When we first started reading Invisible Man, I thought that the Narrator was more of a “rule-follower” than Bigger Thomas. I still think this, but I think the Narrator is less of a “rule-follower” than he was before and is more like Bigger Thomas but in a more hidden way.
Bigger Thomas was very erratic and liked to do exactly what he was not supposed to do, like murdering Mary. At the beginning of Invisible Man, the Narrator did everything he thought he was supposed to do, like sucking up to people in power, specifically white people. Now, the Narrator has joined an anti-racism group and speaks in front of huge crowds about exactly what white people of this time are afraid of' black people being equal to white people.
At the end of Chapter 22, we read about the Narrator deciding to undermine leaders of the Brotherhood by making them think he is doing what the Brotherhood wants him to do when he is really trying to take the Brotherhood down. This is similar to after Bigger murders Mary and he acts toward the Dalton family as if nothing has happened so that they won’t suspect him. The Narrator is secretly standing up to people in power much like Bigger did.
The main difference that still remains between the Narrator and Bigger Thomas is that Bigger is undermining people for bad reasons that include murder. The Narrator is trying to undermine people for a better reason which is that the Brotherhood is too controlling and corrupt. The Narrator has found out that the Brotherhood does not want him to think freely, so he wishes to take down the Brotherhood and lead the people of Harlem the way he believes is correct. Even though the Narrator is doing something that people might see as manipulative, he is actually doing something for the benefit of Harlem and the future relationship between black and white people. Bigger Thomas was undermining people for his own benefit to hide the horrible thing he did.
Yeah you can see a lot of similarities between Invisible Man and Native Son. I agree that the narrator ends up being more similar to Bigger in that he becomes less of a "rule-follower". Though their intentions are different, which kinda makes me like the narrator more.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting how the narrator decided to subvert Brotherhood authority in the name of improving the Harlem community. The Brotherhood claims to work for their members while purposely "sacrificing" them for some twisted idea of the greater good. The narrator's realization that he can take authority for the situation shows that he understands he doesn't have to be a follower any more. He can be his own person and work for justice in the ways he thinks are best.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post makes even more sense when you look at Invisible Man as a response to Native Son. The fact that both characters are similar in intention but seem different at first glance fits perfectly into Invisible Man's idea of how people only see around you. I've mentioned this is a couple posts before but I think the biggest difference between Bigger and the narrator in Invisible Man is that Bigger's story revolves more on people's perception of a person and the narrator's story revolves around invisibility.
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