I’d like to
bring up Socratic Seminar Question 46 for Invisible
Man as it asks the question, “What else could I have done?” In reference to
the text, the narrator states this in the Epilogue as if the audience might
have an answer for him to become visible in society. We’ve seen the narrator go
through ups and downs (mostly downs) as he tries to make his way in the world.
Mr. Norton has long since forgotten about him, he was thrown out of college, fired
from his job at Liberty Paints, and backstabbed by members of the Brotherhood.
All while trying to do what he thought was right.
The way I see it, the narrator has
two options. One, he could do something drastic and become a character like Ras
the Exhorter who tried to wage a racial war within the city. Or two, do absolutely
nothing and accept that he means nothing to society. If he’d gone with option
one, he may have made a name for himself and become acceptable in society but
he’d probably gain more enemies in the meantime. Although this route would
require him to either have a peaceful or violent attitude toward society. And during
this time in history peaceful protests were not common. By default he would
have to do something violent, but I don’t think the narrator contains any
violence in him as the only bad thing we’ve seen him do is help to burn down an
apartment building towards the end of the book. Unfortunately, the narrator
went with option two. Physically and figuratively crawled into a hole and
withdrew from society. At least he did a bit of reflecting on his life, I’ll
give him that since it’s better than doing nothing.
“What else could I have done?” This
is an age old question that many people ask themselves at some point in their
life. This question usually pops up after a relationship has crumbled or a
friendship has parted ways. On a depressing note, some may ask this after a
loved one’s death, wondering themselves if they could have prevented it or have
done something different. In a popular Disney film, The Lion King, I realized that Simba and the narrator both have
something in common; they don’t know who they are and are afraid to go back to
society. Simba has been led to believe that he has caused his father’s dead,
and the narrator has been led to believe that he can do no right in society
because both have left society to shape the early part of their lives. For
Simba, it was Scar who controlled it and for the narrator it was mostly Dr.
Bledsoe and the Brotherhood. I feel like the narrator needs someone like Rafiki
to knock some sense into him and give him a reason to return to society.
Without digressing too much, I’d
like to bring up another quote in the Epilogue. The narrator says, “To lose
your direction is to lose your face,” and I believe this also adds to the
question of “What else could I have done?” Throughout the novel, to me it
seemed like the narrator never had a sense of direction, or wanting to do what
he wanted, he was always trying to please others. And I believe that if you get
caught up in putting others before you that you lose a sense of who you are. That’s
probably another option that the narrator could have done, live for himself. If
he had a dream or pursued his speaking career he may have made a name for
himself.
You know, I really was rooting for
the narrator through most of the book. But like many other characters I gave up
on him. Mainly because it seemed like he was not willing to make a change in
his life and to change for the better. So it really is no surprise that he
asked the rhetorical question of “What else could I have done?” Right now I’m
asking myself the same question. What else could I have done? (Mainly to make
this first blog post successfully come to an end without rambling.) So I’ll
leave you, the reader, the same question. What else do you think the narrator
in Invisible Man could have done?