The Narrator's Given Identity
As we progress through Invisible Man, the narrator's identity drastically changes. At the beginning of the story, the narrator is introduced as a submissive man, who is willing to participate in a battle royale with his peers in order to win a scholarship to a school that further enforces racial inequality. After the narrator enrolls in the school and is eventually kicked out by Bledsoe, the narrator's identity seems to be torn away from him as he identified with the college and its opportunities. The narrator receives a sense of purpose after finding out Bledsoe was trying to keep him running, which leads him to the paint factory. After the explosion and the torture the narrator endures, his sense of purpose is once again ripped from him, leaving him like a newborn, able to adapt to his surroundings. Despite him not really knowing what to do, the protest scene shows that the biggest developing factor for the narrator at that point in time is his subconscious. He doesn't really know why he gives a speech, he just feels that he needs to. The job opportunity he gets from Brother Jack seems to partially re-ignite a sense of purpose in the narrator, due to the similarities between what Brother Jack's brotherhood is hoping to achieve and the narrator's own subconscious. Despite the many red flags that the narrator sees in the organization, the narrator sticks with them for some reason. The narrator's discovery of his true identity in the form of the speech will most likely be the guiding factor for the rest of the book. Ellison went through the trouble of picturing re-birth after the factory accident, and the current stage depicts the narrator beginning to discover who he is and will become. By surrounding himself in activists, he will adapt to the environment surrounding him, shaping him into the character we read about in the beginning of the book.
I like how you bring together all the major turning points in the narrator's mind so far. I wonder what other changes he will make as we approach the end of the novel. It's strange we still have over 200 pages left and yet the narrator is already getting pretty close to what he was like in the prologue. I'm interested in what other events will shape his personality. That being said, there may not even be any more huge changes but rather a gradual one over the course of the remaining chapters. As you mentioned, I think the biggest change in the narrator's actions and thoughts occurred during his time in the factory hospital. Like you said, he's left a husk of his former self, and this allows him to consider who he is and what he wants from his life. Lots of the biggest advancements in his self confidence take place after this. For example, he eats yams out in the open and goes all out with the legendary line "I yam what I am". All jokes aside, his speech takes place after the procedure, and he only does it because he's trying to find a way to fill the void inside himself and discover who he is.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anthony, I think that from now on, the changes won't be as jarring as they have been in the past for our narrator. Also, he has much more free will and self confidence now, so we see him make many more choices for himself, instead of rolling with everything that goes his way. I think that even though he noticed so many red flags in the organization, he joined because he needed the money, it wasn't like he was pushed to do so as much as in other instances.
DeleteThis idea of the narrator's conscience progressively forming throughout the novel is very important in my opinion. I think another aspect of the novel worth looking at is the periods where he doesn't progress, where he stalls. From the point of him going to college all the way up to Emerson's final disillusionment, he is oblivious. This is despite the efforts of many people trying to help him uncover the true meaning of things. It isn't until after his Liberty paints accident when it all finally sinks in and he starts his journey to become a new person. This perspective is important because it shows just how powerful the original disillusionment was. It needed to be literally written on a piece of paper for the narrator to finally realize the foolishness of his original thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI like your post, I think it summarizes the major events in the book that helped to form the narrator's new identity. I'm curious what else needs to happen for us to finally come back around to where the narrator is in the prologue, because it still doesn't feel like we're nearly there yet.
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely agree, and say that the narrator's identities are completely thrust upon him, which is what makes his true identity so hard to find for both him and the reader. Everyone seems to have a plan for him and he usually just goes along with it. However, as he begins to question everyone else's ideas for him he slowly becomes more and more self-aware and progresses towards an identity of his own, eventually arriving at the narrator we meet in the prologue who obviously has a very secure idea of himself.
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