Ellison often uses metaphorical language to convey subtler points about his narrator's situation. My favorite example of this technique is when the narrator is hired to paint samples of Optic White for the Liberty Paint Company. First of all, the company's emphasis on complete whiteness is a play on how the white world expects conformity. The paint helps to enforce society's "white is right" rhetoric by whitewashing universities and government monements, which symbolizes how education and public history are controlled by white power. The narrator points out that black-owned space such as the Golden Day are free from this whitewashing because they don't accept white authority.
During the paint factory scene, the narrator must navigate the same questions of submissiveness and subversiveness that his grandfather raises. He ruins the second batch of samples when he attemps to do his job right, and Kimbro is only satisfied by the samples that appear to have been ruined by grey streaks. This echoes his grandfather's advice that being black in America requires a certain kind of subversiveness that is disguised by compliance. The narrator realizes that white people can't recognize these small acts of disobedience, noticing that "if they had understood they would have desired me to act just the opposite". The paint factory exemplifies these tensions between following orders and retaining personal pride in the face of oppression.
The narrator wonders why Kimbro isn't mad at him for making samples that aren't completely white: "I had a feeling that something had gone wrong, something far more important than the paint; that either I had played a trick on Kimbro or he, like the trustees and Bledsoe, was playing a trick on me". This sentiment connects back to the grandfather and Bledsoe's shared belief that African Americans have to be somehow "playing a trick" on white society in order to remain safe in their positions. At this point in the novel, the narrator doesn't yet understand what this type of dishonesty entails. He just wants to follow orders to stay in the good graces of his white employers. However, his introduction to Mr. Lucius Brockway and the subsequent industrial accident marks the beginning of the narrator's development of a personal identity and a deeper understanding of his role as a black man in America.
In this way, I believe that Invisible Man does something Native Son couldn't: deliver a social commentary articulately, overtly enough, but still maintain the elegant and consistent writing. Richard Wright was obvious with what he said but he didn't really use metaphors, he used symbols. Because he only used symbols, Wright could only convey messages that didn't directly show up in the characters' interactions by taking a break from the narrative to explain what was going on. This could be chunky and inconsistent at points, making it unappealing. Because Invisible Man uses metaphors besides symbols, the book can make the points it wants to about society without breaking the flow of the narrative. Ellison's metaphors still get the point across, as evidenced by the ones you brought up in your post, which aren't explicit but are hardly overt.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Ellison's metaphors never stop getting deeper, which is why I love them so much, they're just like layers of paint. Another ironic part of the Liberty Paint company was the seemingly interconnected circle of the government (their #1 buyer) and the capitalist system. In a way, the government is funding a system which is responsible for the majority of systematic oppression (especially today), but also allowing them to promote and sell a white superiority complex to society.
ReplyDeleteWith the paints themselves, what really matters is how they dry. In reality, the subversiveness of one individual is so minimal that it is virtually unseen within an entire white supremacist system, just like how the gray streaked paint goes unnoticed because the samples dry normally. I believe this idea and the character of Brockaway poke at the notion that individual subversiveness is only the first step in the bigger picture.
Nice observations. So far the novel has felt like the narrator has bounced around in these wild chapters and is slowly developing his own critical consciousness from the experiences. The paint chapter is one of those chapter's where symbolism and reality almost juxtapose. It's fascinating to read!
ReplyDeleteor maybe Ellison was just fascinated by industrial paint production in the 1930s.