Independent Reading blog #2

     In my last post, I traced a motif of whiteness. Over the next 100 pages I have noticed a few more instances. In the night, the narrator compares the moon to a "white man's bloodshot eye" (110). The moon "sees" everything, as does a white man's eye. The power of whiteness is ubiquitous in this young man's life, constantly surrounding around him, like the moon orbiting the Earth.
     The narrator also notices "sheer height of the white stone" when he travels North in search of a job (165). He gets kicked out of the school for "improper behavior" towards Norton, but is guaranteed that one of the seven recommendation letters Bledsoe gives him will get him a job. When he travels North, he still sees whiteness as intimidating (i.e. the tall building), but overcomes some fear. "After staring for a moment," he walks in the building along with other business people (165). He breaks down barriers just by walking in to an establishment full of white people.
     Later, when the narrator goes to Mr. Emerson (one of the letters' intended recipients), he sees "ebony pedestals," holding up "glass specimen jars" (180). A shift! Ebony (black) versus white. This detail could be analyzed as either a) black people are strong or b) black people carry weight the society's judgements put on them. To support the message I think Ellison is trying to make, I'm going to choose option a. The narrator has travelled North, both a physical and societal change. He is astonished that people treat him equally, or at least without negative interest. He is shocked when a plump woman on the subway does not scream when he brushes her skin, and doesn't "pay him the slightest attention" (158). Life is different now -- but better? We would think so (as readers in the 21st century), but the narrator is so shocked he can't decide whether this is "desirable or undesirable" (168).
    This whole equality thing relates to the title (Invisible Man). In the North, the narrator feels that despite general politeness, people "hardly see [him]" (168). He is more invisible in the North. This is ironic because invisibility seems like a undesirable fate. The North should be more accepting, right? More willing to see blacks as actual people? And yet, the narrator doesn't feel seen at all. He's just another body walking in the street. This is ironic because the narrator had a decent life in the South; getting an education and thriving mentally. Now he is ignored, likely to get lost in his own thoughts and perceptions simply because he has no relations.
     Perhaps invisibility is a good start; a blank slate. But since the narrator has already experienced prejudices in the South, he can't fathom or enjoy the equality in the North just yet. To illustrate this, Ellison uses an analogy. While the narrator waits in Emerson's office, his attention is drawn, by a "savage beating of wings," to an "aviary of tropical birds" (181). He feels an urge to "stand near the cage for a better view," but resists this temptation as it would appear "unbusinesslike" (181). The birds symbolize his own state of being. He is trapped in a cage. His resistance to his attraction to the birds is also symbolic. He doesn't want to admit that he's in a cage. In fact, he doesn't even really know that he is in one. He hears a "harsh cry from the cage," and sees a "fluttering and beating of wings," only to settle down "when the door opens and the blond man" enters (182). Just like the birds, his instinct tells him to obey and mimic whites. They birds are rowdy when the narrator is in the room, but immediately settle down when the white man comes in. The narrator clings to the idea of white power because it has been a reality throughout his life.