The Invisible Man was written in 1952 right before the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The author, Ralph Ellison, develops a narrator who faces an identity struggle and uses multiple symbols and motifs to address the multiple issues facing blacks during that time period. For instance, white people were just looking for ways to further promote the stereotypes of blacks. However, blacks were not only being held back by whites, but they were also being held but by members of their own race. Dr. Bledsoe betrayed the narrator by writing bad recommendations for him. The Brotherhood did not actually want to bring about change; instead, they just want to keep the black community in a state of agitation. However, the black community was blind to
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It is revealed that Brother Jack is blind in one eye when his eye pops out. According to How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster states, “the author has created a minor constellation of difficulties for himself by introducing a blind character into the work, so something important must be at stake when blindness pops up in a story” (Foster 202). Therefore, there is a significant meaning in Brother Jack’s blindness. Obviously, Brother Jack is aware of social injustice that blacks are facing. However, his blindness is more symbolic of how he chooses to keep the rest of the black population oblivious to the unfair treatment they are receiving. Brother Jack and the Brotherhood want to control what the other blacks think so that they do not get the full picture of the current oppression they are in. Their goal is to use their speeches to give them just enough information so that they do not see how unfairly they are being treated. By doing this, they can keep the black community is a state of turmoil, but not tell them how they are being treated unfairly. Through Brother Jack’s blindness, the reader is made aware of how the Brotherhood’s goal is to keep the black community in the dark to the harsh realities they are facing. Once the reader sees this, they will think to themselves if other people are purposely trying to blind them into think that there is no injustice in their current society. Furthermore, Reverend Homer A. Barbee is a blind preacher who delivers a sermon before the narrator’s college. Barbee’s blindness represents how he is unaware of the current injustices facing blacks. He still believes that the mission of the founders is being carried out. He says “For has not your present leader become his living agent, his physical presence?” (Ellison 132). Barbee believes that Dr. Bledsoe is continuing what the founder
It is revealed that Brother Jack is blind in one eye when his eye pops out. According to How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster states, “the author has created a minor constellation of difficulties for himself by introducing a blind character into the work, so something important must be at stake when blindness pops up in a story” (Foster 202). Therefore, there is a significant meaning in Brother Jack’s blindness. Obviously, Brother Jack is aware of social injustice that blacks are facing. However, his blindness is more symbolic of how he chooses to keep the rest of the black population oblivious to the unfair treatment they are receiving. Brother Jack and the Brotherhood want to control what the other blacks think so that they do not get the full picture of the current oppression they are in. Their goal is to use their speeches to give them just enough information so that they do not see how unfairly they are being treated. By doing this, they can keep the black community is a state of turmoil, but not tell them how they are being treated unfairly. Through Brother Jack’s blindness, the reader is made aware of how the Brotherhood’s goal is to keep the black community in the dark to the harsh realities they are facing. Once the reader sees this, they will think to themselves if other people are purposely trying to blind them into think that there is no injustice in their current society. Furthermore, Reverend Homer A. Barbee is a blind preacher who delivers a sermon before the narrator’s college. Barbee’s blindness represents how he is unaware of the current injustices facing blacks. He still believes that the mission of the founders is being carried out. He says “For has not your present leader become his living agent, his physical presence?” (Ellison 132). Barbee believes that Dr. Bledsoe is continuing what the founder