Looking back with Invisible Man
In chapter 24 of Invisible Man, our narrator is posed with a conflicting situation when he is trapped underground during the riot. Instead of sulking in his misfortune, he chooses to make metaphorical lemonade out of the sour lemons he is given by the universe; he uses this threatening occasion to reflect upon his life and his choices thus far. When he is stuck underground, IM decides that the best way to see through the dark is to start burning the possessions he held in his briefcase. All of the things stored in his briefcase were memorials of pernicious events that happened to him throughout his whole life, and burning those items is a metaphor for letting go of the past and removing the impurities from his life. Essentially he is born again through this event.
Ralph Ellison wrote Invisible Man in a way that makes the novel seem open to interpretation by the reader, rather than supporting one focused message. Ellison wrote this novel’s ending with a generic main idea that can apply to everyone--practicing self reflection based on analysing previous actions is the key to enlightenment. In this case, IM becomes enlightened by realizing that he has been letting people in power over him abuse him into letting them control him physically, emotionally, and socially via empty promises and faux rewards.
Many of us were forced into a situation of solitude early last year due to covid lockdown, just like how IM was forced underground. During this year many of us did not know what to do with our down time, but either consciously or subconsciously we reflected on our lives pre-pandemic and grew from re-evaluating what we once took for granted. This process of self-reflection on how we had behaved previously, what we had accomplished with our time, and relationships we had maintained, hopefully led to enlightenment about our place in the world like what Ellison would have wanted.
This is a really great blog post! I love how you say that the narrator is “born again” through burning the things in his briefcase and how you mention that he makes the best of what the world has given him (even when this is absolutely terrible). And I completely agree, Ellison definitely ended the novel in a way that makes readers ponder for much longer and is very open to interpretation. I also feel that there are so many messages being conveyed at the end of the novel! (It could be a little confusing to interpret sometimes for me, as it seemed to be going in so many different directions, but at the same time I really enjoyed reading the philosophical ending and thoughts of the narrator). And I feel that self-reflection, like you discuss, is really only allowed for the narrator while he’s in the hole (for instance, particularly in eh Brotherhood, the narrator is specifically told to not think for himself and to completely ignore all of his past).
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love how you compare this time of self-reflection to the kind of self-reflection that many people went through during lockdown!! Such an interesting point and comparison!
I love the image of Covid lockdown as producing a bunch of would-be IM's all isolated in their little well-lit caves, writing away . . .
ReplyDeleteYou're right that the plunge "outside history" and into symbolic "darkness" underground represents another "rebirth" for the narrator--in some ways, this is the birth of the voice who is telling the story, the full manifestation of the ironic, taunting voice we meet in the prologue. As with so much in this novel, there's a "deja vu" quality to the rebirth, though--we've seen him be "reborn" before, with the whole Liberty Paints/Hospital sequence, in which he emerges pure and new from the machine after having the umbilical cord removed from his belly, is taken in by a "mother" figure in Mary, and then is given a name and a public role by the would-be father figure, Jack. What makes this one different? Maybe the finality of actually *burning* the contents of his briefcase, cutting all ties to this past.
Hello Samuel Newman. Your analysis and comparison of Invisible man to the COVID lockdown was on point. I also noticed that the narrator only found a place of true self reflection when he moved underground, like many of us during COVID. The narrator discovered who he truly was.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post Sam! I can totally relate to your point about quarantine. While quarantine for me was not the same as being stuck underground I did have a lot of time to reflect on my life. I think it is interesting how the narrator is still developing his character to the very end of the book. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI like the way you talk about the renewal and rebirth of the narrator's identity. Going into isolation, much like we went into quarantine, created an environment that promoted reflection. This idea also reminds me of the chapter where the narrator spent time in the hospital, going through a period of rebirth there as well. It shows how the narrator's character is constantly evolving, even at the end of the book. Really interesting post!
ReplyDeleteHi Sam, first of all great job on this post! I really like your approach to explaining the narrators rebirth and how this contributed to the overall plot of the story.
ReplyDeleteThe connection you made to COVID was interesting, and I haven't thought of that before. But you are right, quarantine was like a period of self reflection similar to what IM went through. Perhaps this interpretation makes the final line of the book hit a little closer to home for all of us. Great post overall!
ReplyDeleteWow this is a really interesting post! I like how you dive into the implications of burning the things in his brief case while he's trapped. I really liked how you were able to relate his situation to current times with the covid-19 pandemic, its a really unique perspective on the book. Really nice job!
ReplyDeleteI think the symbolism in that scene was really cool, it was sort of like a metamorphosis of the narrator, leaving his past behind. Also, the connection you made with this scene to covid was really interesting, I definitely hadn't thought of that before reading this post. Unfortunately, I think the key difference for a lot of people is that while this scene marks a seemingly positive change for the narrator, covid was very, very negative mentally, and in a lot of other ways, for a lot of people.
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