Chapter 1 Reflection

The Invisible Man- continued

Chapter one picks up a different pace from the prologue, it is much quicker and action driven. It starts off with the narrator enforcing the importance of words. His grandfather was a freed slave who lived during the time of reconstruction; he lived the majority of his life believing in the mantra “separate but equal”, but on his deathbed he revealed that life for blacks was actually warfare, and he compares his compliance to treachery. Still, he insisted that “meekness” was a sort of weapon against the whites. His words weighed on the narrator heavily and they shaped him into a humble and quiet young man. He was chosen to deliver the class speech at his high school graduation. He spoke about humility and received great feedback from the audience, they even asked him to attend a gathering hosted by the elite whites of his community to recite the speech again. At the gathering, the speaker and his black mates are asked to participate in the “battle royal.” This is a critical part in chapter one that reveals the meaning behind the grandfather’s words. A naked, blonde, white woman with an American flag tattoo on her stomach dances in the middle of the room. The boys all have different responses; when some of them try to look away from the woman, the white men respond violently and force them to stare, which reveals that they don’t actually admire meekness like they claim to. They want to provoke a reaction from the blacks and parade their inability to fight back. The rest of the chapter includes other violent interactions, like when the white men order the young boys to be blind folded and fight each other. The whites want these young boys to conform to the awful stereotype that they have placed on the black man. When the narrator recites his speech, he accidentally uses the phrase “social equality” which evokes a very negative response from the audience. After he corrects himself, the white men give the speaker a briefcase containing a scholarship to state college. He is being rewarded for his obedience. Later in the chapter, the narrator has a dream with his grandfather which reveals that he hasn’t fully understood the advise that he gave his family with his dying words.