The Emotional Speech In Invisible Man's Invisible Man

Great Essays
Of the four major speeches the narrator of Invisible Man gives throughout the novel, each have varying degrees of effectiveness. Their effectiveness can be gauged through the the reaction of the audience, message, and most importantly, the narrator’s discovery of his true identity.
The speech that proves to be the least effective is the graduation speech given in chapter one. His high school graduation speech quickly leads the reader into a false notion that the society is accepting of the views discussed, such as the advancement of African Americans. At this speech, the narrator praises humility as the secret of success, although he does not believe this himself. The narrator knew that “being humble” is what the whites wanted to hear. The
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The whites even make fun of the narrator when he uses sophisticated language. Additionally, he quickly obliges to the white men that were riled up over his wording of social equality. In turn of his submission, he is rewarded with a scholarship that seems to be condescending. The scholarship is a way to trick the narrator into thinking he is making progress while he is actually bound to white interests.The narrator let the white men take away his ability to express his true emotions and opinions, thus affecting the quality and genuinity of his speech. He does not employ any rhetorical devices in his speech. It may seem as though the narrator has made his point, but his words fell upon deaf ears that only listen when they feel threatened. They have no …show more content…
Brother Clifton was once an active leader in the Brotherhood, but fell victim to a white dominated society. The narrator is told he will deliver the eulogy at the funeral and becomes angered. He does not believe, originally, that his life should be celebrated. But he later accepts and gives a passionate speech about the life and success of Brother Tod Clifton. The narrator ultimately hopes that he could incite the funeral crowd with positive political action through the eulogy, and although the invisible man feels that he failed at his intention, he feels touched and unified with the all the people. Even though the narrator is unable to make the crowd to act, a failure of his Brotherhood duties, his speech about Clifton drummed into the public’s anger-- creating the fire of

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