Invisible Man: Chapters 23-24

Chapter 23

1. What symbolism do you find in the narrator’s purchase of dark glasses? The narrator is meant to see through them, but his vision is distorted by the item itself and distorts his identity to others, who believe that he is someone known as 'Rinehart'. The darkness of the lenses symbolizes the concealment of identity (i.e. his "invisibility") and how he is treated somewhat better now that he is in touch (in a way) with the darkness the Brotherhood did not allow him to tap into.
2. What are Rinehart’s various identities? "Rine", "Rine the runner/number man/briber/gambler," "Reverend B.P. Rinehart," and "Daddy" (to a prostitute; he is presumably her pimp).
3. Is there any symbolism in Rinehart’s name (rind and heart)? The rind is a tough outer layer (like that on a fruit) and a heart is self-explanatory. Rinehart's name symbolizes the thick outer skin the narrator has adopted in the wake of being cast out from the Brotherhood and Clifton's death, while he still preserves his true identity and beliefs (his "heart") on the inside.
4. Has Rinehart learned to play an identity game? Rinehart has definitely learned how to play an identity game, separating his personal life of being a vice-loving immoral gambler from his public image of being the reverend/spiritual leader of the Holy Way Station.

Chapter 24

1. Contrast the narrator’s encounter with Sybil with that of the woman in red whose husband came home early. Both women are married, though the woman in red seems marginally happier with her marriage while Sybil supposedly "wouldn't be missed" at the party. Both women also fetishize the narrator, though Sybil is at least intoxicated before she expresses her sexual desires, and seems to be physically attracted to the narrator for more than his race (calling him "beautiful"). However, Sybil does not get her wish fulfilled by the narrator like the woman in red does, as the narrator is attempting to use her to for personal (non-sexual) gain.
2. What is the significance of the last line in the chapter? The significance of the last line ("I ran  through the night, ran within myself. Ran.") shows the internal turmoil of the narrator searching for what he wants from both the Brotherhood in terms of power and himself in regards to becoming comfortable with his invisibility. His franticness to reach a solution quickly is characterized by the the fact he "ran" (p. 414).