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.