Classwork 4.15

Write a 250 word blog response analyzing the meaning of one of these female characters – not the woman you are presenting to the class (meaning, you must pay careful attention to what your classmates are sharing).

Emma from Chthonian serves as one of the feminine figures with power in the novel. Although she is seen with greater influence than an average woman, she is still a woman under control of the Brotherhood. This can be seen as the men demand for a bourbon or as they tell her that they "suggest...that [she] make it her interest too..." She is still someone who follows commands from these men, and is to some extent invisible. She represents how far a woman could advance in society in this time period. It is imperative to acknowledge that women were still at a low level, concerning influence and power in society. The right to vote was given to African American men well before it was given to women. She is similar to the narrator in the sense that their voice has little importance to the committee. Although she seemingly had a higher position, she was still ordered to do the tasks an average woman would do, such as serving beverages in an instant. They are both seen as unequals, with little respect. Did they all have the same mental capability? Certainly, but this was not true in the typical white male view. Emma was a symbol of the struggle of women who were ambitious and wanted to get to the top, but were restricted because of the fact that they were females.

Classwork 4.13

Brainstorm additional situations in which unquestioning obedience is expected. When is it okay to simply expect obedience? When should people be encouraged to think for themselves? How can a person tell when being told not to "think" is an attempt to put down or limit opportunities and actions of a particular group?
In a work place setting, obedience is expected because they are hired to do their job. An employer tells his or her employees what to do. However obedience is not to be expected when there are orders that are against what they believe. If an employer tells an employee to not wear their Hijab, then the limit has surpassed, for they are now asking to do something against their beliefs. This situation calls not for obedience, but for pointing out the injustice. In school, one also is expected to be obedient to the school rules. Our imagination, however, is not to be limited. To tell someone not to think and do as the leader says is to the point of dictatorship and over controlling. One should not have limits to their thoughts, and is not to be hidden from what is reality. 

20-22

Chapter 20

1.     The narrator has been away from Harlem for several months. What “emergency” calls him back downtown?

He needed to talk to Brother Maceo.

2.     What changes have taken place in the movement since he left. (Note how things have changed in the Jolly Dollar Bar.

There is a more harsh environment, and he meets antagonism when he greets a member of the Brotherhood as “brother.”

3.     What does Ellison mean when he says that returning to Harlem was “like returning to the city of the dead?”

There is no longer any activism shown, and he mentions that the brotherhood no longer focuses on advocating locally, but rather nationally.

4. What is Clifton selling?

He’s selling Sambo dolls.

5. How does the Sambo doll relate to the Sambo bank?

The  Sambo doll will do whatever the consumer desires, and it will dance and act happy. It will do whatever the owner pleases and will act happy in order for rewards, like the bank.

6. What do you think the doll symbolizes? Consider the fact that it is a puppet whose strings are pulled.

The doll represents African Americans, and how white society controls them. The African American community does whatever the white people ask in order to gain rewards. (At least this is the ideology of it) It is all an act, and what they seem is not what they truly feel.

7. How does Tod Clifton die? What is the narrator’s reaction to his death?

He is shot down by a police officer. The narrator tries to help, but is directed not to, and he is asked to leave. He feels guilt and sorrow for not trying to help out more.

 

Chapter 21

1.     Why does the narrator feel guilt over Clifton’s death?

He feels guilty for not standing up for Clifton. He feels as if he could have prevented his death by doing so.

2.     Look at the funeral speech. How many times does the narrator use Clifton’s name? Why so many?

He uses it at least 15 times. It is so the crowd won’t forget about him, even though he is ironically asking them to. It is a moment in which many find anger, and express their emotions, so Clifton marks this moment. Saying that they need to forget about him is what the white society would say, and to not give it little importance. However, to those of color it is a moment in which there is a clear division between blacks and whites.

