A False Perception

Racism has been a very big deal over the history of our modern society. The idea that skin color was somehow related with racial inferiority was a pretty dominant concept throughout the most recent part of our history. What is rather ironic is that this idea is based on no real scientific proof. As far as research goes, skin color is only skin deep, in a matter of speaking. There is no significant genetic variation between people from different races. Skin color is merely a gene, similar to any other, like the gene for hair color or eye color.

To divide an entire society based on skin color was as silly and superficial as it can get. However, it is still a wonder how this shallow perception of humanity was able to endure for so long. The answer lies primarily in the need to control society. In a world where newly born ideas like freedom were starting to appear, there was a need to establish some sort of control over society. How could an agricultural society, such as the new American South, survive without a stable work force? The solution was the use of slaves. However, justifying the lack of rights to some people in a country were ideas of freedom were proliferating would be a challenge. To solve this, a perception of racial inferiority was introduced. Consequently, the practice of slavery and discrimination was able to set its roots in the so called "free land" of America.

It’s frustrating to think that the hierarchy of a civilization would be defined on such trivial aspects as skin color. The idea that "white is right" was just a strategy to get on the top of the pyramid and become the controllers of power. Some people became so convinced on the white man's superiority that they even began to view themselves as the saviors of humanity, and defined it as "the white man's burden". To understand how shallow that perception is, is only half of the job. What's even more outrageous is that is utterly and scientifically wrong. There is no gene related with the white skin color that indicates any type of superiority, and at the same time, there is no gene related with any other skin color that would indicate any inferiority. In fact, there isn't even a subspecies of humans. Every single modern human on earth is a homo sapiens, nothing more, nothing less.

From Here To Eternity

The quest for immortality is one to which many humans dedicate their lives to. From the very beginnings of history, with celebrated characters such as Gilgamesh and Achilles, the desire to achieve immortality has been greatly discussed.
Afterward, a group of people during the early 1800's began a movement denominated Romanticism. The views and ways of this movement would be a strong pillar unto which our modern society would base its interpretation of our existence. Their primary goal would be to find the meaning of life through their soul and their feelings, as opposed to the dominant points of view during their time which defined life through religion or science.
As one would expect, this new perception of life became a great scandal across Europe, as defiant characters such as Percy Byshee Shelley published "blasphemous" articles and celebrities such as Lord Byron made the headlines with their scandalous lives. Other Romantics would resort to opium to produce the most mystical lines of poetry, selling their body for the sake of their spirit. It's precisely what the Romantic Movement was attempting to obtain. They wanted to achieve that perception of the world through their feelings and express the deepest desires of their soul in order to find that enigmatic meaning of life.
A particular member of the Romantics, John Keats, would stand out to pursue one of the greatest quests known to humanity. He set out to achieve immortality. Finding himself ill very early in his life, and refusing to accept the Church's dictations of life after death, he was standing alone in an abyss of nothingness awaiting his last breath. Desperate, he sought a way towards immortality, and finding it finally in the prevalence of art, he died regretting not achieving a masterpiece that would earn him a place in eternity. Fortunately, his quest had not been in vain, for his works became famous soon after his death, and his name was able to create a space for him in the realm of immortality. This great success was a victory to the cause of Romanticism. With Keats's name, as well as many other poets who were able to transcend through time, Romanticism gained a position of veracity as a medium of understanding the world that surrounds us. Additionally, it was able to set forth a new beginning in which originality and self determination are greatly valued, and the individuality of each person can determine his or her own eternity.

Brain Surgery

As the novel moves on into the next chapter, we find the speaker the speaker stunned badly after the accident. At first he is unsure of where he is or who he is. Confused and disoriented, he struggles to understand what's going on, but despite being surrounded by doctors and nurses, it seems as if he wasn't even there. His mind is detached from the outside, almost separate from his own body. Lying there in the hospital, he undergoes a strange procedure in which a machine is supposed to produce "the results of a prefrontal lobotomy...and the result is a complete change of personality" (236).

