In the end of the novel, the narrator learns that he has been deceived by the brotherhood. The violent riot that broke out in Harlem was intentional. He is covered in bird droppings as he makes his way to the chaos, similar to the statue of the founder that we saw in the beginning. I believe this symbolizes similar fates between the two, despite both of them having good intentions at first. Ras even ordered to have the narrator killed after a brief encounter, after running from police the narrator fell into a coal cellar. Here he discovers that it was brother Jack who sent him the anonymous letter. In this moment, the narrator realizes that his biggest mistake was fighting for someone else’s absurdity instead of his own. This is because he only truly felt appreciated as he was contributing to the goals and ideals of other people. He recognizes that he has been invisible, yet he is not blind to the evils of the society he lived in. He continues to ponder his grandfather’s dying words; by saying “yes” the grandfather urged him to be accountable for the faults in his society but also to rise above them. He states that “the end was the beginning” because it was only after all these terrible things happened to him that he was able to come to a revelation. Furthermore, he will leave his underground home and return to the real world since it is his responsibility to leave it better than he found it.

This is an intense and saddening moment for the narrator because he realizes that, just like the sambo doll, he has been owned and manipulated by the brotherhood so the community can feel like they have some common grounds. While speaking with Brother Jack, Jack’s eye popped out of his eye socket and fell right in front of the narrator which symbolizes the absolute blindness and physical defeat one must undergo for the brotherhood. The narrator puts on a disguise with dark sunglasses and suddenly everyone begins treating him like he is a man named Rinehart who they call the “spiritual technologist”. These moments remind the narrator of his true invisibility. He is always so concerned with how he appears, yet this is the time when he’s receiving the most recognition and he’s not even himself at all. Once he reaches Hambro’s apartment, he is informed that the brotherhood wants to forfeit their influence over Harlem in pursuit of larger goals. The narrator decides to plot revenge on the brotherhood, discover their true intention, and gather information from Jack’s mistress, Emma. While trying to seduce s woman named Sybil, the narrator receives news that chaos has broken out in the Harlem branch. He gets in a cab and heads toward the riot where a group of looters give him difference explanations for the cause of the fight.

As the narrator becomes more attached to the brotherhood, he integrates it as a part of his identity. He visits a bar in Harlem where he spots two men that have been in the audience for one of his speeches, and is surprised when the men respond to him with hostility. They even go as far as telling him he caught “white fever” from the organization.  The narrator is excluded from their strategy meeting and when he realizes this was intentional he becomes angry. He spots Tod Clifton selling Sambo dolls on th street and feels even more enraged because the dolls are a symbol of mockery for slaves. The police attack Clifton for selling this on the streets; although he is insulting his own race with the dolls, he is also resisting the regime imposed on them by white police officers. The cops eventually shoot Clifton, and this motivates the narrator to deliver another compelling speech to retain his influence over the community, he wants to continue giving black people a voice and publicizing the struggles they face. The brotherhood becomes angry with the narrator for organizing a march for Clifton’s unnecessary death, this reveals that he was not hired to build up the black community, but simply to be a vessel for the ideals of the organization.

The narrator continues working for the brotherhood; he is taken to a boxing ring to deliver a speech, but once he is on stage the lights make him nervous and he has no choice but to improvise. The brothers criticize the speech and claim it wasn’t “scientific” enough, so the narrator is introduced to Brother Hambro who understands the intentions of the brotherhood. He feels rejuvenated after studying under Hambro for some months, and eventually is promoted to chief spokesperson for the Harlem district. The narrator feels a sense of pride in this, but once again his grandfather’s dying words come back to haunt him. In one of the rallies a fight breaks out between Ras and Clinton; Ras asks Clinton why he is working for the brotherhood knowing their true motives and accuses him of being a traitor to his heritage. At the end of chapter 17, the narrator is uncomfortably aware of the divide that exists between his public persona and his internal thoughts. The following chapter is monumental because it is one of the first time’s that the narrator feels seen. He receives an anonymous letter urging him to take a slower route and reminding him that he is still living in a white man’s world. The narrator is offered an interview by a magazine editor, and some time after one of the brothers accuses the narrator of exploiting the brotherhood for his own personal gain. which reveals the dissonance that exists within the group. He is transferred to downtown and becomes a women’s rights spokesperson. After his first lecture, a white woman invites him back to her house where she proceeds to seduce him. The two sleep together, and the narrator notices a distinct difference between the way this northerner woman treated him and the southern woman who only fetishized him.

