Power and Sex in Chapter Three and Chapter Four

 

 

In Chapter Three, power is not only gained but also lost. In this chapter the attendant loses power when his patients attack him. The Invisible Man observes that, "Men were jumping upon Supercargo with both feet now..." This scene show the irony that Supercargo's large size and intimidating demeanor has little to do with his physical power. The image is just all for show.

Sex is shown very clearly in Chapter Three. The insane former soldiers are being 'treated' by prostitutes in a brothel. "Half dressed women appeared from the rooms off the balcony. Men hooted and yelled as at a football game." In this chapter, women are still being used by men for pleasure, which has been a common trend throughout the book so far.

 

 

 

 

In Chapter Four, Dr. Bledsoe embodies power entirely. Everything he does is something done that intimidates the Invisible Man. From how he looks at the Invisible Man to how he talks to him, Dr. Bledsoe only looks condescendingly at the Invisible Man. Not only because of his status in the school but also because the Invisible Man is African American. "Don't be kind, sir,...you can't be soft with these people. We must't pamper them." Dr. Bledsoe chooses to over react to the situation because of his racist opinions instead of treating the Invisible Man like any other white student in that scenario.

Sex is encountered in this chapter when a random girl approaches the Invisible Man and tells him to tell her boy friend a secret code. "Will you take a message to my boy friend for me?...Just tell him the grass is green...It's our secret code, he'll understand...The grass was green and they'd meet and she'd be sent home pregnant..." This short conversation even lead the Invisible Man to assume her message meant that she was letting her boy friend know that she wanted to have sex with him.