted and does not feel any guilt or grief over sending a man out with inspiration when really his fate has already been sealed.

C.) I liked the theme of the novel and liked the way Ellison employed symbolism into his writing although I thought the symbolism may have been taken a little too far. While reading the story I found myself preoccupied with trying to find all the hidden meanings of the words and I felt that this may have taken away a little from the story itself. Some of the symbolism was really amazing like with the Liberty Paints scene, which was probably my favorite, or the Battle Royal or Clifton's death, but some of the symbolism just started cluttering up the pages. I believe Ellison could have spent more time keeping his overall message at the center of attention by incorporating less detail and hidden meanings.

Overall I really liked the story because it had so many interesting and different scenes. Most books tend to focus around one big event but this novel took us through several important scenes that all contributed to the work as a whole. The events were all extremely significant and were crucial to the novel which was interesting because it kept my attention. Ellison did an excellent job of developing scenes that would actually capture the audience and his ability to develop several was really impressive.