University Laboratory High School at Urbana-Champaign: African American Literature Course Blog

    In Chapter 9 of Invisible Man young Emerson reveals the letter from Dr. Bledsoe to the narrator. Initially, the narrator is outraged and wants to kill Bledsoe. The narrator seems to become less angry as time passes. This could be simply because he is given time to process what happened, but also the narrator might have found a more specific reason to stop worrying about returning to college. The narrator seems to realize that before learning the contents of the letter he only wanted to become like Bledsoe. Afterwards, in some sense the narrator got more freedom. He could go to a different college and pursue the same career or do something completely different. He now was not influenced by only one role model.     Intitially, the narrator still wanted to become like Bledsoe. He was extremely surprised and devastated by the letter, he even questioned, "Perhaps it was a test of my good will and faith--But that's a lie, I thought." He wasn't quite sure what to think....

 Throughout Richard Wright's Native Son Bigger displays many different attitudes towards what he wants to do with his life. Initially, he seems discouraged from creating any long-term goals and focuses more on the present. In the first scene, he was reluctant to tell his mother that he was going to take the job, and immediately used a portion of the money she gave him on a game of pool and to watch a movie. He also considered just robbing Mr. Blum's store and continuing to steal to sustain himself because he just didn't want to take a job. At this point in time, to the reader, it seems that he mostly partakes in activities that he wants to do and give him gratification. But why does Bigger feel this way? Why does his attitude towards purpose change throughout the book? When Bigger speaks with Max he opens up and explains that he had ambitions when he was younger, but has since lost them because he is not given any liberty in society besides religious freedom. Bigger wanted ...