Invisible Man Test
The conclusion that the Invisible Man comes to by the end of the novel is that he accepts the fact that he is invisible, and learns that he will have to take on like regardless of it. His views on society as a result of his experiences are that man is ignorant. His biggest flaw, his naïve nature, is what leads to his downfall, and teaches him how cruel the real world can be. He realizes that despite how society reacts to or treats him, its morale and thinking cannot be changed. He must continue to move on, and live life despite any racist obstacles people set for him.
The Invisible Man was a product of his times. As a young man, he thought by yessing the white man, and trying to earn a status through education, he might be seen worthy. However this was never the case, because in the eyes of the white man, he was just another Negro. In the Brotherhood he was blinded by the fact that for the first time he was part of something greater, the civil rights cause which he cared so much about. His association with the Brotherhood only exploited him by using him as a tool for advertisment. By realizing that the Brotherhood had hidden “racist” motives, the narrator’s entire way of thinking came “crashing down”. He once and for all came face the harsh truth that his grandfather had instilled in him years before.
Because of the fact that humanity had failed and exploited him constantly, his frustration and disappointment in man is justified. The narrator acts as a normal human being, acting out on years of oppression. However, by realizing that man cannot ever change is what causes the Invisible Man to come full circle. By coming to terms of the statu quo of his time, is what gives him the strength to come into the world once again, with at least a neutral outlook on life.
I definitely agree with every point you specified in your essay. The narrator, throughout the entire novel, was surrounded by selfish and ignorant people. As an object observer in the novel, every character he has encountered presented flaws. Whether they be two-faced, ignorant to society, or submissive, respectively Dr. Bledsoe, Mary, and Sybil. Not only was he blinded by his own "naive nature", as you stated, but the people around him were also blind.
ReplyDeleteI just want to point out that I never understood how the narrator refused to accept his grandfather's ideas when essentially, the narrator, has been guilty of "yessing" to every man he encounters.