Invisible Man: Chapters 6-9 Reading Questions

Chapter 6

1.     What shocking aspects of Bledsoe’s character are revealed to the narrator?

He doesn’t care about anyone else. He believes that he knows more than the white donors. He tries to suggest to the narrator that he controls the white people. He tells the narrator, “The only way to please a white man is tell him a lie!”

2.     What specific statements does Bledsoe make that show his concern is for himself rather than for the school or for the advancement of other Blacks?

"Tell anyone you like," he said. "I don't care. I wouldn't raise my little finger to stop you. Because I don't owe anyone a thing, son. Who, Negroes? Negroes don't control this school or much of anything else -- haven't you learned even that?” (p. 111)

3.     Read the last paragraph on p. 146 beginning “How did I come to this?” What do you make of the paragraph in terms of the narrator’s struggle to find his identity?

This shows the narrator’s confusion between right and wrong. He thought he was doing good and what he was expected to do. Therefore this causes him to be unsure if he is good…if he is being a traitor?

Section 3 Invisible Man Chapters 7-15

Chapter 7

1.     Who does the narrator meet on the bus to New York? Why does the encounter make him uncomfortable?

He meets Mr. Crenshaw and the Vet.  The encounter made him uncomfortable because he was trying to forget about the terrible problem he just faced and according to the narrator, it was all because of the Vet. They were the only three passengers and he wanted to get away from the Vet.

2. On p. 152, the narrator is told New York is “not a place, it’s a dream.” Interpret this statement.

I’m guessing that by this, the Vet means that New York is a place where you can have fun and have freedom and so much that it seems like a dream. Similar to the U.S., most of the reasons why immigrants come to this country are because they seek for protection and freedom. They seek to obtain the “American Dream”

3. How does the fate of the vet parallel the fate of the narrator? Think of how both are controlled.

The fate of both the vet and the narrator are parallel because they both depend on men, they are held to other men of power. These men are both controlled because they were both sent away and they obeyed and they are holding on to what they believe is going to take them somewhere better just because men of higher power gave it to them. For example, the narrator is so excited because he believes that the recommendation letters will take him far.

4. Reread the final paragraph on p. 153 What do you make of the vet’s advice?

I believe that the Vet is a slight more intelligent foil of the narrator. The Vet tells the narrator to use his “invisibility” as an advantage and to not trust people. The vet could also be compared to Bledsoe, except that he actually does want to help the narrator and give him advice.

5. On p. 155, the vet says, “there’s always an element of crime in freedom.” What does this statement mean to you? Do you agree or disagree?

This statement to me means that there is always something bad you have to do in order to obtain freedom. Which I believe that to a certain extent that is true, especially when talking about extreme circumstances when crime should be okay. For example, in a kidnap sometimes the victim is forced to do whatever to get out of the kidnappers nest, even if it means to kill. Another example could be slavery. Blacks had to run away so that they could be free but back then a run-away slave was a crime.

6. Describe the narrator’s encounter with Ras.

   The narrator heard Ras protesting in the streets about white people and the narrator was very surprised that he could do that. He say that people ignored him but he was free to say what he wanted.

Chapter 8

1.     In the first six chapters, the narrator’s identity is defined by the scholarship. Now the letters defines it. Describe them.

2.     Notice the narrator’s decision to get a watch. How does fit with his new identity. Look for other images to watches and time.

The watch serves as a big part of the narrator’s new identity by bringing structure to his life. He now has certain times he does things. For example, in the mornings he deals with his business things (“for important men”) and in the afternoon he goes and enjoys himself in the city. The narrator recalls Bledsoe having a watch (him recalling Bledsoe shows the admiration he still has for him).

3.     How does the narrator deny his Southern heritage? Why does he do this?

He denies his heritage by changing the way he speaks/ his accent/ his vocabulary. He does this because since this is a new identity he has to be a whole different person and he wants to seem like an educated person like those from the North. He wants to blend in as much as possible.

4.     Why do you think the narrator dreams of his grandfather?

I think he dreams of his grandfather because of what his grandfather told him about being a traitor. He isn’t going by what his grandfather told him. His conscience won’t leave him alone not even in his dreams.

Chapter 9

1.     How does Peter Wheatstraw (with plans) make the narrator homesick?

Peter planned to sing a song that reminded him of the campus.

2.     What is the symbolism of Wheatstraw’s blueprints?

The symbolism of the blueprints could be the planning of a new brighter future. Blueprints are used for planning new designs with precise measurements and etc.

3.     How does the narrator continue to deny his Southern heritage?

He resists not eating the food at the store and it was an accomplishment for him because he could actually resist those custom southern foods.

4.     Look at the details from Emerson’s office.

He has a lot of different things in his office that are from different parts in the world. His office is colorful and it’s very peaceful. He has a lot of nice furniture.

5.     Why does Emerson keep referring to Huck Finn?

 He keeps referring to Huck Finn because he relates to the story.  Jim is a black slave and Huck Finn is white. Huck Finn tries to help Jim but they actually keep going down into a more racist area. In this case, Emerson is a white man who is trying to help the narrator.

6.     Walt Whitman wrote a series of homoerotic poems called the Calamus poems. Can you make any inferences about young Emerson from his reference to the Calamus Club?

