L7 Invisible+Man+Ralph+Ellison Chapter 1

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Lesson 7

On Sep. 18, 1895, in Atlanta, Washington delivered a well-known address, which became one of the most important influential speeches in American history, establishing him as one of the leading black spokesmen in the US. In Chapter 1 of Invisible Man, after the Battle Royal was over, the narrator gave his graduation speech, in which he echoed Book T. Washington’s views and even repeated parts of the speech in exactly the same wording.
About the Text
In Invisible Man, Ellison depicts a black individual searching for his identity or place in society. For example, when the young black men are in the Battle Royal, they are forced to watch a naked white woman dance. The white observers abuse these young black men for not watching and also abuse them for watching. These black fellows do not know how they are expected to behave; therefore, they do not know their place in society.

现代大学英语精读5 Lesson 7 Invisible man

• 1942: becomes managing editor of Negro Quarterly
• 1945: awarded
Rosenwald Fellowship to write novel
• 1952: Invisible Man
• 1958-61: teaches Russian & American literature at Bards College
• Invisible Man (1952)
• Shadow and Act (1964)
• Going to the Territory (1986)
• Flying Home: And Other Stories
is published (after being discovered in his home) （1996）
• a story about a young African American man who is struggling to prove himself in a racial, prejudice world.
• National Book Award for Fiction Best Novel winner (1953) : The Invisible
• published in1952
• The book won the National Book Award, a high and rare honor for a first novel.
many American writers were influenced by Ellison
• Gettysburg Address
• Ecclesiates

Ralph Ellison--Invisible Man 看不见的人

Bildungsroman Novel
A coming of age novel which chronicles a character’s development and maturation over the span of several years.
Main character begins as a bright high school student and matures to a man who understands the nature of the world.
Invisible Man is the story of a man in New York City who, after his experiences growing up and living as a model black citizen, now lives in an underground hole and believes he is invisible to American society.
The narrator remains a voice and never emerges as an external and quantifiable presence. This obscurity emphasizes his status as an “invisible man.”
For much of the story, the narrator remains extremely innocent and inexperienced. He is prone to think the best of people even when he has reason not to, and he remains consistently respectful of authority. Ellison uses heavy irony to allow the reader to see things that the narrator misses. After the “battle royal” in Chapter 1, for instance, the narrator accepts his scholarship from the brutish white men with gladness and gratitude. Although he passes no judgment on the white men’s behavior, the men’s actions provide enough evidence for the reader to denounce the men as appalling racists. While the narrator can be somewhat unreliable in this regard, Ellison makes sure that the reader perceives the narrator’s blindness.

北信科大美国文学复习资料

一．殖民地时期（约1607-1765）（清教主义思想）Tips：1.1607年约翰史密斯船长带领第一批移民在北美大陆建立第一个英国殖民地。

当时宗教领袖和殖民地区领导人如布雷福德（William Bradford,1590-1657）等人的书籍多半关于讲经布道等有关神学的材料或日记。

有些介绍新大陆的风景和日常生活2. 史密斯船长（Captain John Smith）为英国在北美建立第一个殖民地起重要作用3. 安妮布雷特兹里特（Anne Bradstreet）------第十个缪斯，北美第一位女诗人二．启蒙时期和独立战争时期（1765-18世界末）1. 启蒙运动代表人物：富兰克林（Benjamin Franklin）.Self bused /天助自助者。

他著作有《格言历书》（poor Richard’s Almance）,他的《自传》（autobiography）开启了传记文学先河。

富兰克林还是American dream 的代言人。

2. Thomas Paine著有《常识》commen sense 和American crisis三．浪漫主义时期（1800-1865）1. 早期浪漫主义作家：欧文（Washington Irving）和库柏（James Fenimore Cooper）2. 欧文著有：the sketch book,开创美国短篇小说传统。

《睡谷传说》the legend of sleeping hollow 和Rip Van Winkle3. 库柏主要写长篇小说：历史小说historical、冒险小说adventure、边疆小说frontier ，边疆小说有《皮袜子故事》the leather stocking tales4. 布莱恩特Bryant : 《致水鸟》to a waterfowl、《黄色的堇香花》the yellow violet5: 超验主义transcendentalism：崇尚直觉，反对理性和权威，强调人有能力凭直觉认识真理6. 爱默生Ralph Waldo Emerson是超验主义奠基人，创办杂志《日晷》the dial ，创作有《论自然》the nature 、《论独立》self reliance7. 梭罗（Henry David Thoreau）：瓦尔登湖Walden 、论公民的不服从civil disobedience8. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 朗费罗：海华沙之歌the song of Hiawatha9. Walt Whitman 惠特曼：free verse 自由主义诗诗人，著有O！Captain, my Captain10. Emily Dickinson 狄金森11. 霍桑Nathaniel Hwathorne 不赞成超验主义，他对社会改革、生产发展和科学进步也表示疑虑和不安，反对清教主义对人的压迫12：霍桑：the minister’s black veil、young good man Brown、the Birthmark 、Rappaccini’s Daughter13. 梅尔维尔Herman Melville: 《白鲸》Mobby Dick14. Edgar Allan poe : the Raven 《乌鸦》、the fall of the house of usher、murders in the Rue Morgue、the Purloined letter、the poetic principle、the philosophy of composition15. 斯托夫人：《汤姆叔叔的小屋》Uncle Tom’s Cabin四．现实主义（1865-1918）1. 朱厄特Jewett: 尖从树之乡the country of pointed Firs2. Bret Harte: The lucky of Roaring Camp3. Mark Twain: 《败坏了哈德莱堡的人》the man that corrupted Hadleyburd、《跳蛙》the celebratedJumping Frog of Calaveras Country他的作品特点是local colorist / collocual language (本土色彩和口头化)4.詹姆斯James: the portrait of a lady’s/the wings of the dove/the ambassadors/ the golden bowl5. Stephen Crane: 商场描写战争，著作有《红色英勇勋章》the red badge of courage6. Jack London: Martin Eden The call of wild7. Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie An American Tragedy五．现代主义时期(the lost generation)1. Ezra Pound庞德：The Cantos Hugh Selwyn Mauberley2.Eugene O’neill: 《天边外》Beyond the Horizon Emperor Jones The hairy Ape3. Edith Whaton: 《快乐之家》the house of Mirth 《天真时代》the age of innocence4. Lewis刘易斯：《大街》Main Street 《巴比特》Babbit5. Sherwood Anderson: Winesburg, Ohio6. John Steinbeck : (大萧条时期) the grapes of Wrath7. 哈莱姆文化：表现黑人悲惨生活8. 休斯Langston Hughs : “哈莱姆桂冠诗人”9. Richard Wright: Native Son10. Jack Kerouac: <on the road>11. Joseph Heller: 黑色幽默作家，《第二十二条军规》catch-2212. Ralph Ellison: invisible man13. Alice Walker: the color purple14. Toni Morrison: 1993,诺贝尔文学奖，著song of Solomon15. Saul Bellow: Herzog Anderson the Rain King16: Bernard Malamud: The assistant17. J.D Salinger: Catcher in the Rye麦田守望者18. Allen Ginsberg: Howl19. Tennessee Williams: A streetcar Named Desire / All my sons / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof20. Arthur Miller米勒：《推销员之死》Death of a salesman第二部分：简答题相关简答部分复习（北信科2013）1.Nathaniel Hawthorne-----the scarlet letter(chapter 2)Works: twice-told tales / Mosses from an old manIdeas 思想:作品涉及人物：妻子白兰（Hester Prynne）、丈夫齐里沃斯(Chillingworth)、迪姆斯台尔(Dimmesdale)作品情节：妻子和牧师私通后遭到丈夫的一系列调查和报复，最后妻子被印上了字母“A”，代表着私通“adultery”，随着剧情发展，妻子白兰用正直和善良的品格打动了社会，赢得了承认，字母A也变成了angel和able的代表，牧师胸膛上也印了字母A，这明显是用道貌岸然的外表去掩饰他躲避责任带来的内心痛苦。

看不见的人 Invisible Man

毕业论文题目The Pathetic Negro —Analysis ofProtagonist’s Mentality in Invisible Man 专业英语语言文学___年级2011级_ 学生姓名Hyleehom学号******** __ 指导教师周云川2013-12可怜的黑人——《看不见的人》中主人公的心理分析专业：英语语言文学姓名：hyleehom指导教师：周云川摘要：美国黑人作家拉尔夫·艾里森的小说《看不见的人》出版于1952年，它讲述了一位在白人主宰的社会里,没有任何的社会地位，没有人承认他的存在的黑人青年，在自我探索的过程中遭遇各种挫折的悲惨故事。

本文以黑人时代的背景和小说《看不见的人》的创作背景为前提，将主人公自我探索的心理状态分为积极、挣扎和绝望三个阶段，通过分析每个阶段主人公成长经历中的心理状态的表现，以及主人公对于自我认识的阶段性心理变化的原因，揭露出当时社会，黑人境况的困惑与命运的悲哀。

