No escape

As much as the Narrator from Invisible Man tries to think about his college experience positively, it doesn't help with life events. By the nature of inevitably unhappy results for African-Americans, he ends up getting expelled from the school and on a train headed for the North. The struggle of trying to make understanding of why this is happening to him is really apparent on the train ride, and all this is magnified by the presence of the vet on the train.

On his way to the North, the Narrator carries a set of letters that he is told not to open. They are supposedly to help him get a job once he has arrived, but we find out that instead of praising him, the letters actually talk badly of him. Bledsoe wrote the letters not to convince trustees that the Narrator is worth their time, but rather the opposite: he lets them know that they can stay clear of him just as Bledsoe himself does. When the Narrator discovers this real content of the letters, he is a little shocked and disappointed, feeling ultimately betrayed by Bledsoe and angry with him long-term. I see the situation surrounding the letters as a metaphor meant to describe how life in the North is not what it seems – it is not as hope-fulfilling or pleasant. When the Narrator has the letters with him the first time, he is pleasantly wondering and constantly searching to see if he can get a job. He thinks of the possibilities and hopes that all will work out. This hope can match up to the hope an African-American had moving to the North in search of a better quality of life. A lot is expected out of the change. Then the Narrator feels crushed by the truth of the letters and realizes things may not be what they might have seemed. To further this feeling, the time he has working in the paint factory leads to unusual events constantly reminding him of his position. This dynamic matches up with the idea that once in the North, African-Americans realized that their imaginations were not accurate and life everywhere is hard, not just in the South.

As mentioned, one place that added on to the Narrator’s not so ideal feelings is the paint factory. There are a lot of people there that he has a hard time dealing with, such as Kimbro and Brockway. They still have a presence of authority that he doesn't appreciate even though he is in the North, and he is keen enough to pinpoint his resentment.  What is really important at the factory outside of who the Narrator interacts with is just the symbolism set up by Ellison with the factory itself and how it works. The messages that he includes are not very subtle, but just almost straightforwardly make metaphors for the structures of society. To start, the actual name of the paint company is Liberty Paints, resulting in the slogan, “Keep America Pure with Liberty Paints.” It is clear with the use of the world “pure” that this company stands for more than just paint. The main color of paint produces is white, so they are trying to keep society pure with the color white – a meaning easy enough to carry over to race relations. It is also pretty interesting how the company makes the white paint. As the Narrator learns how to do, darker substances that are black/brown are mixed together vigorously to finally produce a glossy white color. The symbolism here goes to show that society doesn't work without the minority races. The whites were on the top partly because black people were on the bottom, the contrast lifted up white people, leaving black people “invisible” in a way. Once again, these symbols stand to show that the North is not so special, and that racism and a hard time is everywhere.

More recently there has been a passage that includes meanings on how no matter where he goes, the Narrator will receive the same treatment based on his race. He gets the same labels placed on him and eventually he needs to learn how to accept his identity. The event in consideration is that of the Americana bank-statue. Recognizing its existence extremely late into his stay with Mary, the Narrator takes offense at the repulsive object and goes forward with violently breaking it. Quickly feeling ashamed of his actions, he plans to dispose of it later on so he packs it. Later on, however, every time he attempts to get rid of it, it is somehow returned to him. After a few repetitions of this, he just gives up and allows it to be with him. The statue itself is pretty vividly offensive, as it creates a caricature depicting African-Americans in an absurd way. Theoretically this image is what white racists see in the black person, so when the Narrator is stuck with the actual bank he it is symbolic to show that he is stuck with the label that other racists place on him. The whole elaboration made by Ellison of him trying to get rid of it several times emphasizes how no matter what he purposefully does, in the end all is still the same. He gets the same treatment and is called the same names. Whether he is in the North or the South, Ellison is saying he at least perceived as the same person, so he needs to learn to accept his identity.

There are moments where the Narrator seems like he is grasping some sort of power and meaning of self-identity, but in reality he continually struggles for all of this and instead ultimately has hardships and forced-upon labels trying to define him no matter what. He just has no escape.