The narrator’s first supposed revaluation in Invisible Man came from Bledsoe when he finally “takes off his mask” and shows the narrator his true colors. Reiterating what his grandfather had told the narrator in chapter one, he tells him about how you have to act submissive in order to gain power in the world. But none of this really resonates with the narrator at the time and he still just leaves the room confused and just as blind as before.
In chapter ten of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man the narrator has his eyes opened once again to the harsh reality that is the letters Bledsoe told him to give to people in New York. The young Mr. Emerson figuratively lifts the veil that has been over the eyes of the narrator when he shows him what the letter to Mr. Emerson said and this seems to wake some sort of consciousness in the narrator. While I think that there is some development in the character’s consciousness, I think the growth is minimal and change does not necessarily mean improvement.
Before the narrator knew the contents of the letter, he said that his aspirations were to be like Bledsoe, “I’d really like to become Dr. Bledsoe’s assistant,” he says (184). But after reading the letter, his plans do an about-face and he is overcome with a deep anger and an overwhelming desire for revenge.
Later in the book, the narrator realizes that people do not really see him when Brother Jack’s glass eye falls out into his glass because the thing the thought was seeing him really saw nothing at all.
But his final and arguably his most important realization is when he finally realizes that he is invisible to most people that supposedly “see” him. He realizes this when he walks around Harlem in a measly disguise and everyone mistakes him for Rinehart, a mysterious character that seems to take on a different identity to everyone who he meets.
It could be argued that Rinehart is the most important character in the book for the narrator’s development in his invisibility but both literally and figuratively, not once do we ever actually see him. The entirety of Rinehart’s identity that we as readers know is labels and descriptions of him from those around him, and all of these are different.
In a way, Rinehart is a repetition of everything that has happened so far to the narrator in this book because we see the narrator as someone who has repeatedly had identities placed on him in the Battle Royal, the Liberty Paints factory, when he was trying to find a place to dispose of the remains of the bank he broke at Mary’s house, and finally when walking around Harlem in the end. No one really knows who or what he is but they continue to try to tell him. They all see something different which means they really aren’t seeing at all.
You do a really good job of monitoring the narrator's progress into invisibility, and I'd agree that "Rinehartism" is a huge turning point in it. It's a truly great metaphorical situation, in which a ton of different identities are projected onto him by various people without anyone listening what he has to say first. He realizes both the power of this idea and it's depressing connotations, because, like you said, what if no one really sees who he is at all?
ReplyDeleteI think your absolutely right that Rinehart--despite never actually appearing-- is a very important character. It's the first time that the narrator actually lives the lessons he's been hearing throughout the book. It's the first time that the narrator really loses himself and yet is still somebody to basically everyone he sees. What I find most interesting about this scene though is that the narrator isn't completely comfortable being Rinehart. He doesn't really like the idea that he's a somehow a pimp and reverend. He doesn't seem to really like the deception, which resonated with me in the seen where he's talking to the nuns.
ReplyDeleteNice title! The Rinehart "discovery" is crucial for the narrator's development and in his understanding of his past "blindness" and society's blindness. He realizes that Rinehart is all of these contradictory, "crazy" things, and he is Rinehart, then what is he? This "crazy" discovery is the moment he comes to an understanding of the "real lies".
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ReplyDeleteThe epiphanies the narrator has throughout the novel are his beliefs being stripped away layer by layer as he realizes the many facades that surround his daily life. I feel as though the narrator represents the "new generation." One that does not stand for African-Americans' subservience to the general white population. Rinehart is the center of opinions being placed on someone with no basis, and the narrator's involvement seeks to break through the oppression in the end.
ReplyDeleteThis title wins for the second round: a multifaceted pun worthy of Ellison himself!
ReplyDeleteI agree that Rinehart is probably the most important character for the narrator's development into the cynical man we see in the prologue and epilogue, which I find very interesting since (as you and Molly touched on) he is the only relevant character the narrator doesn't actually get to meet. Rinehart almost completely unveils invisibility to the narrator because, in a sense, he is invisible to the narrator--when someone first associates him with Rinehart, he automatically assumes that that role is all there is to Rinehart, and only through walking in his shoes does he understand that people are more than only what you see initially. He also realizes how one can manipulate their invisibility for their own benefit.
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