Quotes
"If it's Optic White, it's the Right White"
What does this quote reveal?
AMV --
Reveals racism in society.
What did yams symbolize for TIM?
The yams are a connection to TIM’s childhood/roots in the south. They also serves as a rejection of conformist tendencies, allowing him to indulge in his heritage.
TIM takes this character with him to the Golden Day bar.
Mr. Norton
What was the reason that TIM was expelled?
TIM brought Mr. Norton to a place that Norton deemed was inappropriate. After Mr. Norton brought this to Dr. Bledsoe's attention, Bledsoe feared for the university's financial stability and his own position/authority. Therefore, expelling TIM.
“Before a great window stood a large aquarium containing colored stones… "
What does this mean?
This fish tank symbolizes the narrator's feeling of confinement and restriction in society, and the "colored stones" refers to the narrator or anyone who has felt alienated by societal expectations.
Letters in the novel often symbolize this…
Deceit and false promises
Dr. Bledsoe sends the narrator to Harlem with letters that secretly do this?
Sabotage his future and/or prevent him from getting a job.
TIM joins this organization believing that it will bring social change.
The brotherhood
“Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?
Why does TIM say this?
AMV--
TIM says this to express that although this story is his own personal experience, it accurately represents internal as well as external conflicts we all face as members of society.
The black and white paint in Liberty Paints symbolizes this racial theme?
The paint symbolizes the removal of African American individuals' identities.
Mr Brockway, the paint factor engineer, reveals his paranoia about this.
He is paranoid that he is going to be replaced after working so hard to gain his position in the Paint Factory.
Why does TIM leave in a hurry, after having an affair with a white woman?
The woman’s husband returns home, leaving TIM afraid of potential consequences.
“Why did he choose to plunge into nothingness, into the void of faceless faces, of soundless voices, lying outside history.”
Who is TIM referring to in this quote?
Clifton
TIM wears sunglasses and adopts a new identity. What ‘Identity’ does he adapt to when putting on these symbolic sunglasses?
Reinhart
Mary Rambo encourages the narrator to do this, which later inspires his speech activism.
To speak out for the people, as she believes he could be a strong leader who makes a difference in the community.
The Narrator becomes enraged when he sees this event, revealing the severe impact systemic racism has on society?
An Eviction
“I am an invisible man… simply because people refuse ____ "
Fill in the blank?
...to see me
What does the briefcase symbolize in the novel?
The briefcase serves as a symbol of the narrator's experiences, and how they shaped his changing perspective of the world and his perception of himself.
Brother Clifton sells these on the street before being shot...
Sambo Dolls
AMV--
TIM being shot forces him to accept that there is so much uncertainty in life. Therefore, he begins to reconcile with his "invisibility", and takes pride in his own identity as well as his role in society free from the expectations of others.