How Ralph Ellison Uses Fathers to Show the Importance of Being Your Own Person
Everyone has a father, whether they are present in one’s life or not, or whether they are biological or simply just a loving caretaker. Many people follow in the footsteps of their fathers, or take the same views as their fathers, whether it be political, religious, or otherwise. It is good to have a role model, but there is a difference between looking up to someone and becoming them. In Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison uses fathers and the term father to show that it is better to take your own path and have your own ideas rather than follow in anyone else’s footsteps. The author creates Jim Trueblood, the main father described in the book, to be the worst representation …show more content…
Jim Trueblood, a poor sharecropper takes advantage of his power as a father to rape his own teenage daughter, impregnating her. Trueblood freely admits to his actions, though he does not take responsibility for them, claiming that it was an accident, that it all happened because of a dream: “‘I wakes up intendin’ to tell the ole lady ‘bout my crazy dream. M orning done come, and it’s gettin’ almost light. And there I am, lookin’ straight in Matty Lou’s face and she’s beatin’ me and scatchin’ and trembln’ and shakin’ and cryin’ all at the same time like she’s havin’ a fit,’” (59). This quote shows that Jim Trueblood is a contemptible man. Not only did he rape his own daughter and blames it on a dream, playing the victim, but he uses his embellished story of the incident to manipulate white people into giving him money. Trueblood tells Mr. Norton, a founder of the State College for Negroes, his story upon Mr. …show more content…
While the narrator is on his way to New York City to find a job after being expelled from college, he once again meets the veteran who gives him advice: “‘Perhaps that’s the advice to give you: Be your own father, young man. And remember, the world is possibility if only you’ll discover it,’” (156). A father is someone people typically look up to, who many idolize during their childhood. Many dream to become their fathers, to follow in their footsteps, but following is exactly what the veteran is warning the narrator against. When the veteran tells the narrator to be his own father, he is telling him to set his own path, to not follow anyone. The narrator though, does not heed the veteran’s words and finds himself in the Brotherhood as the mouthpiece for their cause. Following the Brotherhood blindly, doing as Brother Jack, or “the great white father” said was a terrible misjudgment that the narrator only realized after spending a long time rallying and speaking for them, and did not lead to his success. The narrator, instead of being his own father like the veteran advised, found a father in the Brotherhood and followed them blindly for quite some time, leaving him knee deep in a shady organization
Everyone has a father, whether they are present in one’s life or not, or whether they are biological or simply just a loving caretaker. Many people follow in the footsteps of their fathers, or take the same views as their fathers, whether it be political, religious, or otherwise. It is good to have a role model, but there is a difference between looking up to someone and becoming them. In Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison uses fathers and the term father to show that it is better to take your own path and have your own ideas rather than follow in anyone else’s footsteps. The author creates Jim Trueblood, the main father described in the book, to be the worst representation …show more content…
Jim Trueblood, a poor sharecropper takes advantage of his power as a father to rape his own teenage daughter, impregnating her. Trueblood freely admits to his actions, though he does not take responsibility for them, claiming that it was an accident, that it all happened because of a dream: “‘I wakes up intendin’ to tell the ole lady ‘bout my crazy dream. M orning done come, and it’s gettin’ almost light. And there I am, lookin’ straight in Matty Lou’s face and she’s beatin’ me and scatchin’ and trembln’ and shakin’ and cryin’ all at the same time like she’s havin’ a fit,’” (59). This quote shows that Jim Trueblood is a contemptible man. Not only did he rape his own daughter and blames it on a dream, playing the victim, but he uses his embellished story of the incident to manipulate white people into giving him money. Trueblood tells Mr. Norton, a founder of the State College for Negroes, his story upon Mr. …show more content…
While the narrator is on his way to New York City to find a job after being expelled from college, he once again meets the veteran who gives him advice: “‘Perhaps that’s the advice to give you: Be your own father, young man. And remember, the world is possibility if only you’ll discover it,’” (156). A father is someone people typically look up to, who many idolize during their childhood. Many dream to become their fathers, to follow in their footsteps, but following is exactly what the veteran is warning the narrator against. When the veteran tells the narrator to be his own father, he is telling him to set his own path, to not follow anyone. The narrator though, does not heed the veteran’s words and finds himself in the Brotherhood as the mouthpiece for their cause. Following the Brotherhood blindly, doing as Brother Jack, or “the great white father” said was a terrible misjudgment that the narrator only realized after spending a long time rallying and speaking for them, and did not lead to his success. The narrator, instead of being his own father like the veteran advised, found a father in the Brotherhood and followed them blindly for quite some time, leaving him knee deep in a shady organization