Chapter 10-12

Chapter 10

Ellison says that beginning with chapter 10, the novel begins to rely heavily on expressionism. In very simple terms, expressionism uses concrete objects to attempt to objectify abstract inner feelings. Therefore, objects in the novel function as complex multifaceted symbols. Remember that chapter 10 and 11 are not to be perceived as realistic, but rather as expressionistic.

1.     Consider the racial connotations of Liberty Paints. Think about the company name, trademark, slogans, government contracts, and Optic White. What do you think the company symbolizes?

It symbolizes how despite the claims that America has liberty, there will always be a white superiority. One can simply paint over the “unpure” spots, and cover it with optic white paint.

2.     Why has the company been hiring Blacks?

They won’t have to pay union wages.

3.     Think about how Optic White is manufactured. What do the 10 drops of “dead black liquid” symbolize?

The 10 drops is the black population who aid the white community, yet are hidden away and take no credit.

4.     Note that Lucius Brockway works deep in the basement of the factory, hidden from view. Is this symbolic? How is Brockway like Bledsoe? How is he different?

Yes, he is hidden and invisible. However, what he does is imperative for the success of the company, even if he isn’t acknowledged for it. Bledsoe is also invisible to those in power, and is the reason for numerous successes.

5.     How is Brockway himself like the 10 drops?

The 10 drops make the paint look outstanding, and without them, the paint would not be as great. The company would not succeed without Brockway.

6.     After the explosion on p. 230, the narrator is thrust “into a wet blast of black emptiness that is somehow a bath of whiteness. How does this immersion of a Black man into a world of whiteness continue the expressionism of the chapter?

Despite him being in the white society, he still is lost in the darkness.

Chapter 11

The expressionist images of chapter 10 are black and white. Here they are death and rebirth.

1.     What images of this chapter echo the Battle Royal?

He was confused with what was going on, and he had blood in his mouth.

2.     The doctors at the factory hospital shock the narrator until he enters a warm watery world. Look for other images of the womb and birth.

There are images of a wailing mother, as well as him being clipped from the umbilical cord. There are also images of him feeling with little room, and him climbing out of the womb.

3.     Afterwards, the narrator is a blank slate with no memory or identity. How do the doctor’s questions develop this image of rebirth?

He asks for his name, as well as his mother’s. They both indicate the start of a new life. When a baby is born, it is named, and the one who gives birth is the mother.

4.     Why has the narrator been reborn? What aspects of his old identity have died?

He is starting to have a new view on life. He is beginning to understand that he may not have the necessary “right” to have a successful future or accomplishment of his dreams. The ideology of the college he once had is now starting to fade away, and he is starting to realize the reality of society.

5.     Buckeye the Rabbit is the same as Brer Rabbit. Remember the reference to the Tar Baby in chapter 10? In realizing that he is Buckeye the Rabbit, the narrator finds the wit and strength to escape from the machine. How is the machine like Trueblood’s clock? How does Buckeye the Rabbit embody the folk wisdom of the narrator’s childhood? How has he been reborn into the identity he at first denied upon arriving in New York?

They are both trying to escape the wrath of both. Trueblood and the clock refer to time, while the narrator and the machine refer to invisibility in society. They both give them strength. The rabbit captures the Black culture, and the narrator is understanding that the culture is oat of his identity.

6.     What lesson has the narrator learned?

He is not going to succeed at the same length as his white counterparts. Even if he depends on white society, he will still be “invisible” to white society. Due to the color of his skin, he can only reach a certain limit, and he has to face that reality.

Chapter 12 (transitional bridge between the two halves of the novel)

1.     In what way is the narrator childlike?

He dumped water on the man who he thought resembled Bledsoe. In addition, he is too reliant on others and has shifted his focus from his own dreams.

2.     How does he permanently close off the link with his old aspirations and dreams?

He becomes more dependent on Mary, and loses motivation for success. This is because of his acceptance of his identity, and how he realizes the reality of society, and its limitations.