What is inevitable to ignore is how this procedure will change the speaker. If this operation is as effective as the doctor claims, wouldn't his mind change after it? According to the doctor “he will live as he has to live, and with absolute integrity. He'll experience no major conflict of motives, and what is even better society will suffer no traumata on his account" (236). What is he referring to by saying this? Could it be that a good citizen, a man of no burden to society is that which has no conflicts of motives? Apparently the best interest of society is to have a bunch of automatons, walking around life with no motives or opinion. A person like this is, to the burden of society, weightless, or even invisible.

After the operation, the speaker finds himself in a sort of glass container, observed vigilantly by the people outside. From his position, he is able to observe them as well, and metaphorically observes society. He is disturbed by what he sees, as he notices flaws and ugly details on his subjects, but then he thinks "we are all human" (239). This perhaps, could be a moment of understanding, as he looks at the flawed humanity, determined to accept it. It feels as if he wasn't human anymore. The doctors, indeed don't see him humanlike, only as a result from an experimental operation. This could be the beginning of the speaker's understanding of his invisibility. He can see that society in a detached way, but somehow, that society can't see him. In some way, he can't see himself either, since he isn't even able to remember his own name.

It’s still unclear if the speaker’s personality was changed, but he certainly started to view his world around him in a new way. Perhaps this is only the beginning of the speaker’s renovation, and he will eventually grow to understand that concept of invisibility.

Boiling Point

After being screamed at, insulted and even threatened by too many people, the speaker has finally had it. At last he loses control of his composure and strikes back at that stream of hostility that has been tormenting him from the moment he set foot on that factory. He was yelled at by Mr. Kimbro, he was mocked by Mr. Brockway and then he was verbally attacked by a union of the factory workers.
The speaker had never seen a union before, and despite meaning no harm or any contact with them, the members started harassing him, calling him a fink and threatening to kick him out. He didn't even know what "fink" meant, but it surely was a terrible insult. Apparently the union instantly labeled him a fink, which means strikebreaker, and they believed he had been he had been sent to avoid the success of any strike they could organize. The source of their hostility originated from the possibility that he could go and start "finking his finking ass off" (221).

Anyhow, the speaker is not aware of this terminology and becomes really upset by their behavior. What's even worse is when, ironically as it may sound, he is also attacked by Brockway when he finds out he had seen the union and threatens to kill him. This is where he reaches a boiling point.  How could it be possible that no matter what side he landed on, he would always be seen as the enemy? He was sick at been screamed an insulted at, and he finally found the anger to strike back. He viciously attacked Brockway and finally took a stand towards his own dignity. The speaker is a character with no party or allies, and nothing to hold on to but himself. Maybe that's why he isn't even given a name. This is why, when he is threatened, he can't hold on to anyone or anything, and he finally learned that he had to stand up for himself.
Too bad it all blew up on his face: literally.

Bossed Around

The speaker in Invisible Man is starting fresh with a new job. After finding out that his return to college is not part of Dr. Bledsoe’s plans, he decides he should take revenge. Taking quick action, he managed to get a job at the plant Mr. Emerson's son had suggested. He arrives to a paint factory in Long Island and is immediately plunged into a strange division of power. He is meets various kinds of people, all hierarchically superior to him. His first boss, Mr. Kimbro is a really temperamental man with an explosive temper and a fondness for dominance. He supervises his subordinates as they mix the paints which he will be in charge of shipping later. After an arduous day of working at the factory, in addition to severe scolding, the speaker is amazed to notice that Kimbro decides to ship the paint, despite the fact that it seemed to be faulty. The speaker later observes that perhaps “the quality of the paint is always determined by the man who ships it rather than those who mix it” (206). Still, despite this being true, it’s inevitable that if something goes wrong, the mixers will be the ones who will pay.