关键字：《看不见的人》，黑人，困境，自我，探索The Pathetic Negro——Analysis of Protagonist’s M entality in Invisible ManMajor: English Language and Literature Name: hyleehomSupervisor: Zhou YunchuanAbstract:American Negro writer, Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man, published in 1952, tells a story that a black youngster, who is ignored by society in the white-dominated society, searches for who he is. And in his self-exploring, he encounters so many troubles. This paper, premised on Negro background and creating background of the novel, divides the process of the protagonist’s mentality into 3 stages —hope, struggle and desperation, and then analyzes the protagonist’s mental behaviors in his growing experiences and reasons why he shows the mental behaviors so as to draw a conclusion about the plight of Negro and the misery of their fate.Key words:Invisible Man; Negro; Plight; Self; ExplorationCONTENTSIntroduction (1)Chapter 1 Background (2)1.1 Introduction of Negro (2)1.2 Creation Background of the Novel (2)Chapter 2 Stage with Hope (4)2.1 Behaviors with Hope (4)2.2 Reasons for His Behaviors (5)2.3 Conclusion of This Stage (6)Chapter 3 Stage in Struggle (8)3.1 Struggling Behaviors (8)3.2 Reasons for His Behaviors (9)3.2.1 Social Phenomenon (9)3.2.2 The Efforts and the Result (9)Chapter 4 Stage in Desperation (11)4.1 Desperate Behaviors (11)4.2 Reasons for His Behaviors (12)Conclusion (14)The Pathetic Negro——Analysis of Protagonist’s M entality in Invisible ManIntroductionRalph Ellison (1914 - 1994), is known as one of the most distinguished Black writers in the history of American literature. He is among the list of the most influential and successful writers, in the contemporary United States of America. In 1992, Ellison was awarded a special achievement award from the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Ellison was also an accomplished sculptor, musician, photographer and college professor. He taught at Bard College, Rutgers University, the University of Chicago, and New York University. Ellison was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Professor Margolies considers Invisible Man a recapitulation of the entire history of the Negro, presenting a view of life described by Ellison himself as blues. [1]Invisible Man is a novel by Ralph Ellison, published by Random House in 1952. It addresses many of the social and intellectual issues facing African-Americans early in the twentieth century, including black nationalism, the relationship between black identity and Marxism, and the reformist racial policies of Booker T. Washington, as well as issues of individuality and personal identity.Invisible Man won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1953.[2]In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Invisible Man nineteenth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.[3]Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. [4]This paper will analyze the protagonist’s mentality in self-exploring to discuss the main reasons why the Negro is pathetic.Chapter 1Background1.1 Introduction of NegroSince the 16th century, blacks had been sold as commodity from Africa to America and treated as slaves, which treaded their rights underfoot and was also a sad tragedy to all human. The blacks are considered as poor, lazy, dirty criminals and violent in the white’s eyes. And they are enslaved, oppressed and discriminated in the society. Firstly, the majority of blacks are deprived of the right to vote. Besides, they have to be normally engaged in the heavy and the most despised job, while their average wage is only one third or half of the white’s and they have the highest unemployment rate. In many states, they can not study in the same school with the white, not have meals in the same table with the white and not travel by the same bus or train. Moreover, the United States government, the Ku Klux Klan and other racists often arrest, torture and kill the blacks at will. There, the eleven states in southern United States, gathers about fifty percent blacks and their life being discriminated and persecuted is particularly appalling.Invisible Man is just one of the black classic literatures in contemporary American which reflects the Negro issues.1.2 Creation Background of the NovelPublished in 1952, Invisible Man explores the theme of man's search for his identity and place in society, as seen from the perspective of an unnamed black man in the New York City of the 1930s. In contrast to his contemporaries such as Richard Wright and James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison created characters that are dispassionate, educated, articulate, and self-aware. Through the protagonist, Ralph Ellison explores the contrasts between the Northern and Southern varieties of racism and their alienating effect. The narrator is "invisible" in a figurative sense, in that "people refuse to see" him, and also experiences a kind of dissociation. The novel, with itstreatment of taboo issues such as incest and the controversial subject of communism, won the 1953 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. [1]Ralph Ellison says in his introduction to the 30th Anniversary Edition, that he started to write what would eventually become Invisible Man in a barn in Waitsfield, Vermont in the summer of 1945 while on sick leave from the Merchant Marine. The letters he wrote to fellow novelist Richard Wright as he started working on the novel provide evidence for its political context: the disillusion with the Communist Party that he and Wright shared. In a letter to Wright August 18, 1945, Ellison poured out his anger toward party leaders for betraying African Americans and Marxist class politics during the war years. "If they want to play ball with the bourgeoisie they needn't think they can get away with it.... Maybe we can't smash the atom, but we can, with a few well chosen, well written words, smash all that crummy filth to hell." [5] In the wake of this disillusion, Ellison began writing Invisible Man, a novel that was, in part, his response to the party's betrayal.Chapter 2Stage with Hope2.1 Behaviors with HopeThe protagonist, a docile slave, has neither the name nor the identity at that time, because he is an American Negro. At the beginning, he is seventeen or eighteen years old. And for his successfully speech at high school’s commencement, the protagonist is invited to atten d to prominent figures party. In fact, it is the informal men’s social assembly. To grab the chance to have a speech again, the protagonist joins in a Negro’s game — he and other Negro kids have to fight with each other. Putting up with the sufferings, he wins a briefcase as a prize. After that, he takes pride in the game. Furthermore, he believes he can succeed as long as he is hard-working. “I wanted to deliver my speech more than anything else in the world, because I felt that only these men could judge truly my ability, and now this stupid clown was ruining my chances.”[6] Obviously, his behavior tells that his ignorant hope comes from what he believes — obedience to the white.When entering the Negro college, the protagonist wins recognition from Bledsoe, the headmaster, which seems perfect as he wishes. One day, the protagonist drives a car to Black area with a member of the white board of trustees of the college. On the way to the Black of the slave-quarter section, the protagonist takes the guest to a bar, where there is full of prostitutes and madmen. Owing to the ignominious side in Black of the slave-quarter section to be seen by the respected guest, unfortunately, the protagonist is expelled for disobeying school rules. Before Bledsoe expels him, the protagonist believes in the principles of the Founder with all his heart and soul, and that he believes in Bledsoe’s goodness and kindness in extending the hand of benevolence to helping poor, ignorant people out of the mire and darkness.[7] Bledsoe persuades him to find a job in North and writes a recommendation for him. And the protagonist appreciates what Bledsoe does for him. He even gives himself a reason that he should be punished to comfort himself. Then the protagonist does all whatBledsoe tells him. However, all he gets is the rejection. When he knows the fact of the recommendation letter in which Bledsoe writes — not to give the Negro any chance to get a job, he is fully confused and hurt. In short, his obedience to White and his humility show his ignorant hope; he sees the good in people and has too beautiful and unreal dream.2.2 Reasons for His BehaviorsIn Invisible Man，the American Dream has been a crucial factor leading to the protagonist’s psych ological conflicts and his initiation．Although the blacks’ actual social status is low and living conditions are miserable, after they have been announced to be free, most of the African Americans still hold that they can rank among the mainstream society through their humiliation and diligence.[8] As an intelligent, deeply introspective and highly gifted young man, the protagonist, without exception, surely has his own ideals and ambitions — he wants to be another“ Booker T．Washington” in the educational circle. He has been occupied with the dream throughout every stage of his initiation. Thus, all his behaviors and efforts are aiming at this target, which leads up to his habitual thinking and final disillusionment. At the beginning of the story, he and other black children are stripped their coats and blindfolded, picking up the coins in an electrified blanket. Thereafter, he will get a scholarship to a black school. As he imagines that his humility and hard-working will make him stand out in the crowd，he seems to have deeply devoted himself to a myth or a fairy tale. So he just obeys the rules the white set for his American dream.The Negro's grandfather is a former slave, usually with humility and obedience. And his grandfather is respected by the black and appreciated by the white. The protagonist is also affected by his grandfather. At first, he wins the so-called “success”through his humility and obedience. After a series of events, he is always lost in thought about himself admitting his original nature and his grandfa ther’s last wor ds about silent enduring. Besides, the cruelty of the reality prompts him to remember hisgrandfather’s admonition. Though he does not know the real intention of his grandfather, he decides to take some actions and test his advice. “I’d overcome them with yeses, undermine them with grins. I’d agre e them to death and destruction (I)would hide my anger and lull them to sleep; assure them that the community was in full agreement with their program…”[6]2.3 Conclusion of This StageAs a black man, it is the invisible man who has been thinking about the problem how to find his own identity in the white dominated society. As the offspring of the former slaves，when he begins to relate his story, the protagonist concludes: “ I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed.’’[6]Obviously, the protagonist has realized the importance of his race and its tradition after he has experienced so much. As early as those pre-invisible days, the protagonist has visualized himself as a potential Booker T. Washington, so unconsciously he is ashamed of his race and the past. There is no doubt that in the Battle Royal episode, he “felt superior to them(other Black boys) in my wa y, and I didn’t like the manner in which we were all crowded together into the servants’ elevator.” [6]At the beginning of the story, the protagonist even has no independent personality. His confusions are caused by his naive and ignorance. Under the infl uence of the White’s education, he always considers to cater for the White’s taste. Besides, he rejects to his own national culture. In the southern United States, at that time, the protagonist resigns himself to adversity. He accepts all insults and humiliations silently, in order to find a space for one person living in the existing social. The protagonist says:“I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appear to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself”[6] Since suffering from much pain, he has to initiate to consider his own fate. Why is he whohas such a terrible life? When he knows who Bledsoe really is, he makes a decision that he no longer depends on anybody. He feels the whole world neglect him and his life is filled with lies. This stage is his first step to his self-searching — he makes a decision that he will prove himself in his future job on his own.Chapter 3Stage in Struggle3.1 Struggling BehaviorsFortunately, the protagonist finds his first job in a paint factory by using another one’s name. There he is sent to make the paint whiter by putting ten drops of ‘black drop’ into white paint. However, the protagonist makes a mistake by adding the wrong black liquid. It is in the factory that the protagonist has learnt something about the reality:“ I had a feeling that something had gone wrong…either I had played a trick on Kimbro, my boss or he, like the trustees and Bledsoe, was playing one on me…”[6] It all goes to show that the invisible man is not ready to fight against the society, for he has not been awakened completely yet. After that, he goes to the furnace room. There he is wrongly guided for some reason, which leads to a boiler explosion. Later, the protagonist is sent to a hospital and a doctor carries an operation on his brain, which marks a turning point actually. When he wakes up, he remembers nothing. Moreover, he does not know who he is.While the protagonist recovers from his operation, he lodges in a friendly Negro lady Mary’s home. The lady lives in New York, however, she still insists on who she is and keeps her own nature. What Mary does and what Mary says make the protagonist recall his life in South. Happily, he gets rid of the sense of disgust towards Negro’s life and he does not need to cater to the White. Gradually, he begins to realize and accept himself. Once a time, he witnesses the eviction of an old Black couple．