In Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison often includes laughter to show strong emotion, especially to when a character feels powerful or panicked. Those two emotions seem totally unrelated and you might notice that humor is not included. It is interesting that characters in the book rarely laugh because they find something funny. It is more often because they are relishing in power or panicking about a crisis they are in.
One example of laughter is during the meeting when Bledsoe is effectively expelling the narrator from the college. "For a moment he looked me up and down and I saw his head go back in the shadow, hearing a high, thin sound like a cry of rage; then his face came forward and I saw his laughter" (141). Bledsoe laughs very hard because he is excited at the power he has to punish someone who dares to threaten him. When the narrator or another important character recognizes newfound power, they will often laugh heartily.
The other important time a character will laugh in the novel is when they realize the impossibility of their situation (often the narrator is the one laughing in this case). This impossibility can be in the form of panic because it is impossible to escape, or hysteria because the situation is impossible to be true. One example of the first of those is when the narrator sees what Bledsoe has done in sending him north. "I laughed and felt numb and weak, knowing that soon the pain would come and no matter what happened to me I'd never be the same. I felt numb and I was laughing" (194). He is laughing not because he finds it funny, but because he is terrified and surprised and his reaction is to laugh. At the end of chapter 24, he is running through the pooping pigeons laughing. "I ran blindly, boiling with outrage and despair and harsh laughter. Running from all the birds to what, I didn't know. I ran" (534). In this passage, the narrator is laughing at the hilarity and absurdity of the situation more than anything else. He is laughing because the situation is crazy but it is somehow happening to him. It is absurd, but real, so he laughs.
It is interesting how Ellison employs laughter throughout the book to express different things. There are many, many times when important characters laugh and it can all be tied to the strongest emotions.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Invisible Man: Illusion of Optic White, et al. in Chapter 10
Invisible Man is riddled with symbolism and imagery tucked beneath the surface. We talked in depth in class about the multiple layers of meaning in the Liberty Paints factory in chapter 10. Everything in the chapter seems to have at least two sides and Ralph Ellison is very clever in constructing those sides. The part that stands out the most to me is the Optic White paint.
There is the slogan, thought of by Mr. Brockway who I'll discuss more later, that goes: "If It's Optic White, It's the Right White" (217). The first thing the narrator thinks of when he hears that slogan is "If you're white, you're right" (218). This is not very subtle. The Liberty Paint factory is a big collection of not-too-subtly racist symbols. It starts when a big sign pokes out of the fog, reading: "Keep America pure with Liberty Paints" (196). The use of the word 'pure' is not what you would usually find describing paint. It seems to suggest that America needs to be purified of something. As you read into the chapter, you get the idea that maybe America needs to be purified of non-white powerful people.
The narrator's first assignment at the factory is to drip coal-black liquid into pure white paint and mix it until he can no longer see the black. That in and of itself has blatantly racist sybolism because he is drowning the black liquid in whiteness. At one point, he can still see small streaks of grey showing through in the paint samples. When Mr. Kimbro comes to check on him again, the narrator is surprised to learn that Mr. Kimbro cannot see the grey streaks. This is showing that there are some black people with power, such as Bledsoe, but their power is invisible so only the white power shines out.
The narrator's second assignment is to work for Mr. Brockway, the one who deals with the making of the paint itself in the basement. It seems odd to me that the only black person in the factory with any real power is in the basement. No one knows about Mr. Brockway, but he has hidden power and is well favored by the director and "Old Man" (215). Mr. Brockway almost reminds me of Bledsoe because of their behind-the-scenes control that ultimately gets the narrator kicked out. Additionally, the union members and other factory employees dislike Mr. Brockway. I'm not sure, from the character's point of view, it is because of his skin tone, but Ellison seems to want the reader to infer that.
Ellison throws this odd chapter into the novel, perhaps to point out something in the factory that is really happening everywhere. The concept of the factory being a miniature city apart from most of New York City is unusual and is weird to comprehend. There are very likely more levels of subtle symbolism I don't see as easily, but this chapter definitely sets itself apart from the rest of the book in its obvious symbolism.
There is the slogan, thought of by Mr. Brockway who I'll discuss more later, that goes: "If It's Optic White, It's the Right White" (217). The first thing the narrator thinks of when he hears that slogan is "If you're white, you're right" (218). This is not very subtle. The Liberty Paint factory is a big collection of not-too-subtly racist symbols. It starts when a big sign pokes out of the fog, reading: "Keep America pure with Liberty Paints" (196). The use of the word 'pure' is not what you would usually find describing paint. It seems to suggest that America needs to be purified of something. As you read into the chapter, you get the idea that maybe America needs to be purified of non-white powerful people.
The narrator's first assignment at the factory is to drip coal-black liquid into pure white paint and mix it until he can no longer see the black. That in and of itself has blatantly racist sybolism because he is drowning the black liquid in whiteness. At one point, he can still see small streaks of grey showing through in the paint samples. When Mr. Kimbro comes to check on him again, the narrator is surprised to learn that Mr. Kimbro cannot see the grey streaks. This is showing that there are some black people with power, such as Bledsoe, but their power is invisible so only the white power shines out.
The narrator's second assignment is to work for Mr. Brockway, the one who deals with the making of the paint itself in the basement. It seems odd to me that the only black person in the factory with any real power is in the basement. No one knows about Mr. Brockway, but he has hidden power and is well favored by the director and "Old Man" (215). Mr. Brockway almost reminds me of Bledsoe because of their behind-the-scenes control that ultimately gets the narrator kicked out. Additionally, the union members and other factory employees dislike Mr. Brockway. I'm not sure, from the character's point of view, it is because of his skin tone, but Ellison seems to want the reader to infer that.
Ellison throws this odd chapter into the novel, perhaps to point out something in the factory that is really happening everywhere. The concept of the factory being a miniature city apart from most of New York City is unusual and is weird to comprehend. There are very likely more levels of subtle symbolism I don't see as easily, but this chapter definitely sets itself apart from the rest of the book in its obvious symbolism.
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