Invisible Man Ch.25 Analysis PDF

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P535 Two policemen were “almost invisible in black shirts”. P537 When the narrator got his briefcase back, he “seized it with sudden panic, as though something infinitely precious had almost been lost to me”. The narrator noted that in his mind he was “trying to reach through the gray veil that now seemed to hang behind my eyes as opaquely as the blue curtain that screened the street beyond the safe”. P538 The narrator drank whiskey to feel better, which parallels how he gave Norton whiskey to wake him. P540 The narrator dropped all his papers along with Clifton’s doll into his briefcase -- furthers the fact that his briefcase carries his emotions/past. P541 It was unclear how the chaos started, but all the possibilities were racial. It seems that the racial tensions had built up to a certain point where all hell breaks loose. P542 A man shouted that it was a “colored store” when the mob approached it, and Scofield commented that “for one time in his life he’s glad to be colored”. P543 Dupre called to point the lights to the floor so that other people won’t see who they are. This is an instance in which they are taking advantage of their invisibility. On page 546, they again exert power over invisibility by blacking out the windows, and they plan to pour coal oil in the building in order to burn it. P548 The narrator seemed fascinated with the fact that the men were capable of their own action, he noted that “they organized it and carried it through alone; the decision their own their own action. Capable of their own action…” P549 One of the woman recognized the narrator, likely because he was lit up by the light of the fire. Invisibility no longer protected him, leaving him exposed in the eyes of others. The fact that the narrator noted that he was called by his “brotherhood name” further showcases that he does not

agree with his brotherhood identity anymore and instead sees it as separate from his own self. P550 The narrator went into the crowd, feeling a part of “a dark mass in motion on a dark night, a black river ripping through a black land.” P551 The narrator was mistaken for a doctor, but he denied it. How does this connect to the other doctors in the novel? (eg: Bledsoe and the vet) P553 The narrator recognized that he had been used by the brotherhood and that the committee had planned the night and had caused the deaths. P556 The narrator saw white and feminine figures hanging before a storefront, only to realize that they were mannequins. He wondered if one of them were real and was possibility Sybil. The fact that white figures were hanged in the same way that black men were lynched shows the black’s efforts to flip the situation. P557 The narrator reached for his glasses, only to realize they were broken. After slipping Tarp’s shackle over his knuckles, he felt that he was “moving with a certain new sense of self, and with it a feeling almost of relief, almost of a sigh”. Since the narrator can no longer hide behind someone else’s identity, he is forced to assume his own identity. The fact that he finds it freeing showcases that he is complacent being in his own skin. P557 Ras would not listen to the narrator’s words and said to “hang him up to teach the black people a lesson”. He does not address the blacks as our people -- does he not see himself as part of the race? P560 The narrator recognizes that the men could have shot him but they wanted him lynched. This is another instance in which what the black men were taught impeded their judgement and prevented from achieving their goals. Because they believed that lynching is the form of punishment, they were unable to kill the narrator. While running, the narrator also realized that he was heading towards Mary’s place -- why? P564 When the narrator got up from behind the hedge, the moon was “waning”. Previously, the moon

has been used as a symbol of the white, and the fact that it is waning is perhaps representative of the white influence upon the narrator retreating and fading away. P565 The narrator “kept to the darker side of the streets”, perhaps recognizing the power of being invisible. While running, the narrator fell in a manhole upon a load of coal. P568 The narrator started burning the papers in his briefcase for light. This can be seen as him finally relieving himself of the emotional baggage he’s carried or of the influences others had exerted on him. The flames providing him with light can also be symbolic of how as he severs these connections he is able to see the world with more clarity. The narrator realized that Jack has sent him the letter warning him, realizing that he played him and set him running....