For his experiences in the Harlem district, it seems to see himself evicted. Using his power of speech，he makes a passionate speech，which starts a small demonstration and a full-scale riot. Subsequently, a political organization, the Brotherhood, employs him as a spokesman for the Harlem district. The protagonist needs to live a life on his own, not the Negro lady, so he accepts the offer in the end, which means he abandons the real him he just finds.The Brotherhood gives him a new identity, pays off his rental and provides hima new accommodation. These treatments make him overjoyed and he takes the organization as his new dreamful place. Because he is becoming another person and he is gaining recognition. In fact, The Brotherhood is an organization which stresses absolute obedience. What the protagonist will do must follow the rules the white boss has set with no doubt. He has not realized that he is just their tool. The protagonist has worked so hard that gradually he has established his fame as a spokesman. But as we all know life never goes as we wish. The protagonist is faced with undeserved accusation who declares that the protagonist is an opportunist and wants to use the Brotherhood movement to advance his own interest. Later, he is forced to give up his assignment in Harlem district.[9]3.2 Reasons for His Behaviors3.2.1 Social PhenomenonAfter being forced to the United States with suffering from the oppression and exploitation more than two hundred years, blacks gradually lost the independent character and the spirit of resistance. In order to survive in the harsh living conditions under brutal and inhuman oppression, they have to resign themselves to adversity —not to fight and be grateful after suffering from pains. For a long time, Negro struggle between assimilation and keeping self, as Dubois said: In the American society, every black man can feel his own duality as an American and Negro — every slave has two souls, two thoughts, two competitions to reconcile and two ideological struggles in one black body. Despite the end of the civil war gains "free" status for black, this freedom does not means the blacks get rid of the oppressed, discriminated fate. Most different, their being oppressed and discriminated is no longer as slavery period as the physical torture, but a kind of spiritual maltreatment and penetrates into all aspects of their life.3.2.2 The Efforts and the ResultThe second stage is his self-struggling. From the paint factory, Mary’s home tothe Brotherhood, the protagonist does his best to make himself visible. We can easily see that every time he has a dream, he has troubles. Then he begins to think about his present life. No matter how to adapt his attitude towards his life, he just cannot get what he wants.In the paint factory, the protagonist only needs to work fast but carefully because “the least thing done incorrectly would cause trouble”[10] Later, the protagonist is sent to the furnace room in the basement to assist a Black engineer. He gradually comes to realize the frustrating fact that coming to the North — the land of freedom — fails to make him gain his individuality. The boiler explodes and the protagonist falls unconsciously under a pile of machinery. He is not only physically injured, but also psychologically. He has overlooked the fact that the road of initiation is full of ordeals and even blacks can betray blacks, even though they are all negligible in the minds of the white people. When he becomes one member of the Brotherhood, he seems to find a new opportunity and begins to work for the Brotherhood with the same single-minded faith that he has brought to the college and to New York. This period of experience, again implies his unquestioning willingness to do what is required of him by others as a way to success.[11] The protagonist has subtly sensed that his own past experiences might teach him about the present condition: “ I knew of some things he didn’t know. Let him find someone else. He only wanted to use me for something. Everybody wanted to use you for some purpose. Why should he want me as a speaker? Let him make his own speeches. I headed for home, feeling a growing satisfaction that I has dismissed him so completely.”[6]It is clear to see that he has suspected the Brotherhood’s ideals at the very beginning, but ultimately is seduced by the Brotherhood because it provides him with a system of belief which makes him significant. He cannot resist the seducement of finding some meaning in the world. Indeed, he initially sees through the tricks of the organization, yet he consciously prevents him from looking at the organization with any skepticism, and his self-deception makes himself vulnerable once again to the betrayal.[12]Chapter 4Stage in Desperation4.1 Desperate BehaviorsIt is not long before the protagonist is ordered to be back in Harlem district. Because Clifton, another spokesman and leader before just like him, is missing. The protagonist holds members related together to look for Clifton. In fact, after the invisible man leaves Harlem district, Clifton is not willing to be a doll controlled by the White and he chooses to get rid of the Brotherhood. The protagonist feels quite ashamed of what he does, so he sells black dolls in street. It symbolizes not only his self taunt, but a reminder to others. On the way to looking for Clifton, the invisible man witnesses the scene that Clifton is shot by a white cop in the daylight. On seeing the miserable death of Clifton, the protagonist realizes that he can never deny his responsibility for his race any more. For the first time, the protagonist realizes the significance and necessity of his struggle: “We have got to fight…We must remember now that we are fighters, and in such incidents we must see the meaning of our struggle. We must strike back.”[6]The protagonist then plans a public funeral for Clifton in the hope of organizing the Black community, which differs strikingly from the Brotherhood’s decision, because he places such a premium on individuality and race. In the organization, one has to act by following the discipline and discipline is sacrifice. Yes, and blindness.[13] Within the Brotherhood, he is as invisible as he used to be. He is only a tool and a doll which is used and manipulated by the organization. The protagonist realizes that he will find no purpose or meaning for his life by upholding the Brotherhood's ideology. It is Clifton’s death that shocks him into stimulating his inner struggle and considering his own condition.He finally resolves to undercut the ga me(the Brotherhood’s)by pretending to play it. His betrayals have made him believe that no ideology and no institution are completely reliable. Therefore, the protagonist disguises him as Rinehart to circumvent the problems of being himself and to enjoy the benefits of being others.The protagonist believes that he will protect himself from further deception and frustration by feigning compliance. This strategy works for a spell of time. He tells the leaders only those things which they wish to hear and reinstates himself in the Brotherhood. During the Harlem riot，however, he is astonished to find that his false compliance has made things worse. Unknowingly, he has been implicated in a conspiracy. In the riot, he is caught up in a plan to bum down a tenement building, only to realize that the Brotherhood has designed the racial riots all the way. He has intended to organize the Black community; however, he has been involved in the Brotherhood’s conspiracy of the racial fratricide:‘‘ I could see it now, see it clearly and in growing magnitude. It was not suicide, but murder. The committee had planned it. And I had helped, had been a tool. A tool just at the very moment I thought myself flee. By pretending to agree I had indeed agreed，had made myself responsible for that huddled form⋯”[6] Then, in the course of his escape from the police, the protagonist accidentally falls into a coal cellar. Staying in the underground coal cellar, he breaks away from his past by burning all the items in his briefcase. He also illuminates the hole by tapping electricity from Monopolated Light and Power Company.4.2 Reasons for His BehaviorsAmerica has been a White-dominated country since its establishment due to its economical，political，historical and social reasons．African Americans are usually in an inferior state compared with the white. Although there have been some advances after protesting for the civil rights, the Blacks still feel alienated in the White-dominated societ.The identity of the blacks is stipulated by white. Under the sin of slavery, the blacks suffer all kinds of hardships. They are seen as ignorant and barbaric, uncivilized inferior people. Standard to measure the value of blacks is set by the white and slavery makes the black lost free citizenship and become "the other". It is all white’s sense of superiority that leads to the result.Obviously, all the ordeals and pains are necessary and inevitable for theprotagonist to recognize the absurdity of the world，and now he is able to recognize himself by recalling what he has experienced:“It was a joke, an absurd joke. And now I looked around a corner of my mind and saw Jack and Norton and Emerson merge into one single white figure. They were very much the same, each attempting to force his picture of reality upon me. 1 was simply a material, a natural resource to be use…I now recognized my invisibility.”[6]After being fooled and deceived for such a long time, the protagonist comes to realize the full complexity of the society and the hardship of initiation. The protagonist has always been thinking that he has moved from blindness to sight, but now comes to realize that what he has gained is only half-sighted.The illumination stands for the enlightenment he has finally gained. At this stage, his maturity has not been completely achieved yet. Only when his face turns toward the society once again, will he probably achieve his decisive maturity and reborn. The protagonist neither chooses to cut himself away from the society nor plunge out of the history．He only hibernates in the cellar and it is in the cellar that he has shaped his own perception:“My problem was that I always tried to go in everyone’s way but m own…and a man shouldn’t accept (the values of) any other…Life is to be lived, not controlled；and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.”[6]Besides，he comes to the realization that the world is full of infinite possibilities before a mall finds himself first. He says:“In going underground, I whipped it all except the mind, the mind,”[6] therefore, he decides to be “up”. According to him, the world has set a ridiculous role to play for the black. Up to now, the protagonist’s desperation has been formed.ConclusionThis paper firstly presents the background about Negro and the creation background of the novel. And secondly, this paper mainly analyzes the protagonist’s mentality in Invisible Man by his attitude towards his life. In the analysis, it pays attention to the behaviors at different stages and analyzes the reasons why he behaves in that way.Undoubtedly, the aim of this paper is to disclose the accusation against the inhuman life where the pathetic Negro live.In America, the racial discrimination is everywhere. The racial conflicts often happen and the black people are treated as slaves by white people; at least, they are considered inferior. The black often have the lowest salary, poor insurance and many unfair treatments. Nowadays, the racial discrimination is not just between the white and the black, many other races in American are discriminated by the local people and they do not have right to protect themselves. Although many people do constant efforts, racial discrimination is still a hard and long-lasting task for humans.Bibliography[1] Rusby,Mark．Invisible Man．Boston：Twayne Publishers，1991．[2] Li Yanfang. “Perplexity, Struggle and Initiation in an Invisible World-A PsychologicalApproach to Initiation in Invisible Man” [ph D].Zhengzhou: Zhengzhou University, 2010. [3] Callahan，John，ed．Ratph Ellison’s Invisible Man：a casebook．New York：Oxford UniversityPress，2004．[4] Howe，Irving．“A Negro in America”．The Critical Response to Ralph Ellison．Ed．RobertJ. Butler．Connecticut：Greenwood Press，2000．[5] O’Meally, Robert，ed．New Essays On Invisible Man．New York：Cambridge UniversityPress，1988．[6] Ellison Ralph．Invisible Man[M]．Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2000．[7] Bellow,Saul．“Man Undergroun d—Review of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man”.[8] 陈晓菊: 《荒谬的极限处境与自我追寻—＜看不见的人＞之存在主义解读》，《宁波大学学报》( 人文科学版) 2010 年第5 期.[9] 赵丽丽．“《麦田里的守望者》和《看不见的人》中的成长过程的比较”.哈尔滨工程大学硕士学位论文，2005．[10] 李加莉．“《看不见的人》：一曲为黑人生存境遇呐喊的爵士乐”．华中师范大学硕士学位论文．2004．[11] 庄庆法．“评《看不见的人》中土人公的身份危机”．山东大学硕士学位论文。

