Chapters 20-22

Chapter 20:

Oratory: There were no instances of oratory in this chapter.

Power: “As for the loss of membership and influence, it was a result of a new program which had called for the shelving of our old techniques of agitation” (428).

One of the main themes in chapter 20 is the idea of the Brotherhood losing power in Harlem. Upon the IM’s return, he learns that the Brotherhood has switched from emphasizing local issues to focusing more on national and international concerns. As a result, many people in Harlem lost jobs the Brotherhood had provided them with and feel as though the organization has betrayed the community. As the Brotherhood loses influence, Ras and his crew are becoming increasingly active and gaining power in Harlem.

Chapter 21:

Oratory:

Pg. 456 “So he died; and we who loved him are gathered here to mourn him.”

The main instance of oratory in this chapter was IM’s speech at Brother Tod Clifton’s funeral. There came a point where no one was speaking and the crowd was looking at him expectantly and so he reluctantly launched into a fairly long speech about Clifton. He made it clear that Clifton had been shot because he was black, and that this racially charged police brutality was not a new phenomenon. He talked about how Clifton’s blood was just like anyone else’s blood, and made a lot of references to the fact that “trigger” rhymed with the n-word.

Power:

Pg.448 “For they had the power to use a paper doll, first to destroy his integrity and then as an excuse for killing him.”

The power that was focused on the most in chapter twenty-one was that that the white police officer held over Tod Clifton. It is very evident that the policeman abused his power and jumped to use violence against Clifton, simply because of the color of his skin. The white police officers have this ultimate power over the black community, as they are supposed to be helping to enforce the law and instead use that power from their positions to their advantage and exercise it unnecessarily over the African-American community for purely racial reasons.

Chapter 22:

Oratory: There were no instances of oratory in this chapter.

Power:

Chapter 22 is a significant chapter in Invisible Man for the motif power. As we begin the chapter, the IM is put into his place by Brother Jack and the rest of the committee in a meeting following his speech at Tod Clifton’s funeral. Brother Jack is angry that IM’s speech was of his own thoughts and not of the committee’s idea’s. When IM explains that they “went ahead on [his] personal responsibility” (463), Jack and the others in the room ridicule him implying that IM should not have assumed any responsibility since he has no power in their eyes. Even though IM says “today was the first time that they’re listened to our appeals in weeks” (471), Brother Jack shoots him down letting him know that “[he was] not hired to think” (469) taking us back to Mr. Kimbro from the paint factory. Although it’s clear that in Harlem IM has a strong influence over the people, the Brotherhood refuses to acknowledge his power and continues to reinforce their own, which seems to be recurring throughout the novel.

Chapters 16-19

Chapter 16:

Oratory:

“But I’ve been sitting here listening and looking and trying to understand what’s so common about us” (342).

The main instance of oratory in chapter sixteen is at a rally for the Brotherhood. The brothers ask IM to speak at the end of the rally, once the crowd is already fired up. IM forgets what he wants to say once he gets up on stage, but improvises on the spot and comes up with a speech about how they are dispossessed and blind. The crowd absolutely loves the speech and receive him warmly, but members of the Brotherhood are not so impressed, as IM learns after he has finished.

Power:

"'Did I do something wrong?' I said.

      'The worst you could’ve done,' he said coldly" (349).

Brother Jack held some power in chapter sixteen in regards to the speech given by IM. IM was aiming to impress Brother Jack with the words of his speech, so he had power in this sense, but he also had power when IM was finished with his speech. IM left the stage believing he had done a fairly good job, as the crowd was enthusiastically cheering him on, but Brother Jack disagreed - and made his view quite clear. The quote above is part of this conversation; Brother Jack tells IM that he does not believe the speech was actually well done, and encourages other brothers to do the same. In doing this, Brother Jack has the power to control IM’s feelings of himself and his accomplishments, which may ultimately contribute to his feeling of invisibility.

Chapter 17:

Oratory:

“You my brother, mahn. Brothers are the same color; how the hell you call these white men brother?” (370)

Ras the Exhorter says this in the middle of a physical fight with Brother Tod Clifton, and continues to give a speech about what it means to be black and what duties come along with being black. His word choice is meant to instill a sense of responsibility in Clifton and IM, and convince them to leave the white individuals that they have agreed to work with. In addition, he tries to convince them that a group of African-Americans will do a lot more for the black community than a group of both blacks and whites through appealing to a sense of community. He also tries to make Clifton and IM feel guilty about teaming up with white men by making it seem as though the only reason that they would do this is because the white men would “provide” them with “their” women.

