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| Rioters in Harlem |
Chapter Twenty-Five
What is the first thing that happens to the Invisible Man when he arrives downtown?
What is happening in Harlem? What does it mean when Ellison writes that the "crowd was working in and out of the stores like ants around spilled sugar" (538)?
What's the significance of Dupre's "'cotton-picking sack fulla stuff'"(540)?
What does the IM decide started the riot? See 540-41.
Why is the man in the building yelling "'Colored store!'" on 542?
Why do the men get oil in the store on 543?
Is the riot all about destruction? Look at the "free beer" woman on 544. Why does she keep tossing the glass milk quarts into the street?
Why do the men torch the building where "'most of [them] live'" (545)? Is this purely destructive? See 547 -- "'My kid died from the t-bees in that deathtrap, but I bet a man ain't no more go'n to be born in there.'"
Is the IM still concerned about Sybil? See 556.
How is Ras reacting to the riot? How is he dressed? How is he trying to direct the people? See 556.
What does the IM realize on 559 regarding his visibility, even to Ras and his people? What does this lead him to do to Ras?
Where is the IM trying to get to by 561? Why?
Does the men's story on 561-64 confirm the IM's verdict on his visibility on 559? Was his stand against Ras even visible?
What does the IM come to realize about his grandfather's advice on 564? Was his grandfather really "wrong"? Have things really "changed too much since his day"? Or do you think that this strategy is only one that works if you start off doing it from the beginning?
What happens to the IM on 565 when he is trying to escape from the men who want to steal his briefcase? What does he mean when he says that "'All of [them]'" are in his briefcase? What has he still not managed to get rid of?
What does the IM do to the contents of his briefcase on 567-568? What does he realize?
What happens in his hallucination? What does he realize on 571?
Epilogue
Did the IM's invisible "place him in a hole" or did it show him "the hole I was in" (572)?
After being "honest" for so long, why does the IM find it so hard by the Epilogue -- "Let me be honest with you -- a feat which, by the way, I find of the utmost difficulty" (572-73)?
What does he decide that his real problem was all along (see 573 and also 15).
Is he satisfied with hibernation or does he want to reenter the world?
Why does he ultimately decide that agreeing them to "death and destruction" is problematic in the mid-to-late twentieth century (575)? Have things indeed changed since his grandfather's day? (564)
What does the IM mean when he says that "The fact is that you carry part of your sickness within you," or that "at least [he does] as an invisible man" (575)?
Who is Rinehart ultimately on 576? Does the IM have some Rinehartian elements by this point?
Why does he stay in his hole, according to 576? What does he mean when he says that he now knows that "men are different and that all life is divided and that only in division is there true health" (576)? Does the world outside accept division or does it try to eliminate it, according to the IM? See 576-77.
What does the IM do to Mr. Norton? Why?
Why does the IM (and presumably Ellison) write? See 579-80.
What part of himself drives him out of hibernation? See 580-81. What is perhaps his "greatest social crime"(581)? Why might hibernation be a crime, even for an invisible man?
Invisible Man's invisibility in some ways does place him in a hole if you are approaching invisibility as racism. At this point in time racism does serve to limit IM's opportunity however a large part of feeling "in a hole" stems from IM's irresponsibility and lack of an identity. Part of the reason he does not have an identity is due to the fact that he (for most of the book) doesn't know who he is and therefore can not have a sense of identity or purpose. He partially places himself in a hole.
ReplyDeleteIM knows that Clifton started the riot even though the men participating couldn't even know pinpoint who had started it. "'How did all this get started?' I said. Scofield seemed surprised. 'Damn if I know, man. A cop shot a woman or something.' Another man moved close to us as somewhere a piece of heavy steel rang down. 'Hell, that wasn't what started it,' he said. 'It was that fellow, what's his name...' 'Who?' I said. 'What's his name?' 'That young guy!' 'Ypu know everybody's mad about it...' Clifton, I thought. It's for Clifton. A night for Clifton" (540). The man on page 542 is yelling "Colored Store" so that the rioters would not vandalize and steal from his store in the uproar. The men got the barrels of oil on page 543 to burn their apartment building where they live. "'Where will you live?' I said, looking up, up. 'You call this living?' Scofield said. 'It's the only way to get rid of it man...'" (545).