《看不见的人》中的身份和意识形态遏制

学校编码：10384 分类号密级学号：200304013 UDC硕士学位论文Identity and Ideological Containment in Invisible Man 《看不见的人》中的身份和意识形态遏制侯志勇指导教师姓名：周郁蓓副教授专业名称：英语语言文学论文提交时间：2006年 7 月论文答辩时间：2006年 7 月学位授予日期：2006年月答辩委员会主席：评阅人：2006 年 7 月iSynopsisRalph Ellison is one of the most important novelists after World War II. His famous novel Invisible Man has a firm position in the American literary canon of the twentieth century. It is widely perceived that deeply rooted in African American culture and experience, Invisible Man is not just representative of African America and of America, but also a highly pertinent commentary on the human condition in the twentieth century and beyond. The protagonist of the novel—the invisible man is baffled by the problem of his identity that haunts the modern man. The novel relates a story in which a black young man struggles in the society until he discovers his invisibility since people around refuse to see him. Finally he retreats underground and lives a life of isolation. The novel has attracted mach attention from scholars and critics since its publication because of its artistic techniques and its themes.The search for identity is Ellison’s major theme. This thesis adopts ideological theories to analyze the identity theme of Invisible Man, and points out that the protagonist is “contained” by ideologies that he internalizes and thus can not see his real relation with others and consequently lead to his failure in searching for an identity.This thesis consists of five parts. Chapter One presents a brief introduction to Ellison’s life and literary career, and gives a summary of Invisible Man. Also this chapter gives a survey of previous comments and criticisms on this novel. The main argument of the thesis, that the protagonist’s failure to obtain a real identity is due to ideologies internalized in him, us given at the end of this chapter.Chapter Two introduces ideological theories used in this thesis. Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Louis Althusser and Fredric Jameson all contributed to ideologicaliitheories. This chapter introduces to their theories, especially Althusser and Jameson’s understanding of ideology and its effects on individuals.Chapter Three analyzes two ideological discourses that the protagonist internalizes, and points out how the protagonist views his relation with white society while contained in these two ideological discourses.Chapter Four analyzes the failure of the protagonist’s search. Because the protagonist is contained in ideological discourses that intending to keep him in an inferior position, he accepts several identities that imposed on him. Although three persons repeatedly warn him and give him advice on how obtain a true identity, the protagonist still can not see who he really is.The last part is conclusion, in which the relation between ideological containment and the protagonist’s failure to get an identity is summed up. It points out that Ellison’s Invisible Man is a great ideological novel.Key Words: I nvisible Man; ideological criticism; the strategy of containmentiii摘要拉尔夫·埃里森(1914-1994)，是美国著名小说家，其著名长篇小说《看不见的人》自1952年出版以来，声誉至今不衰，目前已被奉为20世纪美国文学中的经典之作。

lesson 7 invisible man

Meditate:
think about; consider; give oneself up to serious thought
Willfully:
deliberate
Blindfold:
cover the eyes of with or as if with a bandage; prevent from seeing and especially from comprehending
Manly:
having the good qualities expected of a man
uncontrollable disturbance Cottonmouth:
Bleary:
dim; blurred Insistent: urgent
Strain:
exert one’s power Crunch: crush noisily with the teeth when eating
argue noisily Writhe: suffer mental agony Scoop: 抢先获得 Contortion: 扭曲
Greenback:
banknote
Contain: Seal:
抑制
Twitch:
a sudden quick uncontrollable movement of a muscle抽搐 Snatch: put out the hand suddenly and get Foul: having a bad smell; filthy
Sear:
burn the surface of In a flash: instantly; at once Apoplexy: loss the power to feel, move, think, usually caused by injury to bloodvessels in the brain

Ralph-Ellison--Invisible-Man-看不见的人复习过程

and events Characterized by a loosely connected string of
incidents Main character has no name: the nature of
these experiences and the cumulative effect on him is important
Ralph-Ellison--Invisible-Man看不见的人
Tennessee Williams Questions
What dose the title of the play stand for? What is Stanley and Stella's neighborhood
like? What's wrong with Blanche? What is Belle Reve? What does Stanley know about Blanche's
past? What would you find more disagreeable?
Blanche's upper class snobishness, or Stanley's working class vulgarity?
Ellison Quotes
Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by. So much of it depends upon the individual's willingness to discover his true self, upon his defining himself -- for the time being at least -- against his background.

invisible_man

He has said that "the nature of our society is such that we are prevented from knowing who we are."

Battle Royal

What is the historical reality of the battle royal? Why does Ellison choose it to explore the racial structure of the American South and establish the theme of invisibility.

In the Prologue, Ellison's narrator tells readers, "I live rent-free in a building rented strictly to whites, in a section of the basement that was shut off and forgotten during the nineteenth century." In this secret place, the narrator creates surroundings that are symbolically illuminated with 1,369 lights. He says, "My hole is warm and full of light. Yes, full of light. I doubt if there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of mine, and I do not exclude Broadway." The protagonist explains that light is an intellectual necessity for him since "the truth is the light and light is the truth." From this underground perspective, the narrator attempts to make sense out of his life, experiences, and position in American society.

原创好资料!invisible man 看不见的人隐形人 Ralph

Blindness Betray limitation
Seeking Individual Identity
renew his knowledge about the fields of defining self
seeking self and self discovery
deciding to emerge from his hibernation, face society and make a visible difference
What is his identity?
Rinehart
The narrator
The Limitations of Ideology
“Brotherhood”
LSimaivt eofthinedpiveidoupalel freedom AGwahiniteanmiadne'sntpituyppet
• (P6) “I doubt if there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of mine... Or the Empire State Building on a photographer's dream night. But that is taking advantage of you (deceive). Those two spots are among the darkest of out whole civilization … our whole culture (an important distinction, I’ve heard) –which might sound like a hoax. Or a contradiction … Not like an arrow, but a boomerang. ”

invisible man读后感以及作者Ralph Ellison介绍

against him. Disillusioned, he begins to learn to be independent, and this process is also one of searching for self-identity. The battle royal is symbolic of the position of all African American people in this white-dominated society: Their fate is completely controlled by white men,who subject them to insults humiliation and threats.The anguish of the narrator during the battle royal reveals his desperate struggle to be recognized in a world that refuses to see him as a human being. At the very beginning of this chapter the narrator says,”I’m looking for myself...It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a alization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself.”These words explicitly point out the central theme of the novel-modern man's search for self-identity.

Invisible Man

STYLE
• first person narrator • symbolism • realism • surrealism • naturalism • jazz's style of improvisation • the tone of the book is comic without being truly funny
thank you for
watching
Invisible Man
•Invisible Man
AUTHOR
•Ralph Ellison
•拉尔夫·埃里森
CONTENT
• The main protagonist of the novel was a poor black young man who was born in the south of America.He was longing for the fame and wealth, so he tried his best to study and he dreamed that one day he would get into the upper class.Because of his excellent performance, he was recommended to a negro college after graduating from high school. One day ,he displeased one of the director of the school and then he was kicked out of the college.
CHARACTER
• narrator • nameless,balck young man • intelligent, deeply introspective, highly gifted with

论《看不见的人》中的象征手法

摘要《看不见的人》由著名黑人作家拉尔弗.艾里森所写，是美国文学史上的著名小说。

小说的主题是一个黑人寻找自己的身份。

作者呈现给我们的不仅仅是美国黑人追寻自我，还有在一个种族歧视的社会里人们追寻自我的痛苦的过程。

通过记叙、举例、引用和比较，本文想要分析象征主义在《看不见的人》中的运用：视觉上的象征和结构上的象征，以此来探讨作者是如何运用象征主义深化文章主题和作者的写作技巧。

