7/27/2019 Rebirth- Invisible Man Analysis

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REBIRTH- AUSTIN CAO

AP LIT 2ND

HOUR- MRS. COOK

9/11/13

In the narrators rise from an obedient, yet blind member of the Brotherhood, Brother Cliftons

death was the primary catalyst for his disillusionment and subsequent actions. After realizing that he is

being excluded from meetings, the narrators encounter with Clifton reveals his true relationship with

the Brotherhood. When he sees that the Sambo doll peddler is the friend he has been looking for, shock

overcomes him: I wasparalyzed, looking at him, knowing I wasnt dreaming. In this instant, he begins

to realize the full extent of their failure in Harlem. Not only did the Brotherhood abandon this

community, it had also destroyed the people working to fix it. Clifton was a believer, a doer of good, and

yet somehow he had been degraded to selling a toy that belittled his own race. In these moments of

desperation the narrator lashes out in anger as he has done in the past. But in the greater context,

Clifton is just a tool of the Brotherhood, and now he is broken. As a colleague, the narrator cant help

but wonder, why did Clifton fall outside of history? And couldnt the same transformation happen to

him?

Furthermore, Cliftons eventual victimization by white authority confirms the narrators

stubborn belief that change in Harlem still must occur. He is reinvigorated, and chooses to use Cliftons

death and funeral to likewise reinvigorate the black community in Harlem. As his encounter with Clifton

helps explain all of the events up to this pivotal moment, Cliftons death provides motivation for the

narrators actions to the end of the novel. It is clear that he empathizes with Cliftons struggles,

describing Clifton as a man of transition whose face was immobile. In the context ofbeing invisible,

Clifton is the extreme, and the very epitome of what the narrator might characterize himself as. But in

this instant, he chooses not to lose faith. In parallel to his rejection of the Brotherhood, the narrator

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seizes his own personal responsibility, his out to becoming visible. When he eventually finds himself in

the middle of a riot, he chooses to speak out. When he eventually hibernates, he chooses to let his

stories be heard. He does not want to be Clifton; instead, he wants to take actions that are meaningful,

and true to himself. Despite all of his failures and all of his obstacles, he still feels a calling to a vague

ideal that is never quite described in the novel. This functions as a central theme later, and after Cliftons

death he muses that although I knew no one man could do much about it, I felt responsible. This event

incites the narrator to action.

Most importantly, Ellison uses the narrators strange and diverse experiences throughout the

novel to connect with the reader- except with an ironic twist. From the tiniest of details (yams so

sweet and hot!), the reader sees exactly what the narrator sees, except he also understands just how

futile the narrators condition is. In a world that systematically oppresses and hides him, the narrator

blissfully runs forward, serving those in power who have far different ambitions. Cliftons death is

monumental in fixing this irony, and bringing the narrator to terms with his own reality. In the seemingly

insane moment before he assaults Ras the Destroyer, the narrator proclaims, I know it was better to

live out ones own absurdity than to die for that of others. This is a narrator unfamiliar to the reader,

just as Sambo-peddling Clifton was unrecognizable by the narrator. But the difference is that the latter

survives. And now with irony removed, his final decision to shake off the old skin and come up for

breath is met with sincerity from the reader. This time, his initiation as a hero is different- he has

nothing, and he assumes nothing. Juxtaposed with his prior, nave experiences, Cliftons death makes

the narrator see the truth. For Ellison, Cliftons death is instrumental in conveying the themes and

meaning ofInvisible Man.