Chapter 25

1.     What causes the riot?

At first it was unclear of what caused the riot because people kept saying different things like that it was because “a cop shot a woman or something” and then because “It was that fellow what’s his name?”

Later on the narrator realizes that all alon it was Ras and the Brotherhood that caused the riot, they’ve been planning it all along.

2.     Think about the Book of Revelations in the Bible. In what ways is Ras like one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Ras is like the horsemen that represents battle, since he was the one who started the riot there is a connection.

3.     What drives the narrator underground?

The chasing of Ras and the brotherhood drives the narrator underground.

4.     What does the narrator do with the papers in his briefcase? How is this action symbolic?

The narrator burns his diploma, his anonymous letter, his brotherhood membership, and Clifton’s doll. This action is symbolic because it is if the narrator is letting go of his past. He burned the things that he held on for so long. Fire in a dark place can bring light, the narrator making a fire in the dark opens the narrator’s eyes, and it takes off his blindfold making him realize the truth. 

Epilogue

1.     In what ways has the novel come full circle?

The novel has came full circle because the prologue was actually the ending…it was like if he was telling his story backwards.

2.     Is this a satisfactory ending for the novel? Why or why not?

I believe it is a satisfactory ending, it is an ending that we are probably not use to because we believe that endings are suppose to be “happily ever after” but Invisible Man does a great way of expressing reality, that although a happy ending is good but being able to recognize and see the true reality is better.

Invisible Man Reading Questions: Ch. 25-Epilogue

Chapter 25

1.     What causes the riot?

At first it was unclear of what caused the riot because people kept saying different things like that it was because “a cop shot a woman or something” and then because “It was that fellow what’s his name?”

Later on the narrator realizes that all alon it was Ras and the Brotherhood that caused the riot, they’ve been planning it all along.

2.     Think about the Book of Revelations in the Bible. In what ways is Ras like one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Ras is like the horsemen that represents battle, since he was the one who started the riot there is a connection.

3.     What drives the narrator underground?

The chasing of Ras and the brotherhood drives the narrator underground.

4.     What does the narrator do with the papers in his briefcase? How is this action symbolic?

The narrator burns his diploma, his anonymous letter, his brotherhood membership, and Clifton’s doll. This action is symbolic because it is if the narrator is letting go of his past. He burned the things that he held on for so long. Fire in a dark place can bring light, the narrator making a fire in the dark opens the narrator’s eyes, and it takes off his blindfold making him realize the truth.

Epilogue

1.     In what ways has the novel come full circle?

The novel has came full circle because the prologue was actually the ending…it was like if he was telling his story backwards.

2.     Is this a satisfactory ending for the novel? Why or why not?

I believe it is a satisfactory ending, it is an ending that we are probably not use to because we believe that endings are suppose to be “happily ever after” but Invisible Man does a great way of expressing reality, that although a happy ending is good but being able to recognize and see the true reality is better.

Mary in Invisible Man

In the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the character Mary Rambo, could be a biblical allusion to Mary, the mother of Jesus. When the narrator first meets Mary Rambo, he is helpless and weak. This scene reminds me of the crucifixion of Jesus, as he was carrying his cross, he fell and he felt weak, just like the narrator. As a reader, one can imply that Mary inhibits a motherly figure towards the narrator; she feeds him, cares for him and provides him with shelter. In the novel, Mary is a strong black woman who has learned how to survive her city that if filled with violence and corruption. When the narrator leaves her because he feels like she is also apart of this past that he is trying to escape, he leaves without saying goodbye to her. Mary represents the courage and dignity that black women have, just like the narrator refers to Booker T. Washington, Mary could be seen like a strong women like Harriet Tubman.

Invisible Man Reading Questions: Chapters 23-24

Chapter 23

1.     What symbolism do you find in the narrator’s purchase of dark glasses?

They could symbolize invisibility, when the narrator puts on the sunglasses everyone confused him with a man named, Rinehart. The narrator used the sunglasses as a disguise because he realized that it changed his identity completely.

2           2.  What are Rinehart’s various identities?

-       Numbers runner

-       Preacher

-       A sugar daddy (has many woman)

3           3.   Is there any symbolism in Rinehart’s name (Rind and heart)?

He represents the different identities that people in general have. For example, I have a different Identity with my parents, with my friends, and teachers.

Rind= a tough hard covering, just like the glasses and hat that invisible man wears or like the facade that Rinehart puts on.

Heart= The heart part of his name could actually be referring to his actual heart. If you put these words together it could be saying that Rinehart means a person that has a covered heart, a heart with many identities.

Has Rinehart learned to play an identity game?

He has learned to play an identity game.

Chapter 24

1.     Contrast the narrator’s encounter with Sybil with that of the woman in red whose husband came home early.

Both of these women are a representation of Ellison’s idea that white woman are attracted to black men. These women are both obsessed with black men. They have a big fantasy of having inmate relationships with black males.

2.  What is the significance of the last line in the chapter?

The significance of the last line in the chapter is a representation of the narrator’s internal conflict, often we see this scene in movies when a character feels confused and sad, he just runs out of his house in the night crying and confused. The narrator at the end is questioning himself. He doesn’t know, he isn’t conscious of where he was or why he was there.