象征主义贯穿整篇文章。

此外，通过分析象征意义和象征手法在本文中的运用，我们可以发现象征对文章主旨的发展。

关键词：美国黑人、看不见的人、象征主义AbstractInvisible Man, written by Ralph Waldo Ellison who is a famous black writer, is a distinguished novel on an African-American’s literature history. The theme of novel is that a black man seeks the identity of his own. What Ellison presents to us is not only an African-American’s pursuing his own identity but an anguish process of man's quest for identity in this society of racial discrimination. By using the method of documentary, exemplification, quotation and comparison, the paper tries to analyze the application of symbolism on Invisible Man through visual symbolization,and structure symbolization and so on to discuss how the author used symbolism to deepen the topics and to learn Ellison's writing skills. Symbolism is throughout the whole novel. In addition, by analyzing the symbolic meaning and symbolic skill used in the book, we can demonstrate how the symbols contribute to developing the theme.Key words:African-American, Invisible Man, symbolismTable of Contents摘要 (i)Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ i i Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................ i ii Part I. Introduction . (1)Part II. Brief Introduction about <Invisible Man > (1)2.1 Invisible Man (1)2.2 Major Theme of Invisible Man (1)Part III. The Concept of Symbol (2)Part IV. Symbolization (2)4.1 Visual symbolization (2)4.2 Symbolism Meaning of Structure (3)4.3 Symbolism Meaning of Characters and Behavior (3)4.4 Symbolism Meaning of Eyes. (4)4.5 Symbolism in Rituals. (4)Part V. Conclusion (5)Symbolism on Invisible ManPart I. IntroductionInvisible ma n is Ralph Waldo Ellison’s masterpiece and it gained him the most important American novelists of his generation, a position that was not only maintained in the following decades. Invisible man is mainly about the fate of African-American. However, its meaning is not only about racial discrimination and social issues, but the difficulty facing to all human beings. What's more, it's the classic work of American literature and a milestone in American literature, a book that has continued to encourage readers since it appeared. This work gained the reputation from its first published and never decay so far.Part II. Brief Introduction about <Invisible Man >2.1 Invisible ManInvisible Man is a controversial novel and the various conclusions made by his critics fully demonstrate such a dilemma. Initial reviews of particularly those by white reviewers, were generally very favorable. For a first novel by a relatively unknown writer, the book received extensive coverage with reviews by a number of established authors and reviewers.Invisible Man is a record of a Negro’s journey through contemporary America, from south to north, province to city, naive faith to disenchantment and perhaps beyond. In this novel, the hero was a young black man who had no name and l ived in south. The novel portrays the hero’s repeated attempts to define himself as he reels from one community and system of values to author, only to find disillusionment at every turn and lose his sense of identity in a world of prejudice and hostility. He longed for fame and money, he quest for identity of this absurd society.2.2 Major Theme of Invisible ManIn the beginning of the story, the protagonist hasn’t independent identity at all. What he pursues is the acceptance and approval of the white’s society, as a black. Therefore, he engages himself into the white’s education model, and tries hard to adapt himself to the unfair rules and disciplines of the nation. However, his result is the endless insult and abuse imposed by the whites dominated society.Ellison is skillful in using symbolism to emphasize the theme. For instance, the blindfolded inChapter 1 is an extraordinarily successful symbol. This symbol foreshadows the hero’s invisible identity and the root reason why he is invisible. Additi onally, it also indicates the hero’s suffering in the way he pursues his identity. This paper mainly presents how symbolism is used to reveal the theme of the nove1．Now I will illustrate the details as follow.Part III. The Concept of SymbolSymbolic is one of the basic means of artistic expression in artistic creation, which consigns one artist's idea by the external characteristics of a specific thing or the artistic skills to express a matter of peculiar interest. On the meaning of noumenon, it is not necessarily related to the meaning of symbol. It is the technique of expression that uses some specific things and the creation of literature and art to express a particular meaning which has a touch of the pretext, substitution or suggestion. It is generally on the basis of grasping the inner relationship between the body of symbol and noumenon accurately through the image of a certain specific to express certain concepts or thoughts or feelings circuitously.The word "symbolism" in English contains two different meanings. The first one refers to the late 19th century, originated in France with the literary trends of symbol, and the second one is expression skill of symbolism in literary creation. Mallarme, the French symbolism poet and theorist talked abou t the poetry: “In contrast with the direct performance of the object, I think that we must suggest that the poet is written out to make us guess its meaning little by little, that is suggestion, and we also can say that is dream. This is the perfect application of this mystery which constitutes of symbol little by little to suggest the object used to indicate a state of mind.Part IV. Symbolization4.1 Visual symbolizationIt is common that the symbolism of black and white adopted by the black writers. Here Ellison's description mainly stresses on the comparison of white and black as well. Black represents the black and white on behalf of the white. The aim of the application of black and white is to symbolize social relationships between the black and the white. Especially through the strong and distinctive contrast of black and white to symbolize the gap between the black and the white andthe black's unequal treatment.It is known to all that darkness symbolizes ignorance, depravity and crime, while the light is a symbol of civilization, advance and truth. The main tone of this novel is darkness. Darkness means invisible which works in concert with the theme of the novel. Most of the things in this novel happen under cover of darkness, such as the dark night, the home is damp and cold like a grave, the dark groom and narrow channel, the dark house full with snakes, stay in a dark room as if stay in a tar bucket, the dark tunnel and coal pits, etc.Invisible is the central image of symbol in this novel. You can find the symbol of blindness, visible and invisible throughout the book, from the title to content, from prologue to conclusion. The protagonist is seen as a role or a function or as a mask. But he is not seen as fully individual person and therefore he is invisible. Most of the people around hero are blindness.4.2 Symbolism Meaning of StructureIn terms of plot structure of Invisible Man, the author uses expression of flashback to show the overall layout and the partial plan. The part of prologue is an extension of the conclusion in the eyes of the plot development. The development of story in the novel as if a circle, any point can be the beginning or the end of the story. This indicates that our journey of life goes and returns in following a circle and continuous reproduction breed in an endless succession is the same as the nature. Ellison symbolizes the continual march of the life seasons skillfully through the hero's struggle in life and the dormancy in the end. It all adopts a structure of circle. At the beginning of novel, the nameless hero lives in his hole in the ground where warm and full of light. Then he tells us the story about his struggle from the south to the north, from school to the community and how he falls in his hole. As a whole, the novel begins as the "hole" and ends as the” hole".As the hero saying in the prologue:" The end of the story is included in the beginning." This is an organization which has symbolic meaning. The expression what the writer uses makes him do some introspection about his past at the same time when he tells his story.4.3 Symbolism Meaning of Characters and BehaviorThe author depicts hero's emotion through describing the characters' action. People always can explore others' inner world by observing the characters' behavior. The blindness of hero is that he turns a blind eye to his own destiny. In spite of getting the hint from his grandfather or the mad veterinarian for more than once, he is blind to these hints. The blindness of hero makes him exist in the world as a form of silhouette. In the chapter one, the hero and Tatlock met in the final duel andthey fought intensely. He thought that he wanted to deliver his speech more than anything else in the world, because he felt that only these men could judge truly his ability, and now this stupid clown was ruining his chances. He is so blind to the white that he is no different with the blindness of Tatlock. He said in the chapter twenty-three,” It is as though I have learned suddenly to look around corners; images of past humiliations flicker through my head and I see that they are more than separate experiences. They are me, and no blind men."4.4 Symbolism Meaning of Eyes.There are three images of eyes in the novel, that is, blindfold, blind and false eye. They symbolize hoodwink, blind obedience and sham. The hero takes part in a battle royal to please those important men of the town before he delivers a speech. They are all blindfolded with broad bands of white cloth before fighting. Every blindfolded boy fights hysterically. It is complete anarchy. Everybody fights everybody else. No group fight together for long. Two, three, four, fight one, then turned to fight each other, are themselves attacked. The blinders blocks people's view. This image symbolizes that blacks are often deceived by whites; they subject their will to the white's blindly and do whatever whites wish so that they lose their self-identity. The so-called "education" in South America is to make them blind obedience to whites and provoke their internal relations so that whites can rule over them with ease. Bobby priest is a blind man. However, he speaks in a bombastic way of founder's contribution and Doctor Bledsoe's ability in the church. Then he falls down on the stage at last. The poor priest accepts the white's view blindly and he is so compliant to the white that he has a nasty fall.4.5 Symbolism in Rituals.Ritual, as a social form, is the main source of a variety of themes, symbols and images. For example, the ritual represents the white's highest power can make contradictions and struggles intensified. So ritual is cultural codes of attitude towards praise of society, beliefs and practices. In terms of ambivalence, they are ideal and suitable for novelist to seek for the appropriate symbols and forms to rebuild socialization of African-American life. In the novel, the hero and the other blacks were forced to watch naked women, the battle royal and fighting for the coins, etc. All of these symbolizes the white's prejudice of black sexual, violence and greedy, even in the broadest sense of the human instinct.Part V. ConclusionProtagonist is driven by greed and lust in a struggle for existence in which only the "fitness", the most ruthless, survive. Following the rule "survival of the fittest"，life in real society just likes life in jungle. Those who have climbed up the society on the exploitation of other people of their race，like the headmaster，are proved to be the fittest, and they possesses wealth and high social position. While those who are honest and upright, like the protagonist, are proved to be unfit in such a society and are doomed to lose the opportunity to study in the college, thereafter to wander in the street and lose identity. In such a society, the African-American are born inferior to the whites, and they are considered as second—class citizen. Due to such social environment and their heredity, they are just like feathers which are helpless and aimless in the wind.Invisible Man as a novel of depicting social exclusion that describes the culture of segregation of whites and blacks. The culture is not only existing in the society, but also existing in the mind. The author deepens the theme and uncovers the social mask by a large number of symbolisms to see a true and the ugliest side of society. This epic of modern African-American life achieves Ellison’s artistic ideal at the same time.。

lesson_7_invisible_man(看不见的人)

climax
crisis falling action rising action
introduction
resolution
Modern novels

less stereotyped
usually with no formal introduction.