ReplyDeleteHe decides that his problem was that he was always trying to go in "everyone's way" but his own. In other words he was following the path of other people without reflecting on what kind of direction he himself (without the influence of others) would like to follow. First with Bledsoe then with the Brotherhood he seemed to be searching for a figure or figures that he could emulate or model himself after. I think this realization that he should have gone his own way shows that whether he feels or is invisible he realizes that he is his own person and therefore has the freedom or choice.
ReplyDeleteWhat does the IM decide started the riot? See 540-41
ReplyDeleteIM realizes that the Brotherhood was responsible for the race riots all along. The brotherhood wanted Harlem to fall into chaos. The blame was on Ras the Destroyer essentially but the plans of the riots were from the Brotherhood. Ras in a sense fulfilled the plans.
On 559, the IM finally realizes that his invisibility is a shared responsibility. By "yessing them to death," he has perpetuated the stereotypical image that the Bledsoes, Nortons, and Ras, have constructed. Conversely, his invisibility is perpetuated by the blindness of others. As they refuse to see him, they refuse, "to recognize the beautiful absurdity of their American identity and mine." He realizes that an attempt to escape his invisibility would result in a dishonest life, and that, "it was better to live out one's own absurdity than to die for that of others, whether for Ras's or Jack's." Essentially, the IMs' existence is a contradiction, and to choose to fight or ignore that fact would only perpetuate it further. He sums up his realization best when he says, "...I, a little black man with an assumed name should die because a big black man in his hatred and confusion over the nature of a reality that seemed controlled solely by white men whom I know to be as blind as he, was just too much, too outrageously absurd."
ReplyDeleteOn page 538, the people of Harlem are rioting in the streets, shots are being fired, and all of the stores are being raided. When Ellison writes, "the crowd was working in and out of the stores like ants around spilled sugar, " he illustrates that the looters are swarming the stores in a panic almost, taking anything and everything they can carry. The Invisible Man is certain that this a riot for Clifton, which means the riot was sparked initially by the Invisible Man's speech at his funeral.
ReplyDeleteHow is Ras reacting to the riot? How is he dressed? How is he trying to direct the people? See 556.
ReplyDeleteRas is reacting to the riot in a very proud and aggressive way. He is given the air of an imposing warrior and renamed "Ras the Destroyer." He is dressed in the costume of an "Abyssinian chieftain, a fur cap upon his head, his arms bearing a shield, a cape made of the skin of some wild animal around his shoulders"(556). He is trying to direct the people by arousing them to break away from the "stupid looting" or war goods, and join his cause.
What happens in his hallucination? What does he realize on 571?
He saw "all their faces" again, up there, making "a mess of the world". He was reliving the dream. He realizes that he could not return to Mary's nor he could return to his old ways which includes campus, Brotherhood, and even his home. He decided that he would stay "underground" where he would be safe for a while and be able to think until he got caught and got pushed out, forced to move forward.
Question 2: Harlem is experiencing a riot and people are breaking into different stores(looters) and stealing everything they can get their hands on, shattering glass everywhere, and setting fire to them; basically destroying the stores in their path. This is what Ellison means when he writes "the crowd is working in and out of the stores like ants around spilled sugar".
ReplyDelete1.) Why does the IM (and presumably Ellison) write? See 579-80.
ReplyDelete-On page 579, IM questions why he writes, saying " So why do I write, torturing myself to put it down?" Then he turns around and says, "Because in spite of myself I've learned some things." IM has written down his story in order to remember the things he has learned instead of simply "filing and forgetting them." When the novel began IM was a simple, naive boy who believed working hard for the white people was a solid way to advance in life. Throughout his story, IM learns and grows from his experiences. He now understands that he is "invisible" and that no matter how hard he works people will never see him for what he truly is.
What happens in his hallucination? What does he realize on 571?
