The Hate, The Farmer, The White Man

During his conversation with Jim Trueblood, the farmer who sexually abused of his daughter, the narrator shows a profound hatred for the man. This feeling is often indirect as the narrator keeps his thoughts to himself. On the other hand, this hate is not sporadic as the main character has clear reason to hate. He sees in Trueblood what the white man sees in all black men, in other words, he sees in Jim Trueblood the denotative stereotype that white society has on black men.

His hatred is shown in isolated comments and looks that he describes during Trueblood story. While the farmer is talking the I.M. describes him "cursing softly" and thinking that all his chances of success where fading away due to Trueblood´s ignorance. Our smart main character seems to be overwhelmed by the strength of the farmers story and despises the idea of the white man he is driving around to feel compassion for the ignorant rapist.

Finally, is this what happens in modern times? Is this what everybody knows as stereotype? Lets get some examples: Chilean swear, Americans are fat, Colombians do drugs and "Gallegos" are stupid. Stereotypes  have ruled the world and have been always fed by racism, prejudice and most importantly social acceptance. SO, in order to lighten the mood, here is the stereotype song:

     

Is it Racist if its Anonymous

Again on the first chapter of the invisible man, I can clearly see a symbol of the despicable racism that is continuously shown in the novel.

In this case, during the battle royal that the I.M. (invisible man) takes part in, he is blindfolded and forced to fight. There are two important things to remark during the fight:

1. The blindfolding of the black men, a powerful symbolism to the false ideas that white men implant in the fighters minds where they hide the truth and inculcate the idea of inferiority. In other words, they bedim the minds of the black men with their social constructs of superiority. This clouding of the reason is experimented by the narrator himself, as he he describes that he "...was fighting automatically" and in consequence not thinking. (His judgement had already been blurred). Another exponent of the black men's mind obscuring is Tatlock, the other fighter in the final round, that clearly shows lack of judgement when he declines at the narrator's offer of money, and even more when the I.M. asks him if he was "...doing this for them" and he provides no answer.                  
2. The faceless voices of men that insult and provoke the men in the ring. When the character is in the beginning of the fight he describes how a man from the public yells and insults the black men in the ring with phrases like "Let me at those black sonsofbitches", but he never provides an accurate description of the man as he is unable to see him. This direct attack to the men in the fight is at the same time indirect, symbolizing how the white society of the novel attacks the "niggers" as an entire entity, faceless and aggressive. This resembles many other social groups that had often attacked a minority when they have the power of a group. In add this power of the group represents another social construct where the man with an audience has power consequently. 

   With this I conclude today's entry on chapter one and I hope you have enjoyed it. And, like Ed Sullivan would say "For a good show, and have a great evening".

The Invisible Symbols

In the first chapter of The Invisible Man the main character passes through a series of situations that act as symbols for the situation that the black men had to tolerate in the time of the story. This happens when the narrator participates in the white men´s "Battle royale" and he gets blindfolded. The impairment given to the narrator represents the social restrictions that difficults the life of black people in the novel. This metaphoric representation of society also shows the incapacity of trascending the predjudice against him, including the incapacity of comunicating his feelings towards his situation.

Another symbol of the african-american opresion is the electrified mat where the money is laying in the white men reunion. The obstacle represented by the electric power shows how the predjudice of the white man destroys the possibilities of black people, in this case economical. In add, the way the white men force the narrator to fall on the electrified mat represent how the enforcement of the white men´s "superiority" is as harmful for the black man as its own submission to them.

In conclusion, the first chapter shows the current situation of black men in the novel through the actions of the narrator when he is surrounded by white men.