character

Person — protagonist & antagonist Characteristics of a person Physical appearance Words and deeds Other people‘s reaction Basic principle to create a character: consistent, motivated, and life-like
WhaBiblioteka is novel?The genre encompasses 围绕a wide range of types and styles:
1. picaresque (adventure), 2. epistolary (correspondence), 3. gothic (mystery and ghost-like), 4. romantic, 5. realistic, 6. historical novels

Point of view: the angle from which the story is told
1. 2. 3. 4. Innocent Eye Stream of Consciousness First Person Omniscient普遍存在 a) Omniscient Limited b) Omniscient Objective

精读5第7课invisibleman

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What is the main idea of paragraph 2?
• It tells about the historical background of the story. It also introduces a new character----the narrator’s grandfather. Before he died, he said something that alarmed and puzzled the whole family.
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Tther things
Everything Social
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14
About 85 years ago, they were told that … fingers of the hand.
• * Everything: industrial, commercial, civil and religious life. • * Pertain to… : relates, belongs, or applies to; pertain to common good: having to do with the common interests of our two races. • * in everything social … of the hand: a simile. Compare the relationship between the blacks and the whites to fingers of the hand, which implies that in social life, the blacks and the whites are separated, though they are united in all things essential to the common interests. • * Paraphrase: About 85 years ago, they were told that they were freed from slavery and became united with the white people in all the essential things having to do with the common interests of our country, but in social life, the blacks and whites still remain separated.

Lesson 7-Invisible Man

A Brief Introduction to Invisible Man
• The narrator's first real glimpse at the cruel manipulation of white people comes when he is invited to the local men's club to read the speech he prepared for his high school graduation. He gives the speech and is rewarded with a briefcase and a scholarship to a black college, but only after he endures the humiliation of performing for the white men there. He and several black boys are forced to box each other and then scramble around a rug pulsing with electric current to grab coins while the white men laugh at their pain.
About the Author
• Mrs. Ellison, a maid, would bring home books, magazines, and record albums that had been discarded in the homes she cleaned. Ralph and his brother, Herbert, were supplied with chemistry sets, toy typewriters, and a rolltop desk so that they would have the tools to succeed.

invisible man高英课文

Invisible Man高英课文引言在《Invisible Man》这本小说中，作者Ralph Ellison通过描述一个不被人们注意的黑人男子的经历，深入探讨了种族歧视、社会阶层和个人认同等重要议题。

本文将分析小说中的主要主题和意象，同时探讨作者运用隐喻、象征和语言技巧来传达这些主题的方法。

主题分析1. 身份与认同在《Invisible Man》中，主人公不仅是一个没有身体的人，更是一个在社会中被边缘化的存在。

他面对着各种来自白人社会的压迫和对黑人的歧视，他被剥夺了自己的身份和地位。

这推动了他的个人认同的探索和建设。

隐藏在主人公的无形身体背后的是他渴望被人看到和被人承认的渴望。

通过这一主题，作者探索了种族、性别和文化认同对于个体自我发展和社会的影响。

2. 社会阶层《Invisible Man》通过描绘主人公置身于社会阶层底层的境遇，揭示了社会种族和阶层之间的差距和不公。

主人公在寻求进步和脱离社会底层时，经历了种种艰辛和挫折。

作者通过主人公的经历，呈现出社会阶层的不公正和限制，同时也使我们对于社会为何如此分化产生了思考。

3. 观念开放与歧视小说中的主人公通过在不同环境中的经历，逐渐认识到身上所承受的歧视和偏见，并开始对社会的观念进行质疑。

作者通过刻画主人公的心路历程，呼吁读者认识到歧视的存在，并且推动读者反思自身对于他人的看法。

意象分析1. 无形身体主人公拥有一个无形的身体，这一意象象征着在白人社会中黑人的存在与忽视。

作者通过描述主人公的无形身体，表达了对于种族歧视和边缘化问题的探讨。

2. 眼镜在小说中，主人公获得了一副让他透过看到事物本质的眼镜。

这一意象揭示了现实与观念之间的冲突，并呼应了主人公对于社会观念的质疑。

3. 暗喻作者运用暗喻的手法，将主人公的经历和黑人历史相联系。

通过暗喻，作者传达了对于历史的反思和对于当前社会问题的关切。

语言技巧分析1. 隐喻作者运用丰富的隐喻手法，通过比喻和隐晦的语言来描述主人公的经历和感受。

拉尔夫·艾里森小说《看不见的人》的种族空间政治

拉尔夫艾里森小说《看不见的人》的种族空间政治邱旭;赵莉华【期刊名称】《乐山师范学院学报》【年(卷),期】2014(000)009【摘要】拉尔夫·艾里森小说《看不见的人》借由一位无名无姓的黑人讲述其生活经历，展现了社会中的普遍意识：白人、富人的优越性和高贵性以及黑人、穷人的落后性和贫贱性。

白人作为社会空间结构规划者将这种白/黑二元对立借由物理空间及物件物品的对立进行体现，形成列斐伏尔所谓的二元对立种族空间表征，规训和强化种族秩序。

%Presenting the narration of an unknown black man’s life experience, Ralph Ellison’s Invisi-ble Man shows people’s common belief: the superiority and nobility of the whites and the rich, and the in-feriority and humbleness of the blacks and the poor. As the planners of social space structure, the whites make the binary opposition between the whites and the blacks represented through the opposition of the physical space and objects, forming racial “representation of space” by Henri Lefebvre to discipline and strengthen the social order.【总页数】6页(P26-31)【作者】邱旭;赵莉华【作者单位】四川外国语大学研究生院，重庆沙坪坝 400031;西华师范大学，四川南充 637002【正文语种】中文【中图分类】I712.44【相关文献】1.文化冲突中寻求真正的存在——拉尔夫·艾里森《看不见的人》创作简论 [J], 唐晓忠2.慈善礼物圈——从拉尔夫·艾里森的《看不见的人》的主题谈起 [J], 丁易3.人的自我本质的追寻与探索——评拉尔夫·艾里森的小说《看不见的人》 [J], 王慧平4.黑白意象对比研究——以拉尔夫·艾里森《看不见的人》为例 [J], 韦小岿5.自我的丧失人生的悲剧——拉尔夫·艾里森小说《看不见的人》主题思想探折[J], 时贵仁因版权原因，仅展示原文概要，查看原文内容请购买。

