Invisible Man
Chapters 12-15
Alexis Mezzenga, Kaley Shagen and Mark Gooley
Theme Statement
A person can use the feelings of the past
to motivate their choices in the future.
Thesis Statement
Through the encounters with people and
events the Narrator has in his new life,
Ellison teaches us that one can use the
feelings of the past to motivate their
choices in the future and use the idea of
home to progress in life.
Evidence #1
“Nor did I think of Mary as a “friend”; she
was something more- a force, a stable,
familiar force like something out of my
past which kept me from whirling off into
some unknown which I dared not face.”
(Ellison 258)
So What? #1
With this quote it shows how IM thinks of Mary Rambo as
someone out of his past. Mary represents a mother figure to
the Invisible Man and symbolizes his home in the South. The
feelings of home and safety that Mary provided help guide the
narrator's confidence to go get a job. With him being indebted
to her he had even more of a reason to get a job when he met
the Brotherhood, that was one of the reasons that caused him
to take the job. IM uses his feeling towards the South (home)
to make an assessment about this woman who basically forces
him to go home with her. He is suspicious that she went
through his pockets and that shows how his feelings of the past
led him to think that this woman who helped him was a bad
Evidence #2
•
•
“I stopped as though struck by a shot, deeply inhaling,
remembering, my mind surging back, back. At home,
we’d bake them in the hot coals of the fireplace…”
(Ellison 262)
"I took a bite, finding it as sweet and as hot as any I'd
ever had, and was overcome with such a surge of
homesickness that I turned away to keep my control...I
walked along, munching the yam, just as suddenly
overcome by an intense feeling of freedom.” (Ellison
264)
So What? #2
The Narrator walks the streets of Harlem in deep
thought, until he encounters a baked yam stand. The
yams remind him of the past and allow for him to
embrace who he is. His first bite of the yam sent a strong
feeling of nostalgia throughout his entire body and he
became homesick. He then reminisced of home and his
yam eating days. Remembering the happy times of his
childhood, he was comforted and proud to be himself.
However, his comfort soon ignited a feeling of courage
and the Narrator fantasized over fighting Dr. Bledsoe, for
he betrayed him. His new found courage carried him into
the eviction...
Evidence #3
•
“And I saw myself advancing upon Bledsoe,
standing bare of his false humility in the
crowded lobby of the Men's House, and
seeing him there and him seeing me and
ignoring me and me enraged and suddenly
shipping out a foot or two of chitterlings,
raw, uncleaned and dripping sticky circles on
the floor as I shake them in his face.” (page
265)
So What? #3
This is how IM feels about no longer taking
what has been given to him. He simply says
that there is no reason to hide who he is
anymore, because no one is watching. He
says that if he were back in the south, with his
feelings being the way that they are, then he
would stuff them in his face and accuse him
of being a chitterling lover in private!
Evidence #4 (1)
•
“I turned away, feeling myself being drawn
to the old couple by a warm, dark, rising
whirlpool of emotion which I feared. I was
wary of what the sight of them crying there
on the sidewalk was making me begin to feel.
I wanted to leave, but was too ashamed to
leave, was rapidly becoming too much a part
of it to leave.” (Ellison 271)
So What? #4
When the Narrator saw the older people being evicted from their home and
thrown out onto the street so he delivered a speech that rallied up the
crowd in protest. The reason he gave this speech and didn't just watch was
because of how he was treated back in the South. The white men at the
Battle Royale and Dr. Bledsoe disrespected the Invisible Man creating an
inequality barrier. These past experiences triggered feelings of empathy
towards the older couple because he had been deceived the same way in the
past. In a similar sense the invisible man was evicted from his home in the
South when Dr. Bledsoe expelled him from college. The reason why Ellison
made this connection between the Narrator and the older couple was for
them to symbolize his home. The older couple was like a recurring
experience to the invisible man and he had to try use his feelings to change
the outcome the second time. The speech represented how the Narrator
took his feelings of when he was a young man to help change the world.
Evidence #4 (2)
•
•
"No, no, I heard myself yelling. Black men!
Brothers! That's not the way. We're lawabiding. We're a law-abiding people and a
slow-to-anger people." (Ellison 275)
"Forcing my way quickly through the crowd, I
stood on the steps facing those in front,
talking rapidly without thought but out of my
clashing emotions. We're law-abiding people
and a slow-to-anger people... They stopped,
listening. Even the white man was startled."
(Ellison 275)
So What? #4
The invisible man says "we're law-abiding people" but the
older couple was still evicted from their house to show how
there is even injustice and inequality in the North. Even
though the couple was following the law they were being
evicted from their home with their belongings scattered
about on the street. It's interesting that Ellison writes
"black men! brothers!" This quote comes from before the
invisible man joins the Brotherhood but by using the word
"brothers" it foreshadows his future career. Ellison wants to
illustrate how the speech at the eviction allowed the
invisible man to get a new job and progress in his life
because the speech was based on the Narrator's past
feelings from the South.
•
Evidence #5
“What are we doing? What is our mission?
It’s simple; we are working for a better world
for all people. It’s that simple. Too many
have been dispossessed of their heritage, and
we have banded together in the Brotherhood
so as to do something about it.” (Ellison 304)
So What? #5
Brother Jack was the man who introduced the
Brotherhood to the Narrator and represented the
future. Finally the Invisible Man had moved on with
his life by leaving Mary Rambo and finding a job that
could help him justify his past. The Brotherhood gave
him a voice that he never had back home and he
channeled his negative energy into an opportunity to
influence the city of Harlem. He fought together with
the Brotherhood to stop people from being
dispossessed of their heritage just how he was
dispossessed from college because he had agreed to
Mr. Norton's wishes.
Conclusion
Through chapters 12-15 Ellison demonstrates that in order
to progress in life, one can use the feelings of the past as
a way to create a new life. Just because some past
feelings are not pleasant does not mean that one should
try to forget them, instead, one should try to use them to
their advantage. The Invisible Man uses his past feelings
and experiences as a young man to deliver a speech on
dispossessions in front of an eviction that later lands him
a job with the Brotherhood. He is given a new name and
identity all thanks to the motivation he reaped from his
feelings of the past, and this new life enabled him to
finally make a difference in the world.