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ornamental line

The Silence of Sound

"A hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action" (13).
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952)

 

Points for Reflection

Invisible Man (1952), chps. 1-13

  1. why does our unnamed narrator, in a self-imposed “state of hibernation” (6), consider himself to be not yet fully alive?
  2. what does the narrator mean by the claim that he is invisible? Does systemic racism not tangibly, violently pigeonhole him?
  3. Ralph Ellison writes that at one point he asked himself “what else was there to sustain our will to persevere” in a racist America “but laughter?” (xv). Do you think he intends the reader to categorize as comical any of the extraordinary events of the novel’s opening chapters?
  4. why does the narrator listen to Louis Armstrong’s “What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue” so frequently?
  5. is the narrator’s choice to remove himself from those flow of life irresponsible?
  6. our narrator searches all his life for meaning, asking everyone for advice and direction except whom?
  7. what attitude does this novel implicitly adopt towards Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Exposition Address” (1895), the speech upon which our narrator bases his graduation speech?
  8. does the “battle royale” feel realistic, surrealistic, or something in between? Is it difficult, or easy, to imagine something like this actually happening?
  9. why does Mr. Norton give so much money to the narrator’s college?  Do his voiced justifications pass muster, or do you think something else might be going on?
  10. are Mr. Norton and the narrator bothered by Trueblood’s story (52-68) for the same reasons?
  11. why might Ellison position a hotel/pub for the insane so close to the college attended by the narrator?
  12. the narrator has difficulty believing all those who frequent the Golden Day are truly “nutty” (74). Do their words and behavior convince the reader that they are mentally ill?
  13. which of his own emotions does the narrator allow himself to validate?
  14. why might the veteran doctor who appears at the Golden Day refer to Mr. Norton, currently immobilized by shock, as “‘a trustee of consciousness’” (89)?
  15. why does the doctor call the narrator “invisible”?
  16. is Dr. Bledsoe a paragon of virtue?
  17. does the vespers service held in the chapel have much to do with religious worship?
  18. how important is the narrator’s enrollment at college to his sense of self?
  19. is Dr. Bledsoe intending to help the narrator when he punishes him?
  20. does the narrator invoke anger to combat fear as he adjusts to new social norms in New York City?
  21. why is the narrator disinclined to treat Lucius Brockway with deference? Does the narrative encourage the reader to accord him the respect he demands?
  22. what does the doctor in the paint factory’s hospital mean when he claims his treatments will give the narrator “integrity”?
  23. does the experimental treatment the narrator undergoes in the paint plant’s hospital worsen or improve his mental processing?
  24. why does narrator accept Mary Rambo’s care and offer to live with her for awhile?
  25. what epiphany does eating sweat yams provide?
  26. what drives the narrator to deliver an impromptu speech at the eviction site?
  27. which of the Brotherhood’s values rise to the surface as one of its members engages the narrator following the latter’s speech at the eviction?


an abstract painting of geometric shapes with a figure in the middle and halo. the border of the image is dark lines of black and red, besides what could be clouds in the bottom left corner. There is a green half circle in the center with yellow coming from it toward the clouds.
The Long Stretch (1949)
egg tempera on hardboard
Jacob Lawrence


Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu