Rebirth of the Narrator
The narrator of Invisible Man has gone through some crazy character changes, many that have to do with the incident at Liberty Paints. The narrator has gone through a rebirth of sorts, he was given some sort of electronic lobotomy, which had no connection to the physical injuries that he sustained during the accident. The medical treatment he is given at the factory hospital seems so surreal, it is clear that Ellison wants us as readers to think deeper about the events that lead to the narrator's change in character, and what the changes mean for the progress of the narrator towards freedom and invisibility.
The treatment that the narrator is given at Liberty Paints is incredibly cruel and nightmarish. The doctors operate on him with experimental techniques with the goal of making him more docile. This is incredibly strange as the narrator is somewhat docile to begin with, with mainly goals of success and material wealth on his mind. The treatment seems to have almost the exact opposite reaction that the doctors are expecting, since now the narrator is freed from his previous goals, and because he forgets his identity, tries to rediscover it, and is not restrained by his need to chase status.
Throughout this search for his identity the narrator, despite letting go of his previous desire for material things and status, ironically finds himself needing a job, and taking one from an organization, the Brotherhood. He is contacted by Brother Jack who asks him if he is interested in being a spokesperson for the Brotherhood, which speaks out for the rights of marginalized groups. The job, and its rewards seem almost too good to be true, and that may be the case.
History seems to repeat itself for the narrator. His experiences with the Brotherhood are frighteningly similar to the experiences with the Battle Royale, however, to different degrees of course, yet still he cannot recognize the similarities. Success and money are held over his head to compel the narrator to make decisions. In many ways this makes him increasingly similar to Bledsoe, since the narrator is now a public speaker. He is hyper-visible in the same way that Bledsoe is, however it is not as much of an act as Bledsoe. While the narrator is supposed to maintain a bit of a facade, he gets very personal during his speeches. The narrator instead of thinking of himself as similar to Bledsoe, sees himself as more of a Booker T. Washington, after Brother Jack first mentions it to him when they first meet.
Booker T. Washington was originally born Booker Taliaferro, with no third name. The narrator can be compared to him, since after all, he had lost his original name and was given a replacement. Washington changed his name after he was freed from slavery, and the narrator after his incident at the paint factory where he goes through a sort of rebirth that makes his mind more free. Booker T. Washington became educated and protested for black rights, and the narrator now hopes to do the same, but he hopes he is doing this of his own free will and is not being used.
Wow, comparing the Brotherhood to the Battle Royale is a very interesting thought which I had not really thought about before reading this post. In both, the Narrator is chasing success, and hopes to make himself more visible, while ultimately contributing to the Narrators invisibility. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI really like this comparison between two outwardly separate points of the Narrators life! I had never drawn the connection between the Battle Royal and the Brotherhood before, but again, as things often play out in Invisible Man, everything is connected and the Narrator has almost been running in a circle because of the similarities between all the seemingly different events.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I like your paragraph about the treatment he gets at liberty paints. That scene always brings new thoughts into my mind every time I think about it. I agree with you that it is indeed ironic how their treatment made the narrator see the flaws of his behavior in the past. Instead of making him more invisible and malleable, it makes him more independent.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of history repeating itself in the novel. It shows that although the narrator's character is constantly developing, it's not necessarily developing in the right direction. We also see that he goes the wrong way when he becomes hyper-visible. I talked about this in my second to last blog post where the narrator makes quick progress by making himself visible to his community, but at the same time, he invites conflict and sets himself up for failure. Utilizing his grandfather's advice, he could instead use invisibility to slowly but surely accomplish his goals. Great post, Charlie!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I've always thought that the lobotomy scene - while intriguing - felt like a somewhat cheap way to accelerate the development of the main character. While it does its purpose at connecting a mental transformation with a physical one - character development into something concrete - it comes out of nowhere, with no real explanation. That's why it feels so jarring, and you described some of the oddities about it as well. I agree with the rest of your post though, the point you made connecting BTW and the narrator was really interesting. Good work!
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