Invisible Man Reading Questions Chapters 16-19

Chapter 16

1.     List all the images of blindness in this chapter. What do you think the narrator means when he says he has become “more human?”

à “We’re blind as bats”

2.     How does the narrator use the image of blindness as the central theme of his speech?

à He uses the image of blindness to display how he feels being a black male in society.

3.     Be prepared to discuss the speech as a further expression of the narrator’s developing identity.

à By the end of the speech, the narrator feels as if he is becoming someone and beginning to have an identity.

4.     The rewritten quote from James Joyce is often discussed. Do you think that it is the duty of an individual to represent a particular race, gender or group? Do you believe it is more important to concentrate on developing ones individual identity?

à I believe that everyone should represent himself or herself in the way they want to be represented. One person cannot represent a whole gender, race or belief.

5.     What is The Brotherhood’s reaction to the speech? What is your personal reaction? What criticism of The Brotherhood is implied here?

à They didn’t like the speech because it did not comply with what they believed in.

Chapter 17

1.     How much time has passed since the narrator’s speech?

à 4 months

2.     Describe Brother Hambro.

à He is a lawyer and a taskmaster.

3.     What is Ras’ political doctrine and why is it in conflict with that of The Brotherhood?

à Ras believes that they shouldn’t help the white people because they will backstab you.

4.     Who is Tod Clifton? Why do he and the narrator become friends? Note that “tod” means death in German.  Why does Ras spare Clifton’s life?

àTod Clifton is a young brother of the Brotherhood. Ras spares his life because he is black.

5.     Ras pleads with the narrator to become a part of black unity and leave The Brotherhood. His arguments are similar to those of Black Panthers and others who came to the political forefront in the 1960’s. The Communist Party did, in effect, betray the Blacks who helped build the party in the 1930’s. What side do you believe Ellison is supporting?

à Ellison supports in the side of the Black Panthers because he wants to get civil rights no matter what. He says that whites betrayed the black community and therefore white people are

6.     What is significant about the portrait of Douglass that hangs in Brother Tarp’s office? How is Tarp like Douglass? Like the narrator’s grandfather?

à Tarp sees that Douglass as an inspiration.

Chapter 18

1.     Consider the symbolism of the link of chain Tarp gives the narrator. It what ways does it link the narrator to Tarp? To his past? Is it significant that Westrum rejects that link?

à The chain symbolizes what he used to be or the person he used to be. It links to the narrator because it’s similar to the lifestyle he had when he was in the South. It is important that Westrum rejects the link because it shows that he does not like the brotherhood.

2.     What seems to cause the fight between Wrestrum and the narrator? What do you think is the REAL reason for this fight?

à The fight was between the link of chains. They were really fighting for authority.

3.     At the end of the chapter, the narrator is sent out of Harlem. Why would The Brotherhood remove a successful member of the party and send him off to lecture on a subject about which he knows so little either by training or personal experience?

à They did not want the narrator to receive all the attention or publicity. They did not want to be invisible.

Chapter 19

Note that chapter 19 is a transitional chapter like chapters 7 and 12.

This chapter details the narrator’s seduction by the nameless “woman in red.”

1.     In what ways is Ellison playing with the idea that white women are drawn to Black me?

à The white women states that she wanted to be with a black male.

2.     What reaction does the woman give when her husband comes home?

à She didn’t care if her husband was home. It’s as if the narrator was not their with her.

3.     What is the narrator’s action?

à He is shocked that the husband didn’t do anything about him sleeping with his wife.

4.     Do you think this chapter is humorous, or is it serious social commentary?

à The scene is a serious social commentary because it shows that they saw the narrator as an object instead of a human being just because of his skin color. It shows that they see them as something that’s not even human.