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.

During his time in New York, the narrator learns that the black people of Harlem stand in solidarity. Although they are treated as lesser beings by the white citizens, they all view each other as equals. The narrator is an exception; he keeps to himself, ignores other people of color, and feels insulted when people make assumptions regarding his origins. The factory where he begins working is a terrible and saddening environment. The upstairs section is always chaotic, the people in charge keep everything a secret and use intimidation tactics on the workers, and racist symbolism is used to regard the paint. Phrases like “If its Optic White, its Right White” remind the narrator of a colloquial saying from the south (“if you’re white, you’re right”). These words indicate a direct correlation between whiteness, clarity, and overall goodness. It highlights the racial prejudices that plagued America at the time. Because the narrator is so frightened by his overseers, he never asked questions and eventually ruined an entire batch of paint. As punishment, he is sent to work in the boiler room. Here he meets a wise, prideful back man who resists the tyranny of the factory leaders; his constant cussing builds tension between him and the narrator. They argue, and eventually come to terms with one another, but this moment of peace is cut short by an explosion in the boiler room. The narrator is unconscious until he halfway wakes up in a hospital. This section of the book made me angriest because of the brutal way the white doctors treated the narrator; he was subjected to multiple rounds of electroshock therapy; when his body reacted to the currents, one of the white doctors joked that “black people really do have rhythm. This revealed the indifference that white people felt towards the suffering of black folks; upon ruining his mental state, they were making jokes about his anguish. After leaving the hospital, the narrator claims that an “alien personality” has overcome him, which marks the beginning of a big shift in his mental state.

Chapter 7 begins with an ironic encounter between the narrator and the veteran who mocked Mr. Norton at the bar. Indirectly, this is the same man who got the narrator kicked out of the school. The expulsion revealed Blendsoe’s hypocrisy and treachery; he turned his back on his own race, simply because the narrator showed Mr. Norton the ugly truth of the black community which is nothing like the picture that is painted for him at the school. The veteran advises the narrator to stay away from white people, from authority, and from the invisible man that is pulling his strings. Once the veteran gets off the bus, the narrator is saddened to see his last connection to the school walk away, but he is glad that the man was finally able to transfer to a different institution. Upon his arrival in New York, the narrator is surprised to see a black police officer and realizes that this is a much more liberal place. Later on, he distributes the letters of recommendation that Bledsoe gave him and becomes deeply discouraged when he hears no response. His final letter is addressed to Mr. Emerson; the room resembles a bird exhibit and the office’s secretary is actually Mr. Emerson’s son. This nervous, small man has a strong sense of justice and appears disturbed after reading the contents of the letter; he allows the narrator to read it. In this moment, I felt disgusted by Bledsoe’s betrayal. The narrator is exposed to Bledsoe’s true motives; he intended to give him false hope of returning to the school in order to keep him far away from the premises. This marks a massive change in the narrator’s demeanor; he is no longer the naive young boy who looked up to Bledsoe; his trust in other people has disappeared, and he is now filled with anger and vengeance. Mr Emerson’s son offers the narrator a job at Liberty Paints plants which he begins the following morning.

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.

The Invisible Man- continued

The narrator describes the “cold apprehension” he feels as he drives back to campus; he is very worried of how Dr. Bledsoe will react to Mr.Norton’s state. Tears filled his eyes as he realized that after the afternoon’s events he would no longer have a chance to “do his bidding, teaching others to be thrifty, decent, uptight citizens…” Dr. Bledsoe becomes enraged when he notices the scratch on Norton’s forehead and apologizes quickly for sending him a boy who appeared disciplined; he assures Norton that the boy will be severely punished for putting him in those circumstances. Norton says the boy wasn’t responsible for his injury, and Bledsoe argues that they can’t “be soft with these people… we musn’t pamper them” which speaks volumes of Bledsoe’s attitude towards black folks. Bledsoe orders the narrator to head back to his dormitory. Later on, the narrator sees Mr. Norton in his dormitory; he tells him that he explained to Bledsoe that he was not at fault and he believes he understands. Norton ends the interaction by stating that he looks forward to learning the narrator’s contribution to his fate.

The Invisible Man- continued