Chapter 22

1.     Why is the meeting with the Brotherhood described in terms of a dream?

How they all confront the narrator with how they want things to be run seems unrealistic to him. What he sees from the crowd of Harlem is vastly different from what he hears from the Brotherhood. While he thought he did the right thing in his speech, it was not so popular in the committee.

22.     On p. 463, the members are said to have “flowed in one channel too long and too deeply.” What does this mean?

They no longer se the ones who they are fighting for, and only see themselves because they are in their own little hole. The voices that demand to be heard from Harlem are not heard because the Brotherhood is the committee that supposedly represents them.

33.     Why does the Brotherhood object to the phrase “personal responsibility?”

The brotherhood acts as a collective group, and does not appreciate new ideas lowing in on their own. Any wrong move can hurt their reputation, which is one of their main priorities.

44.     Contrast the reaction of the Brotherhood to the funeral speech to the audience’s reaction to the graduation speech. Has the narrator come full circle?

The Brotherhood sees the speech as a harmful consequence because they no longer feel in control. The speech for the audience was a wake up call to take action because their emotions were finally beginning to be expressed. The narrator now realizes their true objectives and priorities.

55.     What is the significance of Brother Jack’s glass eye? How does it develop the sight image that is throughout the book?

The narrator once believed that Brother Jack could truly see him as a person. However, after Clifton’s death, and the reveal of the Brotherhoods true intentions, the narrator realizes that Brother Jack is also blind and to him, the narrator is still invisible.

17-19

Chapter 17

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

Four months have passed.

2.     Describe Brother Hambro.

The narrator describes him as a “fanatic teacher” who never misses an opportunity to create study situations. The narrator claims that working with him is hard work, and seems more demanding than college.                  

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

He does not believe white and black people should interact. The brotherhood also practices non-violence, which Ras certainly doesn’t.

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?

He is a young leader of the Brotherhood who teaches the narrator how to deal with hecklers. Clifton is also black. Ras can’t bring himself to kill Clifton because he claims he is his brother- they are both black. However, Ras insists to know why he is iin the brotherhood where they don’t appreciate him fully, and where he would never be a true brother.

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?

I think he sides with the Black Panthers due to the fact that their ideology revolves around being someone who appreciates their heritage, as well as focusing on their segregated success.

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?

Tarp believes in the narrator’s ability to succeed. Douglass was a famous orator that had great impact, so that desire is wanted for the narrator. Tarp is like Douglass because he believes in the potential of the narrator as an African American. The grandfather is like Douglass because he was also an escaped slave and had desires for the narrator to fight on. 

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?

The link symbolizes freedom, and captures what the experience of physical and mental slavery was like. It is significant that Westrum rejects it because it is as if he rejected what it represents: African American heritage, freedom.

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

The interview and article published about the narrator was announced by Wrestrum, and he claimed it was an opportunist move. The real reason would be that he views the narrator as someone who does not completely follow the ideology of the brotherhood.

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?

It is to not  draw so much attention to the enemies, and calm the waters in their own movement. It also is a way to see if the narrator is a true believer of the movement.

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?

He displays this woman as someone who is willing to please the narrator with the comfort of her home, and also displays attentiveness to what he is saying and his ideologies.

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

She is calm, and acts normal, with the average wife affection.

3.     What is the narrator’s action?

He was very anxious, and felt abnormal. He was surprised at the woman’s reaction. He hoped the husband didn’t see him.

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

I view the embarrassment he felt with the woman as a bit humorous, but I think there is also social commentary when viewing his look on how an African American male would feel towards a white female. 

Chapter 13-16

Chapter 13

1.     Peter Wheatstraw foreshadows the encounter with the yam seller. How do these encounters differ? What changes are revealed in the narrator’s identity? How is his change in identity linked with his desire to show Bledsoe as a fraud?

The narrator accepts the yams, which further means he now embodies the southern black culture. He points out how people like Bledsoe actually like all these foods, like yams, but act as if they don’t in order to gain approval from the superior white community. The narrator already knows that they wouldn’t gain their approval, so he feels free as he enjoys his culture’s food.

