Invisible Man: Chapters 3-5

Chapter 3

1. Look carefully at the descriptions of the Golden Day. What is it? What has it been in the past? Is there any symbolism in the description? The Golden Day is currently a bar/brothel, but it had been (and still somewhat was) an insane asylum. Halley says that it had been prior "a church, then a bank, then it was a restaurant and a fancy gambling house". The madness of the Golden Day is all concentrated below the stairs/balcony/flag hanging, which could have some symbolism in the idea that Heaven/bliss was at the top of the stairs in the bedrooms, the stairs were the obstacles of life (or Purgatory), and those separated the top from the bottom floor, whose madness symbolizes Hell.
2. Describe the veterans at the Golden Day. All of the veterans fought for the Confederacy (this is the South, after all), and the narrator describes them as "harmless", if not a bit "shell-shocked". However, it is hard to tell whether or not the gray uniforms worn by the men are asylum uniforms or former military garb (actual Confederate uniforms were either gray or dyed butternut squash yellow), but their loose fit suggests that the men are well past their prime and have withered away in their clothes. None of them seem to have a strong offense toward black people, which is surprising given their condition. Many of them were professionals in several different fields of study prior to their wartime service.
3. Read p. 81 carefully and comment on the ways that the normal rules of society are reversed at the Golden Day. The bartender and owner, Big Halley, is black and adamantly refuses to cut the narrator a break on the off chance that he might be buying for another, showing that he is not a "stupid" black man. The attendant overseeing the veterans is also black. From dialogue exchanged between the women of the brothel-section and the veterans, it also appears that women have some power over men at the Golden Day, at leas sexually.
4. The vet who had been a doctor gives the narrator a warning. What is it? He tells the narrator that his invisibility is hurting rather than helping him, because he (the doctor) has spent his entire life for the benefit of others' and has nothing of his own to show for it. He wants the narrator to wake up and not follow in his path under the direction of Mr. Norton's "destiny".
5. The vet is the first to introduce the narrator to the concept of invisibility (pp. 94-95) and blindness. How do his comments tie into the statements the narrator makes in the Prologue? The doctor's comments reinforce those made by the narrator in the Prologue, where the narrator sees himself as merely "a force" rather than an actual man like the doctor said when he assaulted the white man. In contrast, the white man (and in this case, Mr. Norton) did not see him for a man, but rather just "a thing and not a man."

Chapter 4

1. Look at the description of the campus. How does it contrast with the Golden Day? The campus is well-maintained and organized, with students not causing trouble within the "quiet greenness", as opposed to the chaos surrounding and inside the Golden Day, with veterans wandering around haphazardly and the inside being crowded, messy, and chaotic.
2. Why does the narrator call the campus “a flower-studded wasteland?” The campus was, on the surface, well-manicured and organized but the narrator only remembers the negative aspects of the campus and participating a façade in order to gain more funding for the school from wealthy donors and co-founders.
3. List as many images (with page numbers) as you can find in this chapter of black against white. (Describing Bledsoe; p. 79) "while black and bald and everything white folks poked fun at, he had achieved power and authority...  while black and wrinkle-headed, made himself of more importance in the world than most Southern white men"; "[the black educators] take these white folks where we want them to go" (p. 80); "I believed in [the Founder's] own goodness and kindness in extending the hand of his benevolence to helping us poor, ignorant people out of the mire and darkness" (p. 78).
4. List all the images you can find (with page numbers) of masks and veils in this chapter. (Prior to arriving; p. 78) "buildings flowed and froze for a moment in mist"; "[Dr. Bledsoe] composed his angry face like a sculptor, making it a bland mask" (p. 81); "a veil seemed to fall" (p. 81).
5. How does the scene in Bledsoe’s office parallel the Battle Royal scene? It parallels the Battle Royal scene in that it starts out with a woman preceding the introduction to the man (men) in power, the narrator's vision is obscured prior to the confrontation, Bledsoe (his "opponent" is larger than the narrator physically, and the two of them are both trying to appease the white man (men).

Chapter 5

1. Retell briefly the story of the founder. How does it parallel the story of the narrator? The founder rose out of oppression by educating himself, but then he had to leave his homeland because there was a plot against his life (luckily, he was warned ahead of time by another (unknown) man). The stories are similar because the narrator did the same, except during the Reconstruction era, and was able to finally go to college thanks to his studying. However, the doctor/veteran in the Golden Day warned him about his self-destructive "invisibility" and because of that, the narrator had to step outside of his comfort zone around white people, no matter how much they said they were there to help.
2. In what ways has Bledsoe perverted the founder’s dream? Bledsoe has focused the attention of the university on collecting more funding rather than educating the black youth, and because of that, has turned his back on his race from a financial standpoint unless it stands to benefit him (Barbee is there on behalf of Bledsoe, and is the only other black man at the front).
3. Is there any symbolism in Bledsoe’s name? The name 'Bledsoe' sounds like the words 'bled so', as in "the President bled so (Bledsoe) others may succeed". However, knowing Bledsoe's hunger for power, this might be a purposeful subversion on wordplay.
4. Consider Rev. Homer Barbee’s name and blindness. Is there a classical allusion? Homer was a blind poet/storyteller (his works were transcribed for him) in Ancient Greece, most famous for the epic The Iliad, which tells the story of the Trojan War.
5. Does the revelation of Barbee’s blindness force the narrator to reevaluate Barbee’s statements? Why? Barbee's blindness forces the narrator to reevaluate the statements the reverend has made because he does not realize the white people are there with him at the school and is directing his speech to the black congregation. Because Barbee is preaching about the school in the old days as he could see it, the narrator is skeptical about the power behind the reverend's statements because it sounds like it is coming from Bledsoe's own manipulations as the man himself has not seen what the school's become.
6. Examine the images of rebirth on p. 110. Why do you feel Ellison included them? I feel that Ellison included them because he wanted to reiterate how people can rise out of negative situations to become better than they were "born"/intended to be. It may also be commentary on how Bledsoe came out of poverty through education but then changed who he was, turning his back on people through being "reborn" into a higher status than his peers.