Power:

“Why you go over to the enslaver?” (371)

This motif in chapter seventeen was more about a struggle for power and a discussion about who ought to have power, mainly between Ras, Clifton, and IM. Ras, a black nationalist, was furious that Clifton and IM, two black men, would work with whites, and saw it as a sort of sign of betrayal to their race. He could not understand how the two men believed that the white men had their best interest in mind, and how they thought that working with them would actually help further their cause, and Clifton and Ras actually get into a physical fight over this disagreement.

Chapter 18:

Oratory:

“This business of being a brother is a full time job. You have to be pure in heart and you have to be disciplined in body and mind" (394).

This quote comes from Brother Wrestrum as he gives the IM his spiel on what it means to be a true Brother. The leg iron is what evokes this speech, as Brother Wrestrum insists that it “dramatizes [their] differences”, and deteriorates from the Brotherhood’s cause of unity and trust in eachother. Coming from Brother Wrestrum, however, this quote is very ironic. Near the end of the chapter, Brother Wrestrum shows traits of hypocrisy as turns his back on the IM, charging him with using the Brotherhood to advance his own self interests. He uses the magazine interview as evidence against them IM, even though he knows the truth behind the interview since he was there when the IM received the call. Through this, Brother Wrestrum ironically went against the moral standards of Brotherhood he spoke so highly of earlier in the chapter.

Power:

“He’s trying to train them so they won’t listen to no one but him...He wants to be a dictator!” (401)

This quote comes from the meeting at the end of the chapter, where Brother Wrestrum is accusing the Invisible Man of being power crazed. The charges Brother Wrestrum brings were perhaps out of spite and jealousy, considering a few weeks ago the IM held power over Brother Wrestrum when he dismissed him out of his office and neglected to show much interest in the suggestion of emblems. Brother Wrestrum continually states that, as leader, the IM only wants to advance his own self interests and that he aims to control the entire movement. This then brings about a sort of fight over power-the Invisible Man is the one with the power as leader, but Brother Wrestrum is envious of the power IM holds and tries to take it away from him by bringing about the charges.

Chapter 19:

There were no instances of oratory in this chapter.

Power:

The power in this chapter lies in the hands on a character distinctly different from most others in previous chapters- she is a young woman. The unnamed woman has power over IM by luring him into her apartment to “discuss the Brotherhood”, but her true intentions are clear. She manages to seduce IM enough to go against his instinct and morals and have sex with her, a married woman. The morning after he “looked up to see the man looking straight at [him]” (417) which we assume to be the husband. The woman obviously has control over her husband as well, since he did not even react to seeing his wife in bed with another unidentified man. By the end of the chapter, Brother Jack still holds over over IM as well, moving his assignment once again back to Harlem after the disappearance of Brother Tod Clifton. Brother Tod is suspected to have joined sides with Ras the Exhorter, who inevitably still holds some power, threatening the Brotherhood.

Synthesis: Chapters 8-15

The relationship between power and oratory in Invisible Man in our first synthesis post, from the prologue to Chapter Eight, has remained pretty much the same. Individuals giving the oratory are still usually the people holding the power in that moment. In the recent chapters, however, IM has grown much more comfortable with the power that he finds through his words. The best example of this is in chapter 13, when he is able to rally a black crowd against white police officers who are trying to evict a couple from their house. In this situation, he holds power not only over the community listening to him, but also over the white men.

Following the speech that IM gives in chapter 13, he is recruited by Brother Jack to be the spokesperson for an activist group, the Brotherhood. Brother Jack holds a lot of power over IM in this conversation; he references a famous African-American activist, Booker T. Washington, in order to instill a sense of responsibility in IM, as well as presents his argument so persuasively that he succeeds in convincing IM to reluctantly leave Miss Mary and her home.

In chapters 9-15, the Invisible Man himself seems to be more aware of the power of words than he was in chapters 1-8. On page 259, IM states “And the more resentful I became, the more my old urge to make speeches returned. While walking along the streets words would spill from my lips in a mumble over which I had little control. I became afraid of what I might do.” By saying that he is afraid of what his words might do, the IM is realizing the power that his speeches potentially possess. His words may cause him to get in trouble, they may cause a riot, or, as was the case, or they may cause a black crowd to take action against whites. The quote serves to foreshadow the upcoming events of chapter 13 where, as IM grew resentful, words did indeed “spill from his lips” and cause a powerful reaction. This introduces a contrast from the Battle Royal, where even though the IM was giving a speech, he had no power at all.

As an African American, IM steadily gains more power and influence over his community and others, and his words and speeches help him to do just this. The white men, including Brother Jack, feel threatened by his potential capabilities, just as Mr. Norton felt in the first section of the novel.

