independent reading post #3

I have discovered a poor reading habit of mine. I tend to go into a book with an open mind, but once I find something “interesting” (symbolism, motif, etc.), I often only focus on that. I miss out of bigger picture themes because I am so distracted with tiny details that sometimes are irrelevant. In this post, I will give a brief section continuing the whiteness motif, and then will attempt to dissect the protagonist.

The most overt racial symbolic reference in the next section I read occurs when the protagonist gets a job in a paint factory. His initial job is to mix black “dope” into Optic White paint (201). His angry boss, Kimbro, tells him to “stir it ‘til it disappears,” referring to the blackness of the dope (200). This symbol supports the message that black people are often
mixed into” white culture until their culture/identity is undifferentiable. That’s basically what the narrator is experiencing. He is taught to obey whites. Even in his black college, he had to be careful to please the white guests (i.e. Norton). He almost forces himself to be “mixed in,” attempting to put aside his past to please white people.

Now for character dissection.

The protagonist has changed since his move North. He shows skepticism of whites through his perception of Kimbro, saying, “You just can’t trust any of them” (202). He has less trust and therefore less inward respect for whites than he did at college. Due to this lack of respect, anger comes closer to the surface of his conscience. And when anger does permeate, he doesn’t hold back. The reader sees a whole different side of him.

He practically kills Lucius Brockway, the old black man in charge of the gas tanks in the basement of the paint factory, when Brockway realizes the narrator might be part of the union.The narrator finally stands up for himself. He lunges onto Brockway, whose head flies “backwards and up and back again” at each strike (225). Despite the narrator’s surprising action, two aspects of this scene prevent it from being a true character shift. One is the fact that Brockway is black. Although the narrator is losing trust for whites, I doubt he would physically harm a white person. He’s getting his anger for whites out on this black man simply because he can and no one can see it happening; which brings me to the second reason: the fight takes place in a basement. The narrator still doesn’t possess the courage to demonstrate anger in public. He fears what others might think of him, not to mention potential punishment he would face. The basement is symbolic. His outbursts are still contained; not visible on the surface. So far, I conclude that this is the reason for the title Invisible Man. In a way, humans are defined by their emotions. The narrator keeps him emotions hidden, and therefore isn’t truly seen.