The idea of
unconsciousness was used in a number of interesting ways in the third
chapter of Invisible Man. The most obvious example of unconsciousness is
in the case of Mr. Norton. The heat of the summer day, coupled with the shock
of Trueblood’s story left Mr. Norton mostly unable to do anything. His unconscious
state is purely physical, as he spends nearly all of the Golden Day scene
unable to respond to what is happening. Ellison uses
the unconscious state of Mr. Norton both as a point to focus the plot around,
but also as a chance to bring up a number of important points about the
narrator’s own unconsciousness.
Throughout
the third chapter, as the social norms are turned upside down, we see the
narrator’s ideas about white power challenged. Even as Norton is himself in no
state to wield his white power, the narrator is still scared. One example of
this fear is when, during the hectic battle in the bar, the narrator finds
himself face to face with Norton. Without realizing, he starts to scream as the
passed Norton simply sits there. He is brought back to his senses by a patient who
tells him that Norton is “just a man”. At this point, the narrator is just as unconscious
as Norton in that he doesn’t realize he is screaming and he is unaware of the
social situation he is in. The unconsciousness that the narrator experiences
with respect to his social situation is brought up by the vet/doctor near the
end of the chapter.
By the end of the vet's speech, Norton is regaining consciousness, and begins to feel better after the
numerous shocks he encountered. At this point as readers, we hope that the
narrator will also wake up and see the situation as it really is. I hoped that
he would understand the way that he is mistreated and how the system both doesn’t
care for him and is against him. During the vet’s commentary on the narrator he
expresses the thoughts that we the reader are having about the narrator’s treatment.
The vet
calls the narrator a “zombie” saying, “Already he’s learned to repress not only
his emotions but his humanity." He then continues to talk about how the narrator
is mistreated and we see a glimpse of rebellion in the narrator. “I wanted to
tell Mr. Norton that the man was crazy and yet I received a fearful
satisfaction from hearing him talk as he had to a white man.” This shows that
is in some sense regaining his consciousness and realizing the issues around
him, but this wouldn’t last long.
By the end
of the Vet’s speech about Mr. Norton, Norton had snapped back into
consciousness and was ready to leave, but the narrator was still unaware of his
dire situation at the hands of his white oppressors.
I like the point about point about the narrator's ear because Mr. Norton is a white man. His attitude in this chapter is quite similar to Bigger in native son and his view of white people as a concept or a power rather than individual human beings. The comparison between Mr. Norton and the narrator's unconsciousness is also interesting. It seems that in Chapter 10 when he works in the paint store, he has finally begun to wake up.
ReplyDeleteEvery one of these multiple cases of unconsciousness is a breaking point in the narrator's life. The first loses him his college education he (literally) fought for, while the second finally reveals the underdog in the narrator's subconscious. It's interesting how Ellison comes back to the same plot catalysts but with different results, showcasing how the narrator evolves over the course of Invisible Man and creating a sense of growth for the character. After his second trauma, the words of his grandfather and the vet start becoming true as the happy-go-lucky attitude of a naive youngster peels away to the real invisible man we saw in the prologue.
ReplyDeleteNorton, even though he physically wakes up by the end of the Vet's speech, is still not willing to mentally wake up to the social circumstances around him -- that is, how he wields his white power towards people like the narrator. The narrator still feels afraid when he knows that Norton won't know what's going on because of what Norton implies; he is just another oppressor in the white power structure that could help punish him for whatever happens. As for the narrator, he has internalized this oppression so heavily that he has put himself in a "near-comatose" state of reality, where he's just following the orders he's given because he thinks that will get somewhere. The layers of unconsciousness are physical and mental here. Good points!
ReplyDeleteI really liked what you explored in this essay. I definitely agree with the point you're making. I think the narrator is blind to everything going on around him, and that's a really important focus of the book. I'm not sure about how well the conscious vs. unconscious argument works though. I think that a blind vs. able to see comparison/analogy would work better. However, since you explained your conscious vs. unconscious argument, it worked. Also, I think you did a good job of expanding on the claims that you make, specifically in the second and third paragraphs. Overall, this was a really good post!
ReplyDeleteI like that you interpret consciousness in both physical and mental state, and in that sense Norton and the narrator both are conscious and unconscious at the same time, in different ways. The way they slip in and out of consciousness also contributes to the dream-like atmosphere of the Golden Day scene.
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