Synthesis: Prologue-Chapter 9

All of the major instances of oratory in the novel thus far have been given by people who hold power over a person or persons in that moment. These instances include Homer Barbee at the college’s chapel (chapter 5), Trueblood’s recollection (55-68), the vet’s advice (95 and 156), and Bledsoe while talking to IM about temporary expulsion (140-145). Each instance of oratory is not only given by someone in power, but that speaker also has the power to stick in the mind of the IM and affect him not only in the present, but also in the future. Often, Ellison combines the power and oratory motifs to highlight the boomerang idea of past, present, and future.

The grandfather’s oratory, as the Invisible Man describes in the prologue, put the grandfather in a position of power because he was telling the IM how to act in the future. “Our life is a war...I want you to overcome ‘em with yeses…agree ‘em to death and destruction...” (16). His grandfather’s words continue to come back around multiple times throughout the rest of IM’s journey, for instance, during the conversation with Mr. Emerson(186) and after his expulsion(147). Although the grandfather may not have held extreme power at the time he gave his advice, his words carried an immense amount power with them as they reappeared throughout the rest of the Invisible Man’s life.

There were also instances of oratory in which the speaker was in a more obvious position of power. Trueblood, for example, spoke of the rape of his daughter, an instance where he held power over her. Homer Barbee was in an obvious position of power when giving his speech, as the entire student body was in attendance and intrigued. His speech was focused on the past of the founder, but at the same time focused in on the future of the college, and even further made the Invisible Man worry about his own future. While talking to the IM about his expulsion, Dr. Bledsoe was another person with an obvious position of power as he was dictating the IM’s future. In our first encounter with The Vet at the Golden Day, he held power over Norton, since he was the physician and Norton was the ill, weak man. During the second encounter in chapter 7, The Vet’s oratory focuses on the idea of the future as he warns IM to “leave the Mr. Nortons alone” (156). Additionally, he foreshadows events of the future when he tells IM “Your speech will change, you’ll talk a lot about college…”(152). He then goes on to say “you might even dance with a white girl”, which foreshadows a possibility of that happening since the other things he spoke of end up coming true.

In some cases, we have seen the person speaking hold all the power, but sometimes, as with the Grandfather, the power is in the words.