Living in the Dark and Light of the Society

When interacted with other people, the Invisible Man maintains a negative and dark aroma around himself. But when alone, he lives in light. The darkness symbolizes eeriness and danger. Walking through the dark, it is understood to walk with fear and uncertainness of what is to happen next. While the light symbolizes purity and freedom. The light gives a sense of security and alertness that isn’t available in the dark. We soon learn that the Invisible Man is in fact a black man. One dark night, the invisible man was approached by a man that called insulting names towards the Invisible Man. Throughout the fight, the night was dark and had no trace of lightness.  The Invisible Man kicked him repeatedly and prepared to slit his throat. At that moment, the slightest streak of light from a car stabbed through the darkness. With the slightest streak of lightness, the fighting stopped and the man was free, just like the fight never happened. The light confirms his reality, the fact that he is in fact nothing supernatural. The light symbols the white society, and how they reject him as a person due to the color of his skin. The author uses the symbols of light and dark by portraying good and bad of the different races.

The Invisible Man is nothing supernatural. He is a man of substance, flesh and bone, and possess a mind. In the world that he lives in, he is simply invisible to those who refuse to see him based on the color of his skin. Only one can become invisible if others refuse not to see him. This begins a recurring idea of blindness. The blindness of the Invisible Man shows how people willfully avoid being able to see the truth and accept his race. In this society,  “That invisibility to which I refer occurs because of a peculiar disposition of the eyes of those with whom I come in contact.” (Ellison, 3). This can be related into todays society, the constant struggle of #BlackLivesMatter. African Americans are constantly portrayed by the color of their skin instead of how they are. Today, people clutch their purses a little tighter and lock their car doors when African Americans are within sight.

 

 

Actions of an “American Scholar”

On August 31,  1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers an oration called “The American Scholar” to the elite members of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society of Harvard University. These member consisted of students that were known to have the highest GPAs and the brightest students of the school. Emerson uses the speech to convey a message to express the influences of the nature around themselves in real scholars today, and emphasizes what it truly means to be a scholar.

“Action is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential. Without it, he is not yet man. Without it, thought can never ripen into truth. Whilst the world hangs before the eye as a cloud of beauty, we cannot even see its beauty. Inaction is cowardice, but there can be no scholar without the heroic mind. The preamble of thought, the transition through which it passes from the unconscious to the conscious, is action. Only so much do I know, as I have lived. Instantly we know whose words are loaded with life, and whose not.” (Emerson, 21) Emerson uses the quote to explain the epitome and duties of an American Scholar. In todays society, it is simply not enough to be just smart. Having action, being able to apply yourself into the real world is essential. Putting yourself out there, being able to meet new people, letting your guard down to make connections to experts in the field can help you go further in life unlike someone that is smart in the books but doesn’t apply themselves outside of the world of reading and testing. Where the quote also states that not taking action would be considered as cowardly. The world around us is a reference. Emerson believes that we should use what is provided to use as keys to unlock our greatest potential through action and belief.