Ralph Ellison Liberty Paint Analysis

In chapter ten, Ellison uses the narrator’s new job at Liberty Paints as a symbol to describe the racism that was prominent in society and build to the theme of race acting as a barrier from becoming an individual. As the narrator starts his work making paint, he is given the task to mix ten drops of black paint with white and is told, “ ‘You want no more than ten, and no less’ ” (Ellison 200). Those black drops that are added into the white paint function as a symbol. By adding in these drops of black paint, it creates the optic white that the company is renowned for, but these black drops are disregarded as its properties are mixed with the white and the value is placed upon the end product, the optic white paint. By using the symbolism of paint, Ellison displays the parasitism relationship in which …show more content…
Through the symbolism of the Sambo dolls, Ellison develops the theme of how stereotypes and racism can block people from truly seeing others as people. The dolls act as a reminder that even though labels and stereotypes may stick on the black community, the white power “cannot break him” and this him refers to the willpower of those that continue to be resilient in the face of discrimination and racism (Ellison 432). Besides representing the way that those in power have racially profiled the black community due to their characteristics and social status, the Sambo dolls in the hands of Clifton display the method in which the Brotherhood has constantly controlled the narrator, putting him in situations he morally disapproved of. Being a part of the Brotherhood has given the narrator pieces of the identity he seeks, providing him an opportunity to be known and raise a voice against local issues, but that same voice is limited through the invisible strings held in control by Brother