Power and Sex in Chapter 25
The only real mention of sex is when it is revealed that the character Dupre had gotten a girl, Lottie, pregnant. This is seen when she says "Please. You know my time's almost here...you knows it is" (546). This shows that Dupre has some power over his small community, as he is able to convince even a pregnant girl to leave her home without repercussions.
While sex doesn't play a very large role in this chapter, power certainly does, and one of the best examples is the power that the racists that trap the IM in the sewers have over the IM, through both their racism and the explicit societal power their race gives them. This is seen in a line that occurs as they are looking down at the IM through the manhole, and one of them remarks "Nigger in a coal pile, eh, Joe?" (565).
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Synthesis Post: Chapters 16-25
In this last third of the book, power and sex change significantly in how the Invisible Man is associated with them. Earlier, the Invisible Man seemed foreign to anything sexual and was typically the one who has the lack of power. Now as he's struggling with the Brotherhood and trying to find his true identity, he ends up with the upper hand.
When the Invisible Man disguises himself to protect himself from Ras, he is mistaken for a man named Rinehart. Rinehart is a pimp, gambler and a minister
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Power and Sex in Chapter 11
In Chapter Eleven, power is displayed through the doctors and the chair that the IM was strapped into. "...worn by the occupant of an electric chair...a man sitting with his back to me, manipulating dials on a panel." The Invisible Man had no control over what was happening to him, he physically and mentally wasn't capable.
Sex is in Chapter Eleven with the songs in the IM's head when he's falling in and out of consciousness and he hears one of the doctors suggest to the other that they do a castration on the Invisible Man, "Why not castration, doctor?" By how that comment is followed up, with laughter, they obviously see this as a joke instead of the Invisible Man as a person.
Power and Sex in Chapter 22
In Chapter Twenty-two, power in shown through Brother Jack. Although Brother Jack seemed to be innocent in the beginning of the readers getting to know him as a character, he developed into being a racist Brotherhood member greedy for power. "Our job is not to ask them what they think but to tell them." "Who are you, anyway; the great white father?" "Not their father, their leader. And your leader. And you don't forget it...As the leader of the Brotherhood, I am their leader." This confrontation between Brother Jack and the Invisible Man displays how selfish Brother Jack is for all the attention and all the followers.
There is no sex in Chapter Twenty-two to my knowledge.
There is no sex in Chapter Twenty-two to my knowledge.
Power and Sex in Chapter 23
In Chapter Twenty-three, power is seen when the Invisible Man realizes that he can trick people into thinking that he's somebody's he's not, a man named Rinehart. "Rinehart, I thought. so it works." The Invisible Man is starting to learn that his invisibility can actually give him more power compared to those who are too ignorant to realize that he's not who they think he is.
Sex in Chapter Twenty-three is displayed when a woman approaches the Invisible Man thinking that he's a man named Rinehart. "I've been waiting for you to recognize me, daddy,...I tell you where to meet me...Will you be able to see me tonight?" All because the Invisible Man is now wearing a hat and a pair of green sunglasses, everybody thinks he's Rinehart, giving him a new identity since he's struggling with his own.
Sex in Chapter Twenty-three is displayed when a woman approaches the Invisible Man thinking that he's a man named Rinehart. "I've been waiting for you to recognize me, daddy,...I tell you where to meet me...Will you be able to see me tonight?" All because the Invisible Man is now wearing a hat and a pair of green sunglasses, everybody thinks he's Rinehart, giving him a new identity since he's struggling with his own.
Power and Sex in Chapter 19
Although throughout the book, women have been the ones with the lack of power, in Chapter Nineteen, even though this woman complains about women not having any opportunities because they are in the minority, she clearly has the power over the Invisible Man throughout the entire chapter. When she is able to lure the Invisible Man into her home, she makes him feel restricted. "And if I were really free,...I'd get the hell out of here." This shows that no matter the gender difference, race can still determine who has the power.
Sex was shown in Chapter Nineteen when the same white woman gets the Invisible Man to literally have sex with her. When she lures him to her house and their conversation ends them up in her bedroom. "...in one swift motion the red robe wept aside like a veil, and I went breathless at the petite and generously curved nude, framed delicate and firm in the glass." All night the woman has been teasing the Invisible Man and this was the last thing that happened right before the page break.
Power and Sex in Chapter 18
In Chapter 18, power is displayed through the link chain that Bother Tarp gives to the Invisible Man as a gift. "But it was the chain, and after nineteen years I haven't been able to stop dragging my leg...it might help you remember what we're really fighting for." When Tarp gives the Invisible Man the chain link, it it something that continues to weigh the Invisible Man down and give him the burden of slavery that Brother Tarp used to have.
Sex is not displayed in this chapter to my knowledge.
Sex is not displayed in this chapter to my knowledge.
