*What does the narrator mean when he says he became "ill of affirmation" on page 573?
*How is polysyndenton (overuse of conjuctions) used to show the inner rage the narrator would feel while affirming others in their errors?
*By allowing others to get away with injustice (or pretending not to "see" it), how do we make others (or ourselves) invisible?
*What definition of invisibility motivates the narrator to return to social action?
*What is the effect of the rhetorical question that ends the novel?
*How does this novel relate to Walker's The Color Purple, thematically or otherwise?
*What social statement is Ellison making with Invisible Man?
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Edith Wharton
John Steinbeck
Mark Twain
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ralph Ellison
Alice Walker
3 comments:
On page 573 when the narrator says he became “ill of affirmation” he means he has grown sick of telling people they are right when they are in fact wrong, or when their beliefs do not match his own. Although agreeing with people to please others has gained the narrator recognition and praise he is tired of it. The narrator does not appreciate that he gets respect when he agrees to other peoples beliefs, such as the Brotherhood’s, but when he disagrees or tries to voice his own opinion he is resented. Thus he has grown “ill of affirmation” and has decided to live “underground” to avoid it.
The social statement Ellison is making with Invisible Man is that people should not solve injustice with violence, because it only scares people and never really solves any issues. This is shown through the action taken by Ras compared to the action taken by the Brotherhood. Ras, who wants to destroy white people has conflict and violent encounters with the Brotherhood because they affiliate with white people, even though these white people are fighting for black justice. The Brotherhood does not want to hurt anyone. Their goal is to have cooperation between the two races, which is portrayed as a better approach in the novel.
When we allow others to get away with injustice, we make ourselves as humans invisible. We do this by not acknowledging others based upon who they are and stereotypes that belong to them. As we feel we turn others invisible by ignoring them, humans also turn a part of themselves invisible. By ignoring another person because of their stereotype, a person isn't acknowledging another human who may be just like them. If one goes along with other's beliefs instead of their own, they may ignore someone just because they were told to by another. This turns a person invisible because they are not showing their own beliefs in life.
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