Invisible Man- Reaction to the Novel

This book receives a moderate reaction from me, compared to the other novels we have read. It lacks much in the way of entertainment, unlike Player Piano, but on the other hand is not filled with much material that would make a reader uneasy (at least not me) and is nowhere near as dense as, say, Heart of Darkness. The novel seems to be pretty well-written, serious enough to convey messages and inspire thought yet not so serious as to put one off literature. Of course, it does convey some disturbing attitudes based on race that may seem like ages ago, but really exist today in some degree or another.

Throughout the novel, there is a constant struggle of either identity or of race. Though really one could sometimes put the identity in with race. There have always been incidences where certain people view others in a different light due to skin color, or even don't view them at all. The anonymous narrator suffers from this as the Brotherhood frowns upon the individual work (and success) done by the narrator's actions and speeches. They attempt to forge him back squarely within their control, solely because he is black, because they wish for him to be their personal public image. They also, however, leave everything to him. He seems to be needed to be invisible only when prestige must be awarded, yet the popular face of the people when work needs to be done. Sounds much like slavery of the past. One could seem to liken it to today, when workers are pushed to the hardest degree to serve their companies, then left out of the final picture to deliver the most praise to the corporate heads. (I don't want to use the magic-elf metaphor, but basically that's what it is.) This happens not only due to race but any different social classes, when one group considers itself superior to another. Another prime example is the Japanese-American Nisei unit of World War II. Though it is credited with having been the most highly decorated unit in the army, it isn't widely known that the unit also participated in several important battles and is actually the group that liberated Dachau. They had to wait, though, for a white unit to "officially" liberate the camp. Needless to say, they receive no credit.

However, there are a couple indications in the novel of a more prominent racism of today's age. NOTE!!!!!! I ask that you listen to the following statement! I am all for protection of and

rights to minorities, and do acknowledge that racism exists in the world! However...

During the eviction and the later chat with Brother Jack, and also with the Ras conversations, the belief that all white men are against the blacks is somewhat expressed. The woman's husband tries to tell her that the bank agent is responsible for the evictions, and not the men sent out to empty them from the house. She instead states that all the white men are against the blacks. Brother Jack takes offense when the narrator brings up race, and the great Destroyer also attempts to express the belief that true freedom comes without any sign of white around. (he emphasized this by hefting around a tribal spear and shield) There is a little bit of thought around today that the black people are fighting a tremendous battle against the white race. Again, I acknowledge that there is racism, but I highly doubt that it resides deep in the hearts of every human being. Lines are drawn a bit too thickly between black and white, and every other event regarding a black person injured or slighted seems to expose some racial plot against the black people. I think that perhaps the battle against a group of racists has evolved to a crusade against an entire race of people, and that not every case needs to be a racial struggle. If it's going to be the classic excuse that a man does not get a job or is arrested and convicted solely because he is black, then I believe that we may be entering a period where the prejudice is reversed. In this day and age, anyone who is white needs to carefully watch their mouths, because one wrong word will get them faced with an angry crowd, poor reputation, social cold shoulder, loss of position, and even legal action. (I am stressing this because I know this is a potentially sensitive area, I know that some situations are justified, but not every single one!) Seems to me like the same evil that was once done in the past is being done again today. Here's the question: is it just history repeating itself, or is it some form of self-justified vengeance?