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Chapter 1It goes a long way back, some twenty years. All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking or myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself. But first I had to discover that I am an invisible man!And yet I am no freak of nature, nor of history. I was in the cards, other things having been equal (or unequal) eighty-five years ago. I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed. About eighty-five years ago they were told that they were free, united with others of our country in everything pertaining to the common good, and, in everything social, separate like the fingers of the hand. And they believed it. They exulted in it. They stayed in their place, worked hard, and brought up my father to do the same. But my grandfather is the one. He was an odd old guy, my grandfather, and I am told I take after him. It was he who caused the trouble. On his deathbed he called my father to him and said, "Son, after I'm gone I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy's country ever since I give up my gun back in the Reconstruction. Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open." They thought the old man had gone out of his mind. He had been the meekest of men. The younger children were rushed from the room, the shades drawn and the flame of the lamp turned so low that it sputtered on the wick like the old man's breathing. "Learn it to the younguns," he whispered fiercely; then he died.But my folks were more alarmed over his last words than over his dying. It was as though he had not died at all, his words caused so much anxiety. I was warned emphatically to forget what he had said and, indeed, this is the first time it has been mentioned outside the family circle. It had a tremendous effect upon me, however. I could never be sure of what he meant. Grandfather had been a quiet old man who never made any trouble, yet on his deathbed he had called himself a traitor and a spy, and he had spoken of his meekness as a dangerous activity. It became a constant puzzle which lay unanswered in the back of my mind. And whenever things went well for me I remembered my grandfather and felt guilty and uncomfortable. It was as though I was carrying out his advice in spite of myself. And to make it worse, everyone loved me for it. I was praised by the most lily-white men of the town. I was considered an example of desirable conduct -- just as my grandfather had been. And what puzzled me was that the old man had defined it as treachery. When I was praised for my conduct I felt a guilt that in some way I was doing something that was really against the wishes of the white folks, that if they had understood they wouldhave desired me to act just the opposite, that I should have been sulky and mean, and that that really would have been what they wanted, even though they were fooled and thought they wanted me to act as I did. It made me afraid that some day they would look upon me as a traitor and I would be lost. Still I was more afraid to act any other way because they didn't like that at all. The old man's words were like a curse. On my graduation day I delivered an oration in which I showed that humility was the secret, indeed, the very essence of progress. (Not that I believed this -- how could I, remembering my grandfather? -- I only believed that it worked.) It was a great success. Everyone praised me and I was invited to give the speech at a gathering of the town's leading white citizens. It was a triumph for our whole community.It was in the main ballroom of the leading hotel. When I got there I discovered that it was on the occasion of a smoker, and I was told that since I was to be there anyway I might as well take part in the battle royal to be fought by some of my schoolmates as part of the entertainment. The battle royal came first.All of the town's big shots were there in their tuxedoes, wolfing down the buffet foods, drinking beer and whiskey and smoking black cigars. It was a large room with a high ceiling. Chairs were arranged in neat rows around three sides of a portable boxing ring. The fourth side was clear, revealing a gleaming space of polished floor. I had some misgivings over the battle royal, by the way. Not from a distaste for fighting, but because I didn't care too much for the other fellows who were to take part. They were tough guys who seemed to have no grandfather's curse worrying their minds. No one could mistake their toughness. And besides, I suspected that fighting a battle royal might detract from the dignity of my speech. In those pre-invisible days I visualized myself as a potential Booker T. Washington. But the other fellows didn't care too much for me either, and there were nine of them. I felt superior to them in my way, and I didn't like the manner in which we were all crowded together into the servants' elevator. Nor did they like my being there. In fact, as the warmly lighted floors flashed past the elevator we had words over the fact that I, by taking part in the fight, had knocked one of their friends out of a night's work.We were led out of the elevator through a rococo hall into an anteroom and told to get into our fighting togs. Each of us was issued a pair of boxing gloves and ushered out into the big mirrored hall, which we entered looking cautiously about us and whispering, lest we might accidentally be heard above the noise of the room. It was foggy with cigar smoke. And already the whiskey was taking effect. I was shocked to see some of the most important men of the town quite tipsy. They were all there -- bankers, lawyers, judges, doctors, fire chiefs, teachers, merchants. Even one of the more fashionable pastors. Something we could not see was going on up front. A clarinet was vibrating sensuously and the men were standing up and moving eagerly forward. We were a small tight group, clustered together, our bare upper bodies touching and shining with anticipatory sweat; while up front the big shots were becoming increasingly excited over something we still could not see. Suddenly I heard the school superintendent, who had told me to come, yell, "Bring up the shines, gentlemen! Bring up the little shines!"We were rushed up to the front of the ballroom, where it smelled even more strongly of tobacco and whiskey. Then we were pushed into place. I almost wet my pants. A sea of faces, some hostile, some amused, ringed around us, and in the center, facing us, stood a magnificent blonde -- stark naked. There was dead silence. I felt a blast of cold air chill me. I tried to back away, but they were behind me and around me. Some of the boys stood with lowered heads, trembling. I felt a wave of irrational guilt and fear. My teeth chattered, my skin turned to goose flesh, my knees knocked. Yet I was strongly attracted and looked in spite of myself. Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked. The hair was yellow like that of a circus kewpie doll, the face heavily powdered and rouged, as though to form an abstract mask, the eyes hollow and smeared a cool blue, the color of a baboon's butt. I felt a desire to spit upon her as my eyes brushed slowly over her body. Her breasts were firm and round as the domes of East Indian temples, and I stood so close as to see the fine skin texture and beads of pearly perspiration glistening like dew around the pink and erected buds of her nipples. I wanted at one and the same time to run from the room, to sink through the floor, or go to her and cover her from my eyes and the eyes of the others with my body; to feel the soft thighs, to caress her and destroy her, to love her and murder her, to hide from her, and yet to stroke where below the small American flag tattooed upon her belly her thighs formed a capital V. I had a notion that of all in the room she saw only me with her impersonal eyes.And then she began to dance, a slow sensuous movement; the smoke of a hundred cigars clinging to her like the thinnest of veils. She seemed like a fair bird-girl girdled in veils calling to me from the angry surface of some gray and threatening sea.I was transported. Then I became aware of the clarinet playing and the big shots yelling at us. Some threatened us if we looked and others if we did not. On my right I saw one boy faint. And now a man grabbed a silver pitcher from a table and stepped close as he dashed ice water upon him and stood him up and forced two of us to support him as his head hung and moans issued from his thick bluish lips. Another boy began to plead to go home. He was the largest of the group, wearing dark red fighting trunks much too small to conceal the erection which projected from him as though in answer to the insinuating low-registered moaning of the clarinet. He tried to hide himself with his boxing gloves.And all the while the blonde continued dancing, smiling faintly at the big shots who watched her with fascination, and faintly smiling at our fear. I noticed a certain merchant who followed her hungrily, his lips loose and drooling. He was a large man who wore diamond studs in a shirtfront which swelled with the ample paunch underneath, and each time the blonde swayed her undulating hips he ran his hand through the thin hair of his bald head and, with his arms upheld, his posture clumsy like that of an intoxicated panda, wound his belly in a slow and obscene grind. This creature was completely hypnotized. The music had quickened. As the dancer flung herself about with a detached expression on her face, the men began reaching out to touch her. I could see their beefy fingers sink into the soft flesh. Some of the others tried to stop them and she began to move around the floor in graceful circles, as they gave chase, slipping and sliding over the polished floor. It was mad. Chairs wentcrashing, drinks were spilt, as they ran laughing and howling after her. They caught her just as she reached a door, raised her from the floor, and tossed her as college boys are tossed at a hazing, and above her red, fixed-smiling lips I saw the terror and disgust in her eyes, almost like my own terror and that which I saw in some of the other boys. As I watched, they tossed her twice and her soft breasts seemed to flatten against the air and her legs flung wildly as she spun. Some of the more sober ones helped her to escape. And I started off the floor, heading for the anteroom with the rest of the boys.Some were still crying and in hysteria. But as we tried to leave we were stopped and ordered to get into the ring. There was nothing to do but what we were told. All ten of us climbed under the ropes and allowed ourselves to be blindfolded with broad bands of white cloth. One of the men seemed to feel a bit sympathetic and tried to cheer us up as we stood with our backs against the ropes. Some of us tried to grin. "See that boy over there?" one of the men said. "I want you to run across at the bell and give it to him right in the belly. If you don't get him, I'm going to get you. I don't like his looks." Each of us was told the same. The blindfolds were put on. Yet even then I had been going over my speech. In my mind each word was as bright as flame. I felt the cloth pressed into place, and frowned so that it would be loosened when I relaxed.But now I felt a sudden fit of blind terror. I was unused to darkness. It was as though I had suddenly found myself in a dark room filled with poisonous cottonmouths. I could hear the bleary voices yelling insistently for the battle royal to begin."Get going in there!""Let me at that big nigger!"I strained to pick up the school superintendent's voice, as though to squeeze some security out of that slightly more familiar sound."Let me at those black sonsabitches!" someone yelled."No, Jackson, no!" another voice yelled. "Here, somebody, help me hold Jack.""I want to get at that ginger-colored nigger. Tear him limb from limb," the first voice yelled.I stood against the ropes trembling. For in those days I was what they called gingercolored, and he sounded as though he might crunch me between his teeth like a crisp ginger cookie.Quite a struggle was going on. Chairs were being kicked about and I could hear voices grunting as with a terrific effort. I wanted to see, to see more desperately than ever before. But the blindfold was as tight as a thick skin-puckering scab and when I raised my gloved hands to push the layers of white aside a voice yelled, "Oh, no you don't, black bastard! Leave that alone!""Ring the bell before Jackson kills him a coon!" someone boomed in the sudden silence. And I heard the bell clang and the sound of the feet scuffling forward.A glove smacked against my head. I pivoted, striking out stiffly as someone went past, and felt the jar ripple along the length of my arm to my shoulder. Then it seemed as though all nine of the boys had turned upon me at once. Blows pounded me from all sides while I struck out as best I could. So many blows landed upon me that I wondered if I were not the only blindfolded fighter in the ring, or if the man called Jackson hadn't succeeded in getting me after all.Blindfolded, I could no longer control my motions. I had no dignity. I stumbled about like a baby or a drunken man. The smoke had become thicker and with each new blow it seemed to sear and further restrict my lungs. My saliva became like hot bitter glue. A glove connected with my head, filling my mouth with warm blood. It was everywhere. I could not tell if the moisture I felt upon my body was sweat or blood. A blow landed hard against the nape of my neck. I felt myself going over, my head hitting the floor. Streaks of blue light filled the black world behind the blindfold.I lay prone, pretending that I was knocked out, but felt myself seized by hands and yanked to my feet. "Get going, black boy! Mix it up!" My arms were like lead, my head smarting from blows. I