Chapters 13-15

The narrator collapses on the street and is later carried to the home of a kind black woman named Mary. She also comes from the south and warns the narrator of New York’s ability to corrupt good people. He decides to pay Mary rent instead of living in the men’s house after learning that they have banned him. Moving in with Mary had a positive influence on the narrator; she always spoke to him about the importance of maintaining his heritage but also gave him the freedom to decide how he would do that. During a stroll, he encounters a black couple who is being evicted from their home by white men. They are cruel and careless, event went as far as throwing out a chair while the old woman was still sitting on it. This enrages the narrator and taps into the same part of him that we saw at the Battle Royale. He delivers a beautiful speech that touches the crowd, then flees when police arrive. A man named Brother Jack follows him and invites him to become the spokesperson for his political organization. Eventually, the narrator joins the brotherhood as a way to meet ends need. Soon enough, he comes to realize the organization’s true intentions and prejudices. He serves as their black advocate, but it is counterproductive because he is feeding into the same stigma that he wanted to break away from.