ReplyDeleteA: Their illusions - world is changing because of them. He is freed from their illusions but they are net. People will always put him in a box and make him invisible. He is still invisible. He decides to stay underground and affirms, "The end was in the beginning"
A riot has broken out in Harlem. When Ellison says "The crowd is working in and out of the stores like ants around spilled sugar" he means that they are all looting. When ants are around sugar they are moving quickly and grabbing what they can, this is what the people are doing in the stores.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: What does the IM decide started the riot?
ReplyDeleteIM realizes and decides that the Brotherhood started the riot, particularly Ras. He also realizes that Ras wants him to be lynched.
"You wahn know who started it? a man holding a pair of binoculars called from the window of a pawnshop. "You wahn really to know.....It was started by that great leader, Ras the Destroyer." (541)
2nd question from chapter 25:
ReplyDeleteThere is a riot happening in Harlem. Ellison writes that the "crowd was working in and out of the stores like ants around spilled sugar" on page 538. He meant that the people on the streets where going in and out of the stores stealing and ludding. People where getting both specific things they wanted and needed as well as practical things. Some people wanted work shirts and even a specific type of bacon. The people were going mad and they were ludding EVERY store, without any concerns.
After Ras manages to turn the black community on the IM and threatens to lynch him, the IM runs away and comes across police officers who want the materials in the briefcase. The IM falls and traps himself into a coal manhole, but tells the police that he has "them" in his briefcase. The meaning behind his statement is an actual metaphor that describes how the police (and possibly referring to the community as well) are unable to see the IM for what and who he truly is (because they're "trapped in the briefcase"). He still has not manage to get rid of his invisibility though.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1 of Chapter 25:
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that happens to invisible man is that he gets shot and grazed by a bullet to the head. He instantly falls to the curb and unclutches his briefcase which he almost loses once again. He retrieves it from a man trying to help him and realizes he is okay overall but is bleeding.
By 561, he's trying to get to Mary's, but for no reason other than it was where he just happened to be running.
ReplyDeleteIn 564, IM realises that his grandfather was wrong, because agreeing to oppression could never lead to the demise of those who oppress. Things haven't changed too much - they haven't changed enough for this to work. Personally, I do not think this strategy would have worked at all. It's a passive rebellion, a silent rebellion that makes no noise. It is heatless - and therefore, does not move anything. Movement is key to change. When nothing moves, when there is no heat, nothing changes, and things remain the same.
Is the IM still concerned about Sybil? (556)
ReplyDeleteI asked myself this question when I was reading through the book. I think that it is a combination of pure selfishness and fear, closely intertwined of course, that keep IM concerned about poor Sybil. The reason that he decided to not seduce Emma was to avoid making waves within the Brotherhood while still trying to get information from a wife or girlfriend of one of the committee members. While he fully recognized that he was just using Sybil for information she is still a white woman and one that is at least tied to power, even if she doesn't have any of her own (or knowledge of her husband's) and he still holds the fear of harm coming to her and the blame falling upon him. IM also fears for his reputation both in the brotherhood and in the Harlem community. He does not want to be associated with her very much in public and definitely not while she is falling down drunk and calling him boo'ful. If she talks, about her nymphomaniac ways or anything else, it is his reputation on the line. If she dies in the riots and looting, it is really his butt on the line for endangering her as a white woman and for bringing a white woman into Harlem in the first place.
Answer to Questions 2 & 4
ReplyDeleteBy: Valencia Price
Harlem is having a riot. When Ellison writes that the “crowd was working in and out of the stores like ants around spilled sugar”, I think that he means that they are taking full advantage of the riot and looting taking place. When sugar is spilled ants immediately come in order to gather food and try to take as much as possible without being killed and the crowd is acting in the same way. They are taking as much goods that they can from the surrounding stores that are being looted before the police show up.
IM believes that the death of Clifton started the riot. On page 540 is refers to the night as “a night for Clifton” and thinks that the rioting and looting is in Clifton’s honor. It is evident that the death of Clifton is not the only reason that the people are rioting, but to IM he is the only reason that matters.