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

     One theme throughout Invisible Man is the idea that the narrator is running. Running from many things, his true identity, the world around him, and his past. He seems to be running until he finally falls into his hole to slow down and see what has actually happened. There are many explicit statements of this idea of running, and several implicit uses of symbolism to show this. This starts even with the first chapter of the novel.      One example of an explicit mention of running from discovering his identity can be found on the last page of the first chapter. Ellison writes, "'To Whom It May Concern,' I intoned. 'Keep This Boy Running'" (33). In this quote the narrator has a dream where he opens his briefcase with his grandfather, and instead of finding the the scholarship he finds envelope within envelope with the last one reading the quote above. Here, the narrator himself clearly knows that he is trying to be kept running, yet he doesn't even ...

      In chapter 20 the narrator returns to Harlem. Everything seems changed when he gets back. He doesn't really know what happened and everyone seems indifferent to him. In some sense he seems betrayed. Others seem betrayed as well by him. Even more people feel betrayed by the Brotherhood as a whole. Upon returning to Harlem, the narrator is initially in a good mood, but as soon as he starts realizing all of what has happened, his mood slowly declines throughout his time there.      One of the first things that sets the narrator off, is that he can't find Brother Maceo. He was one of his closest co-workers. He asks Barrelhouse where he has been, and he says that he hasn't seen him in a long time. This surprises the narrator, and at the same time, he is met with the reality that the people the narrator thought he had been representing felt betrayed by him as well. MacAdams said in the bar, "'I hear he got the white fever and left...'" (425). His politics ...

    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 ...