My title
might be a bit ambiguous considering just how many different turning points we
see in the narrator's life. Part of the reason is that we are following him for
a large portion of his life, which is completely different from our view of
Bigger in Native Son, who we only saw
in a short span of time. Particularly, I wanted to focus on the
point where the narrator of Invisible Man
decides to throw away the social norms he believes in.
Even
after arriving in New York, the narrator is still naïve and idealistic. He
doesn’t let anything stop him from his path, zooming in on his main objectives
and working towards just that. While in the South, he was the model of the meek
African-American man that the white society wanted, up North he starts
developing new ideas about his place in life. For example, when grabbing a bite
to eat at the drugstore, he specifically chooses against buying the suggested
meal in favor of what he thought of as “normal” fare. He purposefully didn’t
buy the food he would have enjoyed on the sole basis that he wasn’t the
Southern black man everyone saw him, wanting to show that he was different.
Emerson
revealing the truth of Bledsoe’s “recommendation” letter, the Liberty Paints
factory accident, and the harrowing hospital experience all leave their marks
on the narrator. Afterwards, he is no longer dead-set on a goal. Instead, he
starts living life a bit more free, allowing himself to do what he wants to
take pleasure in his existence. For once, the reader starts seeing some body to
the narrator’s personality, his “rebirth” changing the very basis of his being.
Now, completely opposite of his actions just a few weeks before, the narrator
indulges in some fresh baked yams. First buying one and walking away, as he
finishes the yam the narrator realizes, but ignores the restriction he put upon
himself. The taste of the hot yam makes him homesick, imagining the shock his
peers from home would have if they could see him eating such lowly food. Whereas
before he imagined the respect he would garner at the college with his Northern
mannerisms, now he is on the flip side of that. His mind goes as far as to
blame all Southerners for shunning the things that they enjoyed for the sake of
public image, even recognizing that he himself fell victim to that trend. With,
“I yam what I am!” the narrator moves into a new phase of his life where he
frees himself of the requirements of class, education, and refinement to truly be
himself. It might have taken nearly two decades of his life, but now the narrator is climbing out of his shell and showing his true colors to the world.
I think Ellison deliberately portrays the Narrator as having this growing sense of freedom. At the same time however it seems that the Narrator is going to be used by Jack to fit this specific role in the organization. Just like before, Ellison seems to be setting up the Narrator for some sort of success/freedom and then he is going to snatch it away.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I don't feel like the narrator's new job gives him much freedom at all, and although he is fighting for his own people, I feel like he is just being used by white people to fight against one another. I think his speech has to come naturally to be powerful with was when he did it for the old couple. If jack tries to recreate that effect it wouldn't be the same.
DeleteI agree that the narrator does experience this "rebirth" and other life changing events that change his character and ultimately end up giving him more freedom. Although he is constricted by the organization he works for and his actions will most likely be according to their ideas, doesn't he say that he will be their Emerson on the surface, but in reality, will be whatever he wants to be? He was skeptical when the person first approached him about the job and I think this led him to be very careful but also to choose to maintain a persona around the people, being free on the inside the whole time.
DeleteI think this is a really good point. Ellison has points in the novel that seem to completely alter the course of the Narrator's life, even how he sees himself. But buried in all of these positive personality changes and what seems to me like an ability to suddenly think critically, he makes some pretty stupid decisions too. For example, getting into fights isn't something most people applaud but because he is finally standing up for himself, as readers I feel like we can't help but feel like it is a positive change to what he was before.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't go so far as to say he blames "all southerners" for worrying about what their tastes and cultural preferences will mean in terms of how they are perceived by others--but he does now voice/fantasize a strong rejection of *Bledsoe* on precisely these terms. Presumably plenty of southern migrants north will continue to enjoy yams (and the larger cultural heritage they represent in this scene--"roots"!), as this guy plans to sell out his stock of baked yams, and he'll be back tomorrow with fried pies. He's proudly proclaiming his "Car'lina yams," and he and the narrator talk openly about how much they enjoy this food and how they used to eat it back home.
ReplyDeleteImportantly, we do see the narrator reversing course from his self-consciousness around the "special" at the diner earlier, embracing his "I am what I yam" identity. But he also starts thinking more deeply about this stuff, wondering what it means if, for example, you happen to be black and southern and you truly *dont'* like yams, as a matter of personal taste. Should you *pretend* to in order to show the world that you're not ashamed? Isn't this still letting these external perceptions measure your self? We see a similar line of questioning later, at the Brotherhood party, when he wonders whether there should be a way for a well-meaning white brother to ask him to sing.