 I believe he is trying to show his homosexuality by his reference to the Calamus Club. We can also infer his homosexuality by his body language. In the book he looks at the narrator up and down in a weird way.

7.     Why might young Emerson identify with the narrator and Blacks in general?

Emerson’s sexuality was not acceptable in those days and therefore he relates to the Blacks because they are seen as less just like people who expressed their sexuality.

Invisible Man: Chapters 3-5 Reading Questions

Chapter 3

1.     Look carefully at the descriptions of the Golden Day. What is it? What has it been in the past? Is there any symbolism in the description?

The golden day is a bar/ mental asylum. There are prostitutes that satisfy the patients that used to be people with professional jobs like doctors, lawyers, etc.

The Golden day used to be a church but then it went to being a restaurant, and then a place to gamble.

2.     Describe the veterans at the Golden Day.

They are referred to as patients. They all were people with important and high roles in society and they are all Black men. They were seen as children. Most of them have a different story of why they are there.

3.     Read p. 81 carefully and comment on the ways that the normal rules of society are reversed at the Golden Day.

They don’t respect whit people or people of authority. They talk to Mr. Norton in an equal way, which in society would not be seen. The patients stand up to people of authority like Supercargo.

4.     The vet who had been a doctor gives the narrator a warning. What is it?

He tells him that he is invisible. He tells him that although he believes he is helping himself, he is really helping Mr. Norton’s destiny. He tells him he needs to wake up from reality and stop trying to impress people that are just human like him. That he is blind to reality.

5.     The vet is the first to introduce the narrator to the concept of invisibility (pp. 94-94) and blindness. How do his comments tie into the statements the narrator makes in the Prologue?
The comments of the vet are similar and enhance the idea of being invisible and how they see each other as a an object rather than a human being. In the book, whites like Mr. Norton, they believe that Blacks like the narrator is some sort of achievement rather than a human being.

Chapter 4

1. Look at the description of the campus. How does it contrast with the Golden Day?

It campus contrasts the Golden day because it is not chaotic and unorganized. The students are not acting up or standing up to authority. There is some sort of piece and the campus is clean. The patients seem to have been acting like animals without discipline.

2. Why does the narrator call the campus “ a flower-studded wasteland?”

The narrator calls the campus “a flower-studded wasteland” because it is actually a nice, clean, organized school but the prettiness of the campus is only used to capture the attention of the rich donors. The school is made to look perfect in the outside but the campus is a “wasteland” in the inside full of self-interested people.

3. List as many images (with page numbers) as you can find in this chapter of black against white.

Description of Bledsoe: “While black and bald…he has achieved power and authority…while black and wrinkle-headed, made himself of more importance in the world than most southern white men…”  (P.79)

Bledsoe to Narrator: “…he stopped and looked at me with exasperation, as though I’d suddenly told him black was white.”  (P. 80)

Bledsoe to Narrator: "Haven't you the sense God gave a dog? We take these white folks where we want them to go, we show them what we want them to see. Don't you know that? I thought you had some sense." (p.80)

4. List all the images you can find (with page numbers) of masks and veils in this chapter.

-       “Above a spacious fireplace an oil portrait of the Founder looked down at me remotely, benign, sad, and in that hot instant, profoundly disillusioned. Then a veil seemed to fall.” (p.81)

-       “As we approached a mirror Dr. Bledsoe stopped and composed his angry face like a sculptor, making it a bland mask, leaving only the sparkle of his eyes to betray the emotion that I had seen only a moment before.” (p. 81)

5.     How does the scene in Bledsoe’s office parallel the Battle Royal scene?
The office is parallel to the Battle Royal because they both had a woman in the beginning. After, comes the battle where in the Royal Battle it’s physically and in the office it’s verbally and once again the narrator is forced to having to go through it in order to get what he wants.

Chapter 5

1. Retell briefly the story of the founder. How does it parallel the story of the narrator?

The founder was a poor man who educated himself by reading the bible. The founder had to leave his home because he was advised/ warned by an unknown man. The founder is parallel to the narrator because they are both advised of their destiny/ future.

2. In what ways has Bledsoe perverted the founder’s dream?

Bledsoe has perverted the founder’s dream and legacy by not focusing on what the founder really designed the school for. The founder wanted to educate his students and prepare them for life. However, Bledsoe does the opposite, he lowers the veil of “ignorance” instead of lifting it, which was the founder’s purpose.

3. Is there any symbolism in Bledsoe’s name?

His name could symbolize how he “bleeds” on his own to gain acceptance of white men.

4. Consider Rev. Homer Barbee’s name and blindness. Is there a classical allusion?

Rev. Homer reminds me of the story about Homer who wrote The Odyssey that is about the Trojan War. He was a blind poet and storyteller.

5. Does the revelation of Barbee’s blindness force the narrator to reevaluate Barbee’s statements? Why?

Yes, the narrator reevaluates Barbee’s statement because he believes that he is unaware of his true audience. The narrator is unsure to completely trust Barbee because he sounds like Bledsoe, like if he were to be under his command.

6. Examine the images of rebirth on p. 110. Why do you feel Ellison included them?

I feel like Ellison included these images to emphasize on the fact that people can be “re-born”, they can be first-born poor but then re-born when they achieve success and become greater educated people.