managed to feel my way to the ropes and held on, trying to catch my breath. A glove landed in my mid-section and I went over again, feeling as though the smoke had become a knife jabbed into my guts. Pushed this way and that by the legs milling around me, I finally pulled erect and discovered that I could see the black, sweat-washed forms weaving in the smoky-blue atmosphere like drunken dancers weaving to the rapid drum-like thuds of blows.Everyone fought hysterically. It was complete anarchy. Everybody fought everybody else. No group fought together for long. Two, three, four, fought one, then turned to fight each other, were themselves attacked. Blows landed below the belt and in the kidney, with the gloves open as well as closed, and with my eye partly opened now there was not so much terror. I moved carefully, avoiding blows, although not too many to attract attention, fighting from group to group. The boys groped about like blind, cautious crabs crouching to protect their mid-sections, their heads pulled in short against their shoulders, their arms stretched nervously before them, with their fists testing the smoke-filled air like the knobbed feelers of hypersensitive snails. In one corner I glimpsed a boy violently punching the air and heard him scream in pain as he smashed his hand against a ring post. For a second I saw him bent over holding his hand, then going down as a blow caught his unprotected head. I played one group against the other, slipping in and throwing a punch then stepping out of range while pushing the others into the melee to take the blows blindly aimed at me. The smoke was agonizing and there were no rounds, no bells at three minute intervals to relieve our exhaustion. The room spun round me, a swirl of lights, smoke, sweating bodies surrounded by tense white faces. I bled from both nose and mouth, the blood spattering upon my chest.The men kept yelling, "Slug him, black boy! Knock his guts out!""Uppercut him! Kill him! Kill that big boy!"Taking a fake fall, I saw a boy going down heavily beside me as though we werefelled by a single blow, saw a sneaker-clad foot shoot into his groin as the two who had knocked him down stumbled upon him. I rolled out of range, feeling a twinge of nausea. The harder we fought the more threatening the men became. And yet, I had begun to worry about my speech again. How would it go? Would they recognize my ability? What would they give me?I was fighting automatically when suddenly I noticed that one after another of the boys was leaving the ring. I was surprised, filled with panic, as though I had been left alone with an unknown danger. Then I understood. The boys had arranged it among themselves. It was the custom for the two men left in the ring to slug it out for the winner's prize. I discovered this too late. When the bell sounded two men in tuxedoes leaped into the ring and removed the blindfold. I found myself facing Tatlock, the biggest of the gang. I felt sick at my stomach. Hardly had the bell stopped ringing in my ears than it clanged again and I saw him moving swiftly toward me. Thinking of nothing else to do I hit him smash on the nose. He kept coming, bringing the rank sharp violence of stale sweat. His face was a black blank of a face, only his eyes alive -- with hate of me and aglow with a feverish terror from what had happened to us all. I became anxious. I wanted to deliver my speech and he came at me as though he meant to beat it out of me. I smashed him again and again, taking his blows as they came. Then on a sudden impulse I struck him lightly and as we clinched, I whispered, "Fake like I knocked you out, you can have the prize.""I'll break your behind," he whispered hoarsely."For them?""For me, sonofabitch!"They were yelling for us to break it up and Tatlock spun me half around with a blow, and as a joggled camera sweeps in a reeling scene, I saw the howling red faces crouching tense beneath the cloud of blue-gray smoke. For a moment the world wavered, unraveled, flowed, then my head cleared and Tatlock bounced before me. That fluttering shadow before my eyes was his jabbing left hand. Then falling forward, my head against his damp shoulder, I whispered, "I'll make it five dollars more.""Go to hell!"But his muscles relaxed a trifle beneath my pressure and I breathed,"Seven?""Give it to your ma," he said, ripping me beneath the heart.And while I still held him I butted him and moved away. I felt myself bombarded with punches. I fought back with hopeless desperation. I wanted to deliver my speech more than anything else in the world, felt that only these men could judge truly my ability, and now this stupid clown was ruining my chances. I began fighting carefully now, moving in to punch him and out again with my greater speed. A lucky blow to his chin and I had him going too -- until I heard a loud voice yell, "I got my money on the big boy."against the voice out there? Would not this go against my speech, and was not this a moment for humility, for nonresistance? A blow to my head as I danced about sentmy right eye popping like a jack-in-the-box and settled my dilemma. The room went red as I fell. It was a dream fall, my body languid and fastidious as to where to land, until the floor became impatient and smashed up to meet me. A moment later I came to. An hypnotic voice said FIVE emphatically. And I lay there, hazily watching a dark red spot of my own blood shaping itself into a butterfly, glistening and soaking into the soiled gray world of the canvas.When the voice drawled TEN I was lifted up and dragged to a chair. I sat dazed. My eye pained and swelled with each throb of my pounding heart and I wondered if now I would be allowed to speak. I was wringing wet, my mouth still bleeding. We were grouped along the wall now. The other boys ignored me as they congratulated Tatlock and speculated as to how much they would be paid. One boy whimpered over his smashed hand. Looking up front, I saw attendants in white jackets rolling the portable ring away and placing a small square rug in the vacant space surrounded by chairs. Perhaps, I thought, I will stand on the rug to deliver my speech.Then the M.C. called to us, "Come on up here boys and get your money."We ran forward to where the men laughed and talked in their chairs, waiting. Everyone seemed friendly now."There it is on the rug," the man said. I saw the rug covered with coins of all dimensions and a few crumpled bills. But what excited me, scattered here and there, were the gold pieces."Boys, it's all yours," the man said. "You get all you grab.""That's right, Sambo," a blond man said, winking at me confidentially.I trembled with excitement, forgetting my pain. I would get the gold and the bills, I thought. I would use both hands. I would throw my body against the boys nearest me to block them from the gold."Get down around the rug now," the man commanded, "and don't anyone touch it until I give the signal.""This ought to be good," I heard.As told, we got around the square rug on our knees. Slowly the man raised his freckled hand as we followed it upward with our eyes.I heard, "These niggers look like they're about to pray!"Then, "Ready," the man said. "Go!"I lunged for a yellow coin lying on the blue design of the carpet, touching it and sending a surprised shriek to join those rising around me. I tried frantically to remove my hand but could not let go. A hot, violent force tore through my body, shaking me like a wet rat. The rug was electrified. The hair bristled up on my head as I shook myself free. My muscles jumped, my nerves jangled, writhed. But I saw that this was not stopping the other boys. Laughing in fear and embarrassment, some were holding back and scooping up the coins knocked off by the painful contortions of the others. The men roared above us as we struggled."Pick it up, goddamnit, pick it up!" someone called like a bass-voiced parrot. "Go on, get it!"I crawled rapidly around the floor, picking up the coins, trying to avoid the coppers and to get greenbacks and the gold. Ignoring the shock by laughing, as Ibrushed the coins off quickly, I discovered that I could contain the electricity -- a contradiction, but it works. Then the men began to push us onto the rug. Laughing embarrassedly, we struggled out of their hands and kept after the coins. We were all wet and slippery and hard to hold. Suddenly I saw a boy lifted into the air, glistening with sweat like a circus seal, and dropped, his wet back landing flush upon the charged rug, heard him yell and saw him literally dance upon his back, elbows beating a frenzied tattoo upon the floor, his muscles twitching like the flesh of a horse stung by many flies. When he finally rolled off, his face was gray and no one stopped him when he ran from the floor amid booming laughter."Get the money," the M.C. called. "That's good hard American cash!"And we snatched and grabbed, snatched and grabbed. I was careful not to come too close to the rug now, and when I felt the hot whiskey breath descend upon me like a cloud of foul air I reached out and grabbed the leg of a chair. It was occupied and I held on desperately."Leggo, nigger! Leggo!"The huge face wavered down to mine as he tried to push me free. But my body was slippery and he was too drunk. It was Mr. Colcord, who owned a chain of movie houses and "entertainment palaces." Each time he grabbed me I slipped out of his hands. It became a real struggle. I feared the rug more than I did the drunk, so I held on, surprising myself for a moment by trying to topple him upon the rug. It was such an enormous idea that I found myself actually carrying it out. I tried not to be obvious, yet when I grabbed his leg, trying to tumble him out of the chair, he raised up roaring with laughter, and, looking at me with soberness dead in the eye, kicked me viciously in the chest. The chair leg flew out of my hand and I felt myself going and rolled. It was as though I had rolled through a bed of hot coals. It seemed a whole century would pass before I would roll free, a century in which I was seared through the deepest levels of my body to the fearful breath within me and the breath seared and heated to the point of explosion. It'll all be over in a flash, I thought as I rolled clear. It'll all be over in a flash.45But not yet, the men on the other side were waiting, red faces swollen as though from apoplexy as they bent forward in their chairs. Seeing their fingers coming toward me I rolled away as a fumbled football rolls off the receiver's fingertips, back into the coals. That time I luckily sent the rug sliding out of place and heard the coins ringing against the floor and the boys scuffling to pick them up and the M.C. calling, "All right, boys, that's all. Go get dressed and get your money."I was limp as a dish rag. My back felt as though it had been beaten with wires.47 When we had dressed the M.C. came in and gave us each five dollars, except Tatlock, who got ten for being last in the ring. Then he told us to leave. I was not to get a chance to deliver my speech, I thought. I was going out into the dim alley in despair when I was stopped and told to go back. I returned to the ballroom, where the men were pushing back their chairs and gathering in groups to talk.48 The M.C. knocked on a table for quiet. "Gentlemen," he said, "we almost forgot an important part of the program. A most serious part, gentlemen. This boy was brought here to deliver a speech which he made at his graduation yesterday . . .""Bravo!""I'm told that he is the smartest boy we've got out there in Greenwood. I'm told that he knows more big words than a pocket-sized dictionary."Much applause and laughter."So now, gentlemen, I want you to give him your attention."There was still laughter as I faced them, my mouth dry, my eye throbbing. I began slowly, but evidently my throat was tense, because they began shouting, "Louder! Louder!"54"We of the younger generation extol the wisdom of that great leader and educator," I shouted, "who first spoke these flaming words of wisdom: 'A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal: "Water, water; we die of thirst!" The answer from the friendly vessel came back: "Cast down your bucket where you are." The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River.' And like him I say, and in his words, 'To those of my race who depend upon bettering their condition in a foreign land, or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is his next-door neighbor, I would say: "Cast down your bucket where you are" -- cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded . . .' "55 I spoke automatically and with such fervor that I did not realize that the men were still talking and laughing until my dry mouth, filling up with blood from the cut, almost strangled me. I coughed, wanting to stop and go to one of the tall brass, sand-filled spittoons to relieve myself, but a few of the men, especially the superintendent, were listening and I was afraid. So I gulped it down, blood, saliva and all, and continued. (What powers of endurance I had during those days! What enthusiasm! What a belief in the rightness of things!) I spoke even louder in spite of the pain. But still they talked and still they laughed, as though deaf with cotton in dirty ears. So I spoke with greater emotional emphasis. I closed my ears and swallowed blood until I was nauseated. The speech seemed a hundred times as long as before, but I could not leave out a single word. All had to be said, each memorized nuance considered, rendered. Nor was that all. Whenever I uttered a word of three or more syllables a group of voices would yell for me to repeat it. I used the phrase "social responsibility" and they yelled:"What's that word you say, boy?""Social responsibility," I said."What?""Social . . .""Louder."". . . responsibility.""More!""Respon --""Repeat!""-- sibility."。