We discussed in class was the
Narrator beginning the novel with “I” and ending it with “you.” Personally, I think
this shows how the Narrator has developed as a character. I feel like the
Narrator was only concerned with himself for a large portion of the novel. He
only wanted to get a scholarship to college. He wanted to become Bledsoe’s
assistant. He wanted to make speeches. It was always about him and it seemed
that other people rarely gave him motivation. For example, the Narrator wanted
to give speeches because he was good at it, but what message did he want to
share? It wasn’t until his time at and after the Brotherhood, that I felt the
Narrator shifting from “I” to “you.” This was one of the things that I
appreciated about the Narrator is that, after discovering invisibility, he was
able to look past himself.
On the topic of invisibility, I
found that there were various meanings of the term. The most prominent
interpretation for me was that the Narrator’s self-awareness of his place in
the world and how he was viewed by others, especially white people. The
Narrator always wanted to do what the white people or those of higher status
wanted him to do so that he could earn higher status himself. This might be
less of a thing after he gets to New York, but I feel like it was still a
thing.
Another interpretation I had was
the rest of the world being invisible to the narrator. One example would be the
Brotherhood. Obviously, we all picked up on how sketchy the organization was
from the moment Jack introduced himself, however the Narrator didn’t realize
anything that could be wrong until after Clifton was killed and the Brotherhood
started to show their true colors. A second example would be when the Narrator
was walking around Harlem and riding the train. He was seeing people he’d never
seen before or rather the people who didn’t get caught up in the Brotherhood.
Finally, I had this theory about
the many lights that the Narrator hung on the walls and ceiling. I think that
the lights are a metaphor for visibility. And the Narrator being underground represents
invisibility. So what I’m trying to say that the Narrator is showing, visually,
that he has discovered his own invisibility but he is still invisible. The fact
that the Narrator hasn’t put lights down on the floor may also represent
invisibility. Maybe that the Narrator hasn’t fully discovered his invisibility?
But those are my final thoughts.
The fact that the novel starts with “I” and ends with “you” is interesting – I agree with your theory that it could be referencing how the narrative of his life shifts from being self-centered, to caring about others. I thought it could also be referencing the difference in the narrator’s perspective in the prologue, before writing his story down, and in the epilogue, after looking at his life critically. Whereas in the beginning he focuses on the reader understanding his own life, at the end, he wants the reader to go out and do something themselves.
ReplyDeleteI never considered the begining with I and ending with You thing, I can't believe my eyes skipped over such an interesting connection. I also totally see the point you made about the narrator liking to write speeches but not having anything to really speak about at the beginning of his life. I will disagree with you on the area that I think the narrator is fully aware of what invisibility is, he's just not actively using it and instead keeping underground to hibernate and record his thoughts. However, in recording them it seems he has definitely become more aware of "you". In a sense he has become able to view the bigger picture by leaving it to hide underground.
ReplyDeleteThe lightbulbs in the basement do seem like a metaphor for visibility, as one effect of light from all angles at once would be no shadow whatsoever. And I also connect it with his act of writing--shining light on his experiences, and trying to understand what they all amount to. As with so much in Ellison, though, there's a paradox within the metaphor: the narrator is "visible" in his hole only to himself, literally no one knows he's there, and the light only shines within these four enclosed walls. I like your idea of his "blindness" about the rest of the world, which may coincide with his previous failure to grasp his invisibility--the novel ends at the brink of the narrator's reemergence aboveground, and it's interesting to consider whether the world has been made more visible to him through the experience of reflecting on it and writing about it.
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