Invisible Man Reading Questions: Chapters 13-15

Chapter 13

1.     Peter Wheatstraw foreshadows the encounter with the yam seller. How do these encounters differ? What changes are revealed in the narrator’s identity? How is his change in identity linked with his desire to show Bledsoe as a fraud?

The narrator takes the yam and it shows his acceptance of his own southern heritage. He then realizes that he will no longer care of what people think and he will not seek anyone’s acceptance. He says people like Bledsoe deny their liking? Are ashamed of their heritage, like their foods, in this case yam, just so the whites can accept them.

2. In the eviction scene, the narrator makes his second speech of the novel. Study it carefully. Compare it to the first speech. Take notes about the narrator’s developing identity.

The narrator doesn’t question himself anymore about his identity, he is more sure of what he is talking about. He understands what is going on around him. He speaks about what he truly feels and what he has started to realize. It seems like he is starting to know who he is by first accepting his heritage.

3. How does the narrator meet Brother Jack? The Brotherhood is a thinly veiled version of the Communist Party. Richard Wright, Ellison’s first mentor, was an active member in the Communist Party. At Wright’s request, Ellison wrote a number of articles for leftist publications between 1937 and 1944, but never joined. He objected to the Communist Party’s limitations of individuality and personal expression.

Brother Jack invites the narrator for coffee because he liked his speech.

4. What new piece of paper replaces the letters from Bledsoe as the narrator’s identity?

The contract the narrator signs with Brother Jack because it possible holds the narrator’s future.

Chapter 14

1.     What pushes the narrator to accept The Brotherhood’s offer?

The smell of cabbage reminds the narrator of his economic situation and Mary. He realizes that he has to help Mary and repay her for everything that she has done for him.

2.     Note that the building is called the Chthonia. In Greek mythology, this is another name for Hades’ realm, the underworld. What descriptions and images can you find that convey the sense of entering an underworld type of realm? Why is entering the world of The Brotherhood like entering the underworld?

The place is full of luxuries and the people are dressed really nice. This is a whole different environment for the narrator. The Chthonia is a cold, white world , full of danger and violence.  This seems like an evil place, unfamiliar to the narrator.

3.     The phone number has been replaced by a new name in an envelope? Why? Why are we never told of this new name?

The new name is his new identity and we are never told his name because the narrator is unsure and uncomfortable about the new identity situation.

4.     How does the party scene remind the reader of how limited and/or hypocritical most whites are in the understanding of the treatment of Blacks?

It reminds the reader of how whites are limited to the treatment of Blacks by having Brother Jack want the narrator to be the leader and putting him into an unknown environment full of Whites. Brother Jack is limited to the understanding the treatment of blacks because he doesn’t realize how difficult it will be to achieve what they want.

                                                                                                                                                                               

Chapter 15

1.     Think about the symbolism of the Sambo bank. Is it related to Clifton’s Sambo doll? What about the fact that it belonged to Mary Rambo? What about the bank’s “grinning mouth” that swallows coins? Think back to the Battle Royal in Chapter 1.
The narrator examines the paper doll that Clifton was selling and he realizes that he was controlling her by invisible sting that the audience can’t see. The Sambo doll is related to the Brotherhood and how the manipulated both Clifton and the narrator. It relates to the narrator and his life because all his life others have manipulated him. The Sambo doll relates to the Royal Battle because the puppets are to entertain people just like the Blacks were an entertainment to the Whites in chapter 1.