Characters
Symbols
Themes
Plot
Quotes
100
A white trustee of the college, who expects great things of the narrator.
Who is Mr. Norton?
100
A gift from Brother Tarp, which symbolizes freedom and rebellion.
What is the chain link?
100
A concept that is shown mostly through imagery in this novel about race relations in the United States.
What is Black vs. White?
100
This event represents an exile from Eden.
What is the narrator's expulsion from college?
100
The character who said the following: “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.”
Who is the narrator's grandfather?
200
The leader of the Brotherhood.
Who is Brother Jack?
200
An item that symbolizes the narrator's youthful ambitions, and remains with him until he loses it at the end of the novel, signifying his rebirth.
What is the briefcase?
200
An inability to see or understand things as they are.
What is blindness?
200
The place where the narrator is confined to a machine and cannot remember his name.
What is the factory hospital?
200
The character who said the following: "I was frozen to where I was like a youngun what done stuck his lip to a pump handle in the wintertime. I was just like a jaybird that the yellow jackets done stung 'til he's paralyzed--but still alive in his eyes and he's watchin' 'em sting his body to death."
Who is Jim Trueblood?
300
The man who tells the narrator the truth about Dr. Bledsoe, and helps him find a job in New York.
Who is Mr. Emerson, Jr.?
300
This item reminds the narrator of his heritage and his home.
What is the yam?
300
The prologue and end of the book directly mention this theme. Through this process the narrator prepares to take action.
What is hibernation?
300
Ras suffers this injury at the hands of the narrator.
What is a spear to the face?
300
"Blood calls for blood! You remember that. And remember that I am not like you. [I recognize] the true issue and [am] not afraid to be black. Nor [am I] a traitor for white men. Remember that: I am no black trader to the black people for the white people!"
Who is Ras the Exhorter?
400
The woman who takes in the narrator, and feeds him plenty of cabbage.
Who is Mary Rambo?
400
A symbol that represents purposeful manipulation of black people.
What is the Sambo doll?
400
This is a common archetype for narrative novels and the process through which the narrator becomes aware of his invisibility.
What is the search for identity?
400
The naked woman at the Battle Royal has this image as a tattoo.
What is the American flag?
400
"Lie back and let me look at you against the white sheet. You're beautiful, I've always thought so. Like warm ebony against pure snow--"
Who is Sybil?
500
The black nationalist who patrols the streets of Harlem and is violent toward members of the Brotherhood.
Who is Ras the Exhorter?
500
An item which symbolizes black/white relations in America; a product with an ironic name.
What is Liberty Paints?
500
Exemplified by Mary Rambo and, at times, Brother Tarp, this is something the narrator struggles to embrace.
What is the Black Folk Experience?
500
The narrator is "demoted" by the Brotherhood to address this issue in the community.
What is "The Woman Question"?
500
The character who said the following: "He believes in that great false wisdom taught slaves and pragmatists alike, that white is right. I can tell you his destiny. He’ll do your bidding, and for that his blindness is his chief asset.”
Who is the veteran (at the Golden Day)?
M
e
n
u