During the past few days while discussing Invisible Man, we kept dwelling on the idea of how surreal and dreamlike the narrator is making the story. After all, some of the events described seem too farfetched to even make sense in real life. After all, who in their right mind would be able to string their apartment ceiling with 1,369 lightbulbs? Even the whole paradoxical nature of what the narrator is discussing, like accidentally fulfilling his grandfather's wishes, seems to give the book a feeling of unreality.
Anyways, I was wondering what the implications of these umbratile depictions were. What does it mean that the narrator is describing his life in such vivid detail? What is he trying to convey? And are there any differences between the prologue and first chapter when thinking about them in terms of dream sequences?
The way I see it, this dreamlike style of narration is trying to put events into perspective in some twisted way. Considering that the narrator seems to be somewhat enlightened, he's trying to frame these crazy events in a way that makes the reader do a double-take. The narrator wants to evoke a reaction out of the reader, just to drive home how horrendous his life was. Going along with that, it's very easy to tell that the narrator had an issue with how his younger self lived life in such a passive manner. So by describing the battle royal and carpet in such a dazed way, I think he wants to accentuate how blind his past self was to the crazy conditions he lived in. In a way, he's justifying why he became invisible; he needed to escape the brutal conditions he was living in.
Now, compare the eerie events in the first chapter to those of the prologue. The prologue definitely has more of a typical, comfortable feel than the craziness of the first chapter. This could be playing into the idea that the narrator has become invisible in the prologue, and he's using this contrast to show that difference. And to me, his notion of invisibility is similar to that of free will or self-consciousness. We discussed in class how the young narrator doesn't seem to have tangible free will, and because of that, life takes him by the reins and shows him what his current lifestyle would entail. But when he's escaped and gained control of his life, he puts life in the harness and just sits back to enjoy the ride. As he gains agency over his consciousness and invisibility, his life becomes less of a nightmare that he can't control. So, the connotations behind each of his experiences might help to track the development of his character, and his eventual embracing of his invisibility.
I have no idea whether these dreamlike sequences will develop in this way, but I'm excited to see how the narrator continues his life story and what directions it goes in.
Anyways, I was wondering what the implications of these umbratile depictions were. What does it mean that the narrator is describing his life in such vivid detail? What is he trying to convey? And are there any differences between the prologue and first chapter when thinking about them in terms of dream sequences?
The way I see it, this dreamlike style of narration is trying to put events into perspective in some twisted way. Considering that the narrator seems to be somewhat enlightened, he's trying to frame these crazy events in a way that makes the reader do a double-take. The narrator wants to evoke a reaction out of the reader, just to drive home how horrendous his life was. Going along with that, it's very easy to tell that the narrator had an issue with how his younger self lived life in such a passive manner. So by describing the battle royal and carpet in such a dazed way, I think he wants to accentuate how blind his past self was to the crazy conditions he lived in. In a way, he's justifying why he became invisible; he needed to escape the brutal conditions he was living in.
Now, compare the eerie events in the first chapter to those of the prologue. The prologue definitely has more of a typical, comfortable feel than the craziness of the first chapter. This could be playing into the idea that the narrator has become invisible in the prologue, and he's using this contrast to show that difference. And to me, his notion of invisibility is similar to that of free will or self-consciousness. We discussed in class how the young narrator doesn't seem to have tangible free will, and because of that, life takes him by the reins and shows him what his current lifestyle would entail. But when he's escaped and gained control of his life, he puts life in the harness and just sits back to enjoy the ride. As he gains agency over his consciousness and invisibility, his life becomes less of a nightmare that he can't control. So, the connotations behind each of his experiences might help to track the development of his character, and his eventual embracing of his invisibility.
I have no idea whether these dreamlike sequences will develop in this way, but I'm excited to see how the narrator continues his life story and what directions it goes in.
Nice post! I definitely agree with you that the narrator's dreamlike, eerie style is meaningful. I think it reflects the helplessness and confusion that he at least used to feel before he realized he is invisible. I agree that it is also interesting that the narrator seems to gain a degree of control over his life as he realizes that he is invisible and starts to take back from society. I also think how invisible the narrator is represents him not fitting in with society and escaping it,not just the way white people see him.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting to find a connection between the author's consciousness and the asbursdity of what he's seeing - I'm also really interested in seeing how it develops. The other way I imagined Ellison using the dreamlike, surreal situations is to convey an emotional reality. What he would truly have experienced may not have been as crazy, but by making the narrative hyperbolic he conveys how it truly feels to live through the narrator's experiences. I think that his perception might change as his consciousness of his invisibility changes, but what if it isn't a perception? He just comes to realize the absurdity of everything, and rather than him not being able to understand the situation he's in. Thanks for the great post!
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely something different about how the narrator views the occurrences in the second chapter as well. I think that the narrator loses focus and gains focus like a camera. Sometimes there are vivid and morbidly direct depictions of what is going on like during the battle royal. By contrast, it seems like the narrator is falling into space, kind of like the sunken place, and doesn't really understand what's happening. All of this adds to a sort of ghostliness that the narrator embodies in the first paragraph.
ReplyDeleteI almost feel as if the narrator is awake in the prologue. He's aware of his surroundings, and he can control them and think about his "dreams." Granted, in wakefulness he does weird and paradoxical things like hang a thousand lightbulbs and listen to Armstrong high, but he's conscious of himself in a way we don't see in the "dreams," implying a contrary "awake" state.
ReplyDeleteI think that the dreamlike qualities of the narration are important too. Especially taking into account the fact that the narrator has no problem with what is going on around him and sees it as totally normal, similar to in a dream. He also lacks a lot of agency, just like a person in a dream. Then, when he develops more of a conscience and develops more control over what's going on around him, his narration shifts, the situations around him shift, and it seems much more normal.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator might not even be telling his past in this "dreamlike style" on purpose. He doesn't speak in hindsight when recounting his past, so maybe his lack of awareness is just how he remembers the events.
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