Underground Looking Up
The narrator has written the entirety of the book Invisible Man underground, which attributes to his unique perspective on things. He is able to reflect on his life in a much clearer and unbiased way, free from the influence of external pressures. Being completely removed from society allows the narrator to be free in his thoughts. This is in direct contrast to any other view he has throughout his life. He has been above the ground his entire whole life. The narrator has even had a view of the world from the top when he was extremely successful working for the Brotherhood. However, his vision has always been clouded by external pressures and motivations. Underground he is free from pressures to be successful, and the responsibilities of the world.
His whole life he has been chasing his identity. In his younger years, the narrator had been pursuing the creation of identity but after his accident at the paint factory, it is clear that he instead searched for his own identity. However, the biggest part of him analyzing his own identity is his reflection on life. His time underground allows him to really understand what all of these events mean for his personality. He can see the motivators behind all of his decisions, and how his clouded vision has influenced some of his worse decisions.
The narrator only speaks directly to us, the readers, in the prologue and the epilogue. In the prologue the narrator speaks to us, tells us about his invisibility. In the epilogue, he asks us about our thoughts on his life, specifically what we find to be similar between him and us. We now know him better than any other person, we have seen all that he has experienced, and he wants us to know who he speaks for. Everyone has some sort of invisibility, no one can really be completely visible to another person.
This inherent invisibility brings up the question of how good the narrator's own "vision" is. How invisible have other characters been to him? Is the narrator's vision as good as the Vet's? From underground the narrator's vision, I believe, is almost as good as the Vet's. By asking if he is speaking for us, he shows how we should enlighten ourselves, helping us uncover our own invisibility. His goals have moved on from personal ones, bringing a new purpose to the book.
Hey Charlie, this is a really good post! You make a great point about how at the end the narrator is urging us to consider how his experiences relate to ours and think about how we are also "invisible". I especially like how you say that the narrators shift in goals brings a new purpose to the book. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHello Charles. This is a good blog. The ending of the book definitely represents a sharp turn in the narrator’s life, and it shows how eye opening his story was for him. I like how you brought up the fact that the narrator wants us to reflect on how his story is similar to ours. Good blog.
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ReplyDeleteHello, Charles! I agree with the fact that he needs an isolated environment to reflect. Hahahahhaha
ReplyDeleteSorry, I had a typing error. As I was saying, I agree that he has to be in an isolated environment to reflect. He’s had multiple rebirths throughout the novel and this isolation just serves as another environment for him to change and reflect on his identity. I liked the way you described the narrators change of view and how he develops a new purpose at the end of the book. Overall, great job on the blog!
ReplyDeleteHello Charlie, I really like your argument in this blog post. I respect how you brought up the turning point of the end of the novel in comparison to the beginning. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat job Charles! I really like how you took something which seems sort of trivial in the general context of the book, like the underground setting, and showed how it actually was a big part in how the narrator thought and wrote the book. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteYour post has really interesting implications, for example, the morality presented in the story might be even more grey than we previously thought if it turns out that the narrator was blind to other characters just like they were to him. Maybe Jack wasn't as bad as we thought, but instead we're seeing the perspective the narrator has and we're only getting one slice of his identity. Just like how the strangers on the street each had a different idea of who Rinehart was, ranging from a pimp to a priest, it's possible the narrator is just like those strangers. He might recognize his own invisibility, but what about the invisibility of others? The implications of this argument are interesting to talk about to say that least. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post! i like how you dig into why the narrator goes from speaking in general to speaking directly to us in the end; and how that may imply that we need to enlighten ourselves. I like that you relate it to how we should uncover our own invisibility as well. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI agree not only that the narrator has been changing his identity his whole life, but also that living underground allowed him to see this pursuit for identity was misguided. He is finally able to accept that he doesn't inherently have a single identity that he is tasked in finding, but that he can just do what he thinks is good or righteous at any given point without having to think about how it might reflect whatever he views his identity as at the time.
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