For the Invisible Man, this really is the Circle of Life.

            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?