At The Funeral For Brother Tond Clifton

Can a person physically be invisible? What is invisibility? As society progresses, many different groups have seen themselves as invisible. Whether this is not being treated as they should be, or just not being acknowledged as a person, many things can make a person feel invisible. This happened to many blacks in the years following the abolishment of slavery. They found it hard to act in the presence in their white supremacy. They are physically there for people to see, but they feel as if they have been included in one large mass of people. In "Invisible Man", the author shows the invisible man's identity from his racial treatment and background as his need to be seen in society. The treatment that the invisible man has had to deal with has had a big impact on how he acts. In the book he perceives himself as invisible, but in reality he is the one making himself invisible and it has nothing to do with the others in his life. He goes through is life constantly contemplating what his grandfather said right before he died. His grandfather mentions before he dies that although he has lived the life of a freed slave who believes men are equal, but internally he feels that he was a traitor. When he talks about himself and introduces himself he mentions, “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me” (Ellison 3) He shows that he believes that people do not see him the same as other people. He claims that it is the fault of the other people that he is just a generalized stereotype and not an individual person seen for who he is. In Novels for Students, the theme of individualism is discussed. It is written, “But though he tries, the invisible man cannot fully suppress his individuality, which continues to intrude on his consciousness. …show more content…
After his first official speech to the Brotherhood, he remembers unaccountably the words of Woodridge, a lecturer at the college, who told his students that their task was "that of making ourselves individuals.… We create the race by creating ourselves." At the funeral for Brother Tod Clifton, whose murder is one of several epiphanies, or moments of illumination, in the novel, the invisible man looks out over the people present and sees "not a crowd but the set faces of individual men and women” (“Invisible”) This emphasizes that the invisible man is not able to become his own person; no matter what he does, he still compares himself to other people. He constantly thinks about what people perceive him to be, and is not able to realize that he creates his own individualism, he is not stuck in the stereotypes that the Brotherhood has created for him. The Brotherhood supports the idea that individuals were small factors that helped to fulfill a larger purpose, which shows in the invisible man’s way of thinking. He is caught in the notion that he needs to accomplish something worthy of being documented for his race, instead of the idea it should be documented for what he achieved. As the book progresses, other people start to see things in the invisible man that he is not yet able to notice. These things that they identify illustrate that only he thinks that he is invisible and not associated with other people. When the invisible man is talking to the doctor at the Golden Day, the doctor tells Mr. Norton, “‘He registers with his senses but short-circuits his brain. Nothing has meaning. He takes it in but he doesn't digest it. Already he is – well, bless my soul! Behold! A walking zombie! Already he's learned to repress not only his emotions but his humanity. He's invisible, a walking personification …show more content…
The doctor helps to illustrate that the man is not initially perceived for his societal norms, but automatically acts as if they apply in all situations. Because the invisible man is so used to everyone expecting blacks to be a certain way, he naturally actes in that manner and further depicts the perceived idea of blacks. In addition, he takes on the character as someone who is programmed to associate with certain qualifications. He does not have his own feelings or emotions towards what he experiences and his reactions are