The newest section of Invisible Man was very exciting! The narrator works for women’s rights and the first thing he does is sleep with one of the white women. When the woman’s husband comes home he does not see the narrator. This plays in with the motif of visibility and invisibility. The narrator also sees Clifton being shot by a cop. Prior to this, Clifton was selling dolls that were representative of blacks. This angers the narrator and he does not approve of Clifton’s actions. He even crushes one of the dolls by stepping on it. I thought it was interesting that the dolls move with string because that is also a motif. The blacks are being controlled by outside forces just as we have seen throughout this novel. The actual shooting scene was very chaotic. It is clear that Clifton punched a cop and then was shot, but it seemed to be shocking for everyone. After seeing Clifton being shot, the narrator works tirelessly to speak out and start organizing events. Do you think that it was for Clifton or simply because he likes to speak out? Is it to go against the Brotherhood who held the meeting without him? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
It also baffles me why the narrator stays in the Brotherhood when they do not have respect for him as a person. They tell him that he is there to speak and not to think. This would be a red flag for me but the narrator still sticks around. It seemed very significant that brother Jack’s eye popped out. In our group today we discussed how Jack is physically blind in one eye and the other eye is blind to truth. They also demand blind devotion from the people in the group. They get angry when someone tries to step out, even if it be in the name of the Brotherhood. Brother Jack gets angry at the narrator for organizing speeches for Clifton without the support of the Brotherhood even though the narrator had good motives. He wanted the Brotherhood to use the tension to propagate their cause, but they do not want to. They do not want Clifton to be associated with them, even though he could have been a powerful tool if they utilized the tension his death caused.
Great entry Krist! In answer to your question, I think the narrator's motives for the speeches and protest were a little bit of both. I think he knows the people like him so he speaks to cater to their fears and angers. And as long as the people like him, the brotherhood cannot harm him or move him without losing even more popularity. So in a way, the narrator is taking a jab at the brotherhood and working the system because he knows the brotherhood cannot do anything too drastic to him if he has he support of the people. It's hard to tell if the narrator was actually very upset over the death of Clifton. He was upset at the dolls Clifton was showing off right before he died, so perhaps, deep down, he had some resentment for the man but used thre incident to gain popularity and stir up the people. I think his actions were more for a selfish reason, so he could get insurance of at least one party viewing him favorably, either the people or the brotherhood.
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