The Invisible Man- continued
Chapter 5 begins with the narrator moving through the campus, describing his surroundings with detailed precision. The narrator, alongside the rest of the student body, made his way to a mandatory session at the chapel service. He ponders Dr. Bledsoe’s rise to authority; he expresses great admiration for the man’s ability to go from being an impoverished, barefoot boy to a respected educator. When one of the guests rises to speak, the narrator realizes that he had mostly been paying attention to the white people in the audience and that the man had been overlooked. The narrator describes the speaker’s poise as rhythmic and established. The speech that was delivered inspired the narrator, he claims that his “emotions were woven into his words as upon a loom.” It was the story of the Founder, who was born a poor slave, had a near-death experience, yet managed to triumph as he taught himself how to read and write, then continued his pursuit for higher education. The man’s name was Homer A. Barbee, and the narrator realized that he is blind. After the service, the narrator heads towards Dr. Bledsoe’s office; he gets chastised for taking Mr. Norton to the “slums” of the town. Dr. Bledsoe states that even if the narrator was taking orders, he should’ve avoided the Trueblood cabin since “the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie.” He threatens to get rid of the narrator altogether, but decides against expulsion. Instead, the narrator will be sent to New York for the summer and earn enough to pay his tuition. When he picks up sealed letters from Dr. Bledsoe the following day and he reassures that he understands why he is being punished. The narrator realizes that Bledsoe attained his current position through a facade of humility and service; again, his grandfathers words haunt him.
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