The Brotherhood wants to tell the people in Harlem what to think, rather than allow them to draw their own conclusions. The military is also an organization where people are expected to simply obey orders and are not supposed to think for themselves unless they are of an upper rank. School officials expect students to obey rules and do not usually anticipate that a student will think about a rule before complying. 
Brainstorm additional situations in which unquestioning obedience is expected. When is it okay to simply expect obedience? When should people be encouraged to think for themselves? How can a person tell when being told not to "think" is an attempt to put down or limit opportunities and actions of a particular group?

I think that for many people, when they think about obedience they think about their parents because that is where we first began to learn about what obedience is. Our parents have guided us to being good obedient kids, however this isn't the same situation for everyone but the majority of kids can agree that our parents are the ones that have taught us what is good and what isn't. Therefore, unfortunately sometimes the beliefs of our parents can influence the way we think. For example, when we are you are parents tell us "Do not eat that candy from the ground because the ground is nasty and dirty!"From there we learn and we think that the ground is dirty and nasty. Sometimes the beliefs we pick up from our parents are bad, especially if your parents are racist and I personally know many people that have become racist because thats what their parents have taught them. 
Another example, in where obedience is required and how we should think should be a certain way, is prison. Inmates have to follow the rules or else they get punished. They have a certain time to eat, play, and talk. In a situation like this I do believe obedience is needed. Obedience helps a person become better by not acting up.
A person can tell when being told not to think is an attempt to put down or limit opportunities by how they feel, like uncomfortable, personally I'd feel like a prisoner, being told this and that. I think that it would be easier to be detected by a person who has never been told what to think to think. It's a feeling that someone has deprived something from you, something that you've had all along, your freedom. 

Invisible man questions: Ch. 20-22

Chapter 20

1.     The narrator has been away from Harlem for several months. What “emergency” calls him back downtown?

The narrator has came back to Harlem because the Brotherhood called him to tell him that Tod Clifton was missing.

2.     What changes have taken place in the movement since he left. (Note how things have changed in the Jolly Dollar Bar.

When the narrator goes back to the Jolly Dollar Bar he doesn’t find his favorite brother Maceo and all the men that used to be called “brothers” do not want to be called “brothers” anymore.

3.     What does Ellison mean when he says that returning to Harlem was “like returning to the city of the dead?”

I think that Ellison means that Harlem is so dead, not literally but everything seems so dull and un-alive, no one is there and everyone seems hopeless and missing. Harlem feels unfamiliar and changed to the narrator.

4. What is Clifton selling?

He is selling Sambo dolls.

5. How does the Sambo doll relate to the Sambo bank?

The sambo doll and the sambo bank are related because the word “sambo” refers to blacks that let themselves be manipulated. Sambo is a man who laughs and is permits others to use them. 

6. What do you think the doll symbolizes? Consider the fact that it is a puppet whose strings are pulled.

I think that the dolls symbolize white inferiority against blacks. It symbolizes the control that whites have over blacks and that are sometimes used as entertainment, just like in chapter 1 in the royal battle. Just like the puppets that are controlled by someone with strings attached for entertainment.

7. How does Tod Clifton die? What is the narrator’s reaction to his death?

Tod is shoot by a police officer and the narrator is shocked and horrified for what he just witnessed.

 

Chapter 21

1.     Why does the narrator feel guilt over Clifton’s death?

He feels like he could have helped come up with a solution to Clifton’s problem that he also feels bad and disappointed that he couldn’t find out what and why he was selling dolls. He feels like the answer is lost.

2.     Look at the funeral speech. How many times does the narrator use Clifton’s name? Why so many?

I think he uses his name so many times to emphasize on his death and the point he is trying to make. When someone repeats something a lot they try to catch attention to that specifically thing.

Chapter 22

1.     Why is the meeting with the Brotherhood described in terms of a dream?

The meeting is described in terms of a dream to make a bit of suspense for the narrator… the room is dark and there is only one light. The narrator compares it to a dream he often has about his grandfather. In his dream his grandfather is staring at him from across the room and he finds it similar to the way that the brothers were starring at him.

2.     On p. 463, the members are said to have “flowed in one channel too long and too deeply.” What does this mean? I think it means that they have been stuck on the same ideas for too long and too deeply that it’s noticeable and sad that they can’t move forward with these same ideas.

3.     Why does the Brotherhood object to the phrase “personal responsibility?”

They object the phrase because they still believe in the same ideas about doing things together and agreeing on things together as brothers.  

4.     Contrast the reaction of the Brotherhood to the funeral speech to the audience’s reaction to the graduation speech. Has the narrator come full circle?

The Brotherhood was very angry and curious to why the narrator did a funeral to Clifton whom they say was a “traitor”

5.     What is the significance of Brother Jack’s glass eye? How does it develop the sight image that is throughout the book?

I think the significance of Brother Jack’s glass eye is that the glass eye is used to make him see better but really he doesn’t seem to actually see and realize what is going on around him.