IM's Role in the Brotherhood

Throughout the scene with IM and the woman, she implores him, whether with manipulative intentions or legitimate curiosity, to tell her about the Brotherhood. Her intentions aside, it is important to notice that outside his saying, “from now on one of our main concerns is to be the Woman Question,” (Ellison 414) he never truly responds with a satisfying response to her inquisition. His failure to address the questions asked of him is not without significance. The Brotherhood has offered IM structure, leadership, and an outlet for his compulsive urge to deliver speeches. However, his role within this system is not clearly defined and cannot be articulated much further. Realistically, IM is simply an abstract black figurehead of the Communist movement. This is illustrated by Brother Jack’s mistress who asks him, “But don’t you think he should be a little blacker?” (303). Her question suggests that while IM might possess superior skills as an orator, his skin color is the primary basis of his selection as the new leader. He is forced to give up his name and sever ties with his home and family while employed by the Brotherhood. In this way, IM relinquishes any sense of an identity he might have possessed and again enters into a struggle to reconcile his image in the North with his Southern past. While he sees the organization as a magnificent opportunity for his own advancement, he is blind to the fact that he is merely a pawn of the white leaders. Just as has been the case throughout the book, another outside force enters his life and squashes his identity. Although he is allured by the perceived leadership that accompanies his position, he is neither truly aware of the meaning of his role nor the ideological basis of what he is supporting. This same oblivion is what the vet admonishes him for earlier in the book when he tells IM to “Look beneath the surface” and “come out of the fog” (153). For this reason he is unable, or perhaps unwilling to attempt to articulate the details of his position within the Brotherhood movement when speaking with the inquisitive woman.