Chapters 13, 14, & 15

Chapter 13:

As we see beginning on page 267, there is an old black couple being evicted from their home by white men. The white men obviously have the power while throwing the couple’s belongings out into the cold streets and refusing to let the old woman back into the house momentarily to pray. Disturbed by the sight, the IM begins making a speech almost involuntarily trying to tell the hyped-up crowd that black people are “law-abiding people and a slow-to-anger people” (275). This change in dialect is significant to the IM’s character development to becoming accepting and no longer ashamed to act as a stereotypical black man would, though at this point he is not fully there yet. Although the IM’s original purpose of his speech was to conciliate the group, it backfired and only lead to arousing them more, leading them to violently attack the white men. The primary source of power in the chapter is the group of black (and few white) people among the crowd who rebelled against authority and did not back down when the police arrived. At the end of the chapter, the IM feels powerful himself after rejecting an untrustworthy white man’s job offer stating that he was “feeling a growing satisfaction that [he] had dismissed him so completely” (pg 294).

Chapter 14:

Chapter 14 focuses in on the Brotherhood and Brother Jack’s recruitment of the Invisible Man as the leader of their racial activism. At the Chthonian, Jack rambles on about how remarkable it was that the IM was able to move the crowd to action through his words earlier that morning. In the last words of his attempt to hire the IM, Brother Jack concludes “It is a question of who shall determine the direction of events...this morning you answered the people’s appeal and we want you to be the true interpreter of the people. You shall be the new Booker T. Washington, but even greater than he” (307). By saying that he will do more than even one of the most dominant and influential leaders of the African American community, Brother Jack is ensuring that the IM will hold a great position of power. However, the true motives behind the IM’s recruitment are still unclear. Jack quickly proceeds to give the Invisible Man a new name, to demand he break ties with his past, and to insist that he move out of Mary’s, ultimately transforming his entire identity.  If the Invisible Man takes on this leadership role under an entirely new identity, we are then left with the question: does he really have any power at all if no one knows who he truly is?

Chapter 15:

Oratory: No oratory in chapter 15.

Power:  “I’ll have to hide this mess! I can’t take her this and the news that I’m moving at the same time” (32).

The motif of power was not especially emphasized in chapter fifteen, but there is a glimpse of it the morning that Invisible Man leaves Mary’s house. IM is trying to leave, but is scared to tell Mary because he feels guilty about deserting her. In a weird way, Mary has power over IM in this section in the way that her emotions are driving his actions; he is very worried about telling her that he must leave and, as a result, opts out of telling her at all.

Chapters 11 & 12

Chapter 11

In chapter eleven, the Invisible Man lacks power. Laying in the factory hospital after the explosion, the Invisible Man cannot understand speech, has lost his own ability to speak, and has lost any recollection of his identity. There were a few instances when the IM was able to speak, yet he was powerless as his pleads and questions went ignored by the doctors. On page 235 while sitting in the chair, the Invisible Man insists “But I need more room,” only to be told “You’ll get used to it after a while.” Later, we can see that even the Invisible Man himself knows he is not in control when he asks “What are you going to do with me?” to which the nurse responds  “No questions,” (244). Her response proves that she has knowledge that the Invisible Man does not, and she is therefore in control.

Additionally, the doctors are the ones with the power to determine the procedure. During a small debate over which procedure is best, one assistant doctor suggests “Why not castration, doctor?” (236). Although this idea is turned down, to suggest the removal of the  reproductive organs of a male in the first place is to suggest the ultimate stripping of power. Not only does it disable a man from engaging in sexual activity with women, it robs him of his masculinity. The doctor in charge ends up getting his way, however, and the electrical shock method is decided upon. As the electrocution takes place and the Invisible Man is shaking with pain, one doctor notes with a laugh “They really do have rhythm, don't they? Get hot, boy! Get hot!” (237). The doctors laughing at IM as he lay helpless in pain illustrates not only the IM’s lack of power, but also the idea that whites often use black suffering as a source of their entertainment, connecting back to the electrical rug scene of the Battle Royal.

Chapter 12

In chapter 12, we are introduced to a character who plays a very important role, Mary Rambo. While walking down the streets of Harlem, the IM faints and Mary rushes over to help him. Even while a police officer orders bystanders to move along, Mary remains over-top of the IM insisting that he stay with her at her house since the Men’s House was not an appropriate place for him to be in his current condition. By her resisting the officer’s commands, we are already shown that Mary is a strong and powerful black woman. Mary contributes a short instance of oratory in this chapter on page 252. The most relevant quote she contributes is on page 253, saying to the IM "you black as me and white as a sheet". When bringing him into her arms, she sees that his problem isn't solely his health, but also his identity struggle with being a black man. She refuses to let him leave her home until well-rested and fed, caring for him as a mother. Mary, with “flowered hips” (251), represents Mary the virgin mother of Jesus Christ. Her genuine motherly concern for the IM, a man she has never met before, represents her power, being able to effectively care for him with him not having much of a choice. Once again, we see that the person orating has the most power in the scene.