Sex and Power in Chapter 21
Sex appears very briefly in this chapter, as it focuses almost exclusively on the IM dealing with the loss of Clifton and the subsequent funeral. The only thing I could find that deals with loss was the particular grief that the young girls in the organization feel when they learn that Clifton has died, which is probably tied to their sexual attraction to him. Their grief is so intense that "one of the girls was still crying piteously when they went out" (449).
Power shows up in many ways in this chapter, most particularly with how much power and influence Clifton's death has over the IM, even after Clifton had died. This is seen when he grapples with the loss of Clifton in quotations like "Why didn't you hurt him and save him? You might have started a fight and both of you would have been arrested with no shooting..." (446).
Sex appears very briefly in this chapter, as it focuses almost exclusively on the IM dealing with the loss of Clifton and the subsequent funeral. The only thing I could find that deals with loss was the particular grief that the young girls in the organization feel when they learn that Clifton has died, which is probably tied to their sexual attraction to him. Their grief is so intense that "one of the girls was still crying piteously when they went out" (449).
Power shows up in many ways in this chapter, most particularly with how much power and influence Clifton's death has over the IM, even after Clifton had died. This is seen when he grapples with the loss of Clifton in quotations like "Why didn't you hurt him and save him? You might have started a fight and both of you would have been arrested with no shooting..." (446).
Sex and Power in Chapter 17
The motif of Sex is seen when Brother Tod Clifton enters the Brotherhood Committee meeting, and causes a woman to emit a "pleasurable sigh" (363). Brother Clifton is one of the few characters to ever be described as particularly physically striking, and this adds to his dynamism and establishes him as a character of significance. In this same moment, the motif of Power is at play, as Brother Clifton enters the meeting late. From what we know of the Brotherhood so far, this would be seen as an indefensible sin, as they are a very militant, all for one, one for all organization. But Clifton is given a pass by Jack "Still, he should be on time-very well" (362). Power and Sex also mix here, because Clifton has a lot of power among the youth of the Brotherhood because the girls are attracted to him.
The motif of Sex is seen when Brother Tod Clifton enters the Brotherhood Committee meeting, and causes a woman to emit a "pleasurable sigh" (363). Brother Clifton is one of the few characters to ever be described as particularly physically striking, and this adds to his dynamism and establishes him as a character of significance. In this same moment, the motif of Power is at play, as Brother Clifton enters the meeting late. From what we know of the Brotherhood so far, this would be seen as an indefensible sin, as they are a very militant, all for one, one for all organization. But Clifton is given a pass by Jack "Still, he should be on time-very well" (362). Power and Sex also mix here, because Clifton has a lot of power among the youth of the Brotherhood because the girls are attracted to him.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Sex and Power in Chapter 24
Sex is easy to find in chapter 24, as it centers around the Invisible Man having sex with another married white woman (though this time it was his specific plan to do so). Sybil is a white woman with a husband, George, who is a member of the Brotherhood. Sybil requests that the Invisible Man pretend to rape her, which she does because she sees him as a rapist because he is black. Sybil is also a little screwy, as she tells the Invisible Man on page 519, "I think I'm a nymphomaniac."
Power is also easy to find in this chapter. Sybil wants the Invisible Man to dominate her, to exercise power over her. He tells her on page 524, "I overpowered you." after he finishes pretending to rape her. Rape is the ultimate expression of a man's power over a woman, and this instance with Sybil is what teaches the Invisible Man that using women as a power grab is not a good idea.
Power is also easy to find in this chapter. Sybil wants the Invisible Man to dominate her, to exercise power over her. He tells her on page 524, "I overpowered you." after he finishes pretending to rape her. Rape is the ultimate expression of a man's power over a woman, and this instance with Sybil is what teaches the Invisible Man that using women as a power grab is not a good idea.
Sex and Power in Chapter 20
Power in chapter 20 appears on page 427, when the Invisible Man comments, "Everything seemed to be slipping away from me and I could find no quick absorbing action that would get it under control." Control is a synonym for power, and the Invisible Man has lost all of the power he once held with the Brotherhood in Harlem.
Sex appears on page 429, when the Invisible Man wonders why the Brotherhood was seemingly absent from their old headquarters in Harlem. He asks himself, "Or was it the woman?", a callback to the previous chapter in which he has sex with a married woman.
Sex appears on page 429, when the Invisible Man wonders why the Brotherhood was seemingly absent from their old headquarters in Harlem. He asks himself, "Or was it the woman?", a callback to the previous chapter in which he has sex with a married woman.
Sex and Power in Chapter 16
The Invisible Man's speech in chapter 16 talks a lot about power and power structures. During the speech he goes on a rant about dispossession, saying, "Why, they even tried to dispossess us of our dislike of being dispossessed!" The poor people of color are being evicted in Harlem, and the Invisible Man is calling out the people in power and saying exactly in what way the people are being de-powered and disenfranchised. The term "dispossess" is something of a synonym for that.
I could not find any examples of sex in chapter 16.
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