Judas; The Invisible Man
An ordinary black man who unconsciously knew where he stood in society was chosen by white people to lead black people. What made the invisible man (narrator) so different from other black people that he was seen as a potential leader for black people - in the eyes of white people? What makes the invisible man so 'special' is that he knew his place; he always said the 'right' thing. The persona of the invisible man is something that is applicable to real life as well. The invisible man is a common black man who doesn't have feelings towards his black race and thus, is able to be easily swayed by white people.
Why was the narrator viewed by white people as a good role model for black people? In the beginning of the novel, the narrator gave a speech to a crowd of white people. His speech was so rousing that he was praised by the white audience and some of them even said that he had there support... as long as he stays in his place. In his speech, the narrator demonstrates his willingness to belittle himself during his speech when a white man in the audience says 'We mean to do right by you, but you've got to know your place at all times' (Ellison 31). This is reference to when the narrator accidentally says 'social equality' rather than 'social responsibility'. As seen in the text, when a black person advocates for social equality, white people see that black person as cocky or uppity. The narrator does not do this though and he willingly submits himself to white society.
This part of the invisible man can be seen in William O'Neal. William O'Neal was an informant for the FBI and infiltrated the Black Panther Party and helped in ultimately assassinating the party's leader, Fred Hampton. There was a movie released in February of 2021 called Judas and the Black Messiah which depicts how William O'Neal penetrated the Black Panther Party and helped kill Fred Hampton. Before William O'Neal was a FBI informant, he was a thief. When he was caught, he was interrogated by an FBI agent. During the interrogation, the FBI agent asked whether O'Neal had any feelings regarding the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. O'Neal was neutral; it didn't matter much to him more or less. After giving O'Neal gave his answer, the FBI agent gave him a choice; O'Neal could either do time in prison for his crimes or work under the FBI agent as an informant. Needless to say, he became an informant.
William O'Neal (Judas) is an instance of the invisible man in real life because just like in the novel, O'Neal is seen by white people to have the aptitude to do 'good' for black people from the perspective of white America. The invisible man is a timeless character that can be seen in many other fictional characters or real people. He represents a common type of black person that easily flies under the radar because no one really cares for him until he has the capacity to be effortlessly manipulated.
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I really love the connections you made to real political events in this post. While I think some people would really like to ignore it (because you go crazy if you think about it too long), a lot of society is still controlled by white ideals, and the fact that there is a real-world comparison to the nightmarish scenarios the narrator has to go through is a sad reminder of that.
ReplyDeleteWow--I like the comparison to _Judas and the Black Messiah_. The Brotherhood of course represents another "deja vu" in this novel, as the narrator is once again being praised by a mostly white leadership for giving a speech that says the "right thing" (although they're less in agreement as to how "right" he is). Does the narrator have the capacity to be a "Judas" in this organization? And would that maybe even be a *good* thing (given how skeptical so many readers in class are of this organization)? He is claiming to go into the deal "eyes wide open," and he claims to want to pursue something of his own agenda under the cover of the Brotherhood. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, since this is an organization that is ostensibly dedicated to civil rights and anti-racism, so the narrator saying the "right" thing is actually critical of the status quo.
ReplyDeleteI think connecting the novel to our real life is really important, and I think the comparison you made is a really good one. Just like in Invisible Man, our government takes advantage of POC all the time, and your blog makes me wonder just how many invisible people there our in our world. The narrator's story is one that may repeat in real life more times than we know.
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