After Mr. Kimbro dismisses him, the speaker is sent to work for Luscious Brockway, the man who manages the plant’s boilers. This character is quite particular, because not only is he a black “engineer” working at the head of the factory’s most dangerous equipment, but he has managed to secure his job for many years, thanks to the “Old Man’s” (209) favor. According to his story, no one but him can manage the boilers as he does, and the Old Man is aware of it. Thanks to him, the factory makes the best paint in the United States. The speaker is amazed at how this old aggressive man could be trusted with such a job, and he realizes that the power he has lies in his special abilities that apparently no one else has. Anyway, his power over him as he works as his assistant makes him feel really humiliated. Still he was really annoyed that he would rank under that old creepy man. I still wonder how long he can stand to be bosses around by everybody, because apparently everyone ranks a step higher than he does, and in that hierarchical world he lives in, every second seems like a power struggle.

Keep Him Running

Life is really comfortable when you believe you have a heading. There is no calmer feeling than being sure that your life has a purpose and everything you do is somehow meant to help achieving that purpose. You feel self-assured and confident as you stride through life, knowing where the path is leading you. However, what happens when all of the sudden, you find that this path you were following has a dead end. You crash face first against a stone wall and you know it-s the end of the road. What do you do? How can it be possible that all your life, you had been headed towards that dead end?
This is precisely what happens to our poor narrator in The Invisible Man.  After suffering a major setback in his career, and being removed from his scholarship, he had gotten back to his feet and was looking for a way of getting back to college. Dr. Bledsoe, despite being extremely disappointed with his failure and therefore expelling him, had provided him with letters of recommendation to friends in the North, so he could get a job. The narrator took his chance and hurriedly set forth to getting a job. Everything had been working fine in his plan. He was decided to recover his pride and his place in the college, and nothing would get in his way. That is, of course, until he was a fronted with a terrible truth. Mr. Emerson's son, who was lucky enough to meet the narrator before delivering the letter to Mr. Emerson, revealed the letter's contents. After all he had worked for, all his efforts and dreams; it is sadly revealed that it had all been a scam. Dr. Bledsoe wasn't going to receive him back into the college. He had sent him away so that his "severance with the college [would] be executed as painlessly as possible" (191). It had all been a charade to keep him living on "vain hopes" (191), blissfully unaware of his fate.
As the narrator finishes reading the letter, he witnesses how his own world suddenly comes crashing down on him. Everything he had dreamed, everything he had fought for had been a lie. His role model, the immaculate Dr. Bledsoe, turned out to be his executor. It's like he had been living in a dream all this time, and he was suddenly awakened with a bucket of ice cold water thrown by a compassionate observer. Now he was a wake in the dark reality.
Consequently, the narrator's future is now torn to pieces. Now that he found his path was blocked, all he could do was turn back and move towards a new direction. His new direction, as he decides he would never be the same, would be killing Bledsoe. Perhaps this will be his new direction: a new plan that drives him forward, and gives his life meaning. The question is whether he can achieve it.

The Founder

Who is the Founder? Throughout the novel Ellison has made constant reference to a certain character called the Founder. Everything around the college campus seems to revolve around him, and everyone who can call himself important has something to do with this mysterious character.
Finally, Ellison decides to reveal to us the story of the Founder, and how he was able to achieve such a level of importance and prestige. Interestingly enough, the revealer is Reverend Homer A. Barbee, one of the Founder's close friends and the only black man in the group of visitors present that night.
Barbee's speech is a long moving homage to his deceased friend, describing his life and revering his achievements. Many times he makes allusions to the Bible, lightly comparing the Founder to Jesus when he miraculously survived a crazy cousin's attack as a baby, or to Moses when he led his people "across the black sea of prejudice, safely out of the land of ignorance, through the storms of fear and anger" (120). This strong metaphor of seas of prejudice and storms of anger reveals that the Founder's great accomplishment was leading his people, newly freed slaves, lost and clueless in that hostile land, towards a path of wisdom and success as free people. The Founder's goal, despite the obstacles and hardships he had to face, was to see the black man as a successful citizen in a society predominated by the white man. However, did he ever strive to achieve the taboo idea of social equality? Did he ever envision a society in which a black man would be able to live just like a white man?
He died out of health issues in the middle of a train ride. Perhaps this could be a symbol of his final goal. It could be possible that his death before his mission was complete. The whole job isn’t done yet, and maybe there’s still a long way before the Founder’s dreams are completely fulfilled.