2. In the eviction scene, the narrator makes his second speech of the novel. Study it carefully. Compare it to the first speech. Take notes about the narrator’s developing identity.

He no longer depends on someone else’s ideas to develop his own. The narrator exhibits how he truly feels, and is still opposed. However, he doesn’t back down from his position, and actually tries to connect to the audience. He is developing his identity that reflects his connections to his culture, and his gradual embracement of his heritage.

3. How does the narrator meet Brother Jack? The Brotherhood is a thinly veiled version of the Communist Party. Richard Wright, Ellison’s first mentor, was an active member in the Communist Party. At Wright’s request, Ellison wrote a number of articles for leftist publications between 1937 and 1944, but never joined. He objected to the Communist Party’s limitations of individuality and personal expression.

Brother Jack invites him for a coffee after hearing his speech and being impressed.

4. What new piece of paper replaces the letters from Bledsoe as the narrator’s identity?

The paper Brother Jack gives him with his phone number.

Chapter 14

1.     What pushes the narrator to accept The Brotherhood’s offer?

Mary is the main reason why he accepts the job. He feels bad that he hasn’t paid her rent, especially after everything she has provided for him.

2.     Note that the building is called the Chthonia. In Greek mythology, this is another name for Hades’ realm, the underworld. What descriptions and images can you find that convey the sense of entering an underworld type of realm? Why is entering the world of The Brotherhood like entering the underworld?

There was images of an overly fancy room, with well dressed people. However, brother jack and the other accompanying men are not so well dressed, and they also have a cold attitude, just like those from the underworld.

3.     The phone number has been replaced by a new name in an envelope? Why? Why are we never told of this new name?

It is his new identity, and the name that he will be known for. We are not told the name because it is not truly his new identity- he doesn’t feel comfortable.

4.     How does the party scene remind the reader of how limited and/or hypocritical most whites are in the understanding of the treatment of Blacks?

They prevented them from knowing various things, yet expected them to be knowledgeable of them.

Chapter 15

1.     Think about the symbolism of the Sambo bank. Is it related to Clifton’s Sambo doll? What about the fact that it belonged to Mary Rambo? What about the bank’s “grinning mouth” that swallows coins? Think back to the Battle Royal in Chapter 1.

The Sambo doll represents the stereotype of blacks, which is that they are servile and do whatever the white society desires in order to gain reward. However, because it belongs to Mary, it creates a state of confusion for the narrator, because the statue , although seemingly grinning, represents a slave who will please his or her master to gain advantages.

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?”

-“…of ho he had beaten blind in a crooked fight…and how the fighter had died in a home for the blind.”

“…We’re so un-common that we can’t even see it!”

“They think we’re blind- un-commonly blind.”

“We’re a nation of one-eyed mice.”

“Did you ever se such a sight in your life?”

“You know, if we aren’t careful, they’ll slip up on our blind sides..”

“Did you ever notice my dumb one-eyed brothers, how two totally blind men can get together and help one another along?”

He feels heard, and visible because there is a room full of people finally listening.

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

He remarks that they can’t see what is the reality of what is going on, and how that impacts their life. However, recognizing that they are blind, and helping one another out will be more beneficial than just being alone.

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

The speech is the development of his ideas, and how he wishes to express them with a crowd that most likely felt like he felt.

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?

I think there needs to be someone who sparks the movement of a group, but there still needs to be an emphasis on being an individual who succeeds. Representing a group shouldn’t be a goal, but helping others is. Developing on one’s identity is crucial to being at peace with oneself, and that allows one to better help others, and lead.

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

The brotherhood did not like it. They believed it was against what they had said all along, and thought the speech created a mob. I thought it was uplifting and created a sense of unity. They are extremely strict in what they are speaking about, and their approach is specific. They don’t seem to like change.