Historical Context and Allusions
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Struggle for racial and gender equality
Ending the era of former slaves, now a segregated
nation – De facto vs. De jure segregation in the North
and South
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Two different types of racism
Jim Crow laws, “separate but equal”
 Not really equal – “dispossession”
 Reference in the paint factory, adding 10 drops of black
chemicals to the “pure white” – not entirely “pure” (10%)
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Harlem renaissance: the developing black identity
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A culture coming into itself, new freedom of expression
Discontent – free but segregated blacks looking for
equality and action (before Civil Rights)
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Beginnings of race riots, protests, and movements
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Fight for equality: rise of Communism and unions
in the black community – “Brotherhood” in the
novel
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Ras the Exhorter represents the “black
nationalism” ideas that would eventually influence
groups such as the Black Panthers
Servile attitudes left over from slavery –Brockway
Dr. Bledsoe keeps his power by giving up his
pride; Brother Jack keeps his power by leading
under false pretenses
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Turmoil, protest, race riots
“overcome ‘em with yeses, undermine ‘em with grins…”
Women as the “homemaker” image of the time, a
lesser issue
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The woman question – a distraction
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Ellison uses “the predicament of blacks in America
as a metaphor for the universal human challenge
of finding a viable identity in a chaotic and
sometimes indifferent world.”
American culture: the “melting pot” – easy to lose
individual and cultural identity, alluded to in the
hospital scene – forgetting his memories, rebirth
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“moving out of the fire and into the melting pot”
Personal identity and values, black identity,
American identity
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IM’s search for his place in society and for his own values
Gets caught up in the values of other causes, not his own
– trying on new identities (college, brotherhood,
Rinehart)
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Harlem Renaissance – music, dance, language,
culture
The “old-fashioned” racism vs. Ellison’s modernism
Explores African-American contributions to American
culture
 Racism in the South (straightforward) vs. North (subtle)
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The yam seller – the way to freedom is to embrace
one’s own culture and past, accepting yourself – “I
yam what I am!”
Trying to be someone else to please others = losing true
identity-message of the novel
 Being offered pork chops and grits at the diner before, shift
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Jazz and blues music were very important to the
Harlem renaissance because they were a new
contribution to America solely from the black
community
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The lyrics, rhythms, and melodies defined black
culture in the time period
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“Protest music” became a sub-genre
“What did I do to be so black and blue?” –Louis Armstrong
“London Bridge Blues”
“Back Water Blues”
“Go Down Moses”
“Jelly, Jelly”
Peter Wheatstraw’s blues – stage name of William Bunch
Assumption that “all colored people sing” – 1st
Brotherhood party
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Used throughout the novel as a reference to
IM’s racial identity and kinship with the black
community
Traditional “slave” songs, spirituals
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Pick Poor Robin Clean – violent image, appears
when IM realizes Dr. Bledsoe’s real intentions
John Brown’s Body sung at the 1st Brotherhood
speech
Spiritual songs relating to Brother Tarp’s story when
he gives IM the leg chain
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Allusion to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
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Use of light as enlightenment - theme
Allusions to Dante’s Divine Comedy
Mentioned at the beginning, IM’s journey and realizations parallel
Dante’s journey through all of his mistakes to ultimate understanding
 Must recognize the problem in order to change
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Allusions to the Odyssey
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Reference to Julius Caesar
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“Oration over Brutus’s body” at Tod Clifton’s funeral – traitor
Reference to Uncle Tom’s Cabin
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Blind Rev. Barbee acts as Homer, telling the Founder’s tale
The nude dancer at the battle royale is portrayed as a Greek siren,
luring IM to danger
Ras refers to the brothers who allow themselves to be subjugated by
whites as “Uncle Toms”
Traditional black folktales
Peter Wheatstraw, a Southern folk character brought to life in the city,
brings back memories of IM’s childhood
 Brer Rabbit represents the enslaved African who uses his wits to
overcome circumstances and get revenge
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The Story of Little Black Sambo
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A children’s book written in 1899
Sambo is a child in British-occupied India
who surrenders his colorful shoes, clothes,
and umbrella to four hungry tigers so that
they will not eat him. They chase each other
around a tree until they melt into butter,
which Sambo puts on his pancakes.
The story is referred to as “dark
iconography” and “pickaninny literature”
“Sambo” has become a racial slur
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Washington was a former slave who used education to
become a leader in the movement for equality. He was
known for his speechmaking skills.
“I visualized myself as a young Booker T. Washington” –
IM’s dependence on others for identity
Lifting the Veil of Ignorance statue at Tuskegee Institute
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“A race, like an individual, lifts itself up by lifting others
up.” -Booker T. Washington
The founder and Dr. Bledsoe are both parodies of
Washington, showing different amounts of self-interest
over concerns for black Americans
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Hints at the novel’s assertion that black leaders are not
always leaders of black people.
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Ellison identified with his namesake Ralph Waldo
Emerson because both writers were “outsiders” who
were inside the American experience
Emerson as a character in the book is a forward
thinker, part of the young generation, and understands
the importance of vision
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“Ambition will blind you to the truth”
Homosexual, weak sense of identity, issues with his father –
parallel to Mr. Norton
 The Calamus Club – reference to Walt Whitman’s Leaves of
Grass, the section about manly love is titled Calamus
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Emerson is referenced again at the end of the novel as a
manipulator
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“I saw Jack and Norton and Emerson merge into one single
figure. They were very much the same, each attempting to force
his picture of reality upon me.”
Unclear whether this is about the author or the character
Emerson