In the newest development in the novel we find our narrator starting his newest career choice. The narrator has decided to join an organization simply known as "The Brotherhood." Said organization feels that their mission in life is to work towards a world where all people are equal. A seemingly well intentioned mission, although so was the prospect of education when the Narrator first joined the college in his home town. In that instance he made a speech which granted him audience with rich white men, and this time he's been offered a job for making one. Already we start to see parallels arise between his situation with the Brotherhood and his previous affiliation with the College.
Our Narrator is at first skeptical of taking the job, but eventually decides that he must accept the offer. He is picked up by brother Jack, who then drives him to a party at the Brotherhood's main building. Here he socializes with the other members of the organization, drinks some alcohol, and is eventually officially inducted into the brotherhood. With this acception into the organization, comes, instead of a shiny leather briefcase with a scholarship inside of it, a white envelope containing a large sum of money and his new identity. Again we see a parallel drawn between the Battle Royal and this party. In each event he's given an invitation into this new promising organization. Towards the end of the party, however our narrator is accosted by a brotherhood member who requests that the narrator lead them in song; "How about a spiritual, brother? Or one of those real good 'ole Negro work songs?" (312). Certainly an event that the narrator considers somewhat humiliating, but the party is certainly a bit of a step up from the Battle Royal.
Shortly after his experience at the party our narrator is again called upon by the Brotherhood. Brother Jack picks him up from his new house and he and several other members of the Brotherhood drive to a building in Harlem, which contains an old boxing ring, where the speeches are being made. Here we see a shockingly similar use of imagery between the Battle Royal and this building. At the Battle Royal he desperately delivers this speech for the entertainment of a few rich white men. Here he's giving a very heartfelt personal speech, again in a boxing ring, where afterwards he'll be evaluated by the leaders of the brotherhood. After this speech it's decided that, although he did a wonderful job, he needs training and is sent off to go study the Brotherhood's ideology.
Flash forward four months and our narrator has changed. For four months he's been studying the Brotherhood's arguments and now he knows them by heart. He claims, "Now I knew most of the Brotherhood arguments so well - those i doubted as well as those I believed- that I could repeat them in my sleep" (358). Again here we see a parallel between his college life and his life with the brotherhood. He spends so much time working vigorously to learn, understand, and be able to argue all these points that he thinks the Brotherhood wants him to. In college he worked diligently to understand how it was expected for him to act and to act that way. In both situations he working to understand and fulfill a role to please a group of people.
The new assignment that the Narrator is given, however, is a pretty big deal. He is assigned by Brother Jack to be the new spokesman for their Harlem branch. Clearly the narrator is excited, this is a big responsibility as well a big opportunity for him to move up. Immediately he shows promise, and indeed over the next few months his success sky rockets as well as the success of the Brotherhood in Harlem. In Chapter 18, however, things start to get messy for him. Starting with a letter from an anonymus friend he is warned that if he doesn't slow down his rate of success he'll be shot down; "Keep working for the people but remember that you are one of us and do not forget if you get too big that they will cut you down." (383). Unsurprisingly, two weeks later just this happens. When the narrator goes to a meeting for the Brotherhood he is brought before the committee and is publicly accused of using the Brotherhood to further himself as an individual. The narrator is flabbergasted. He cannot understand how his actions, meant only to further the Brotherhood, could be interpreted as self-serving. What's more, he's told at the end of the meeting that he's being taken out of Harlem and assigned to be the spokesman for the Woman Question. He's immediately confused, and upset at this turn in events. He's being punished for doing exactly what he thought he was supposed to do. Eerily similar to what we see his expulsion from the college being like. He felt that he was expelled for simply acting how he believed he was expected to act. To draw the final parallel between his current situation and his previous college situation simply observe how he reacts to his again being expelled from an organization; "no, despite my anger and disgust, my ambitions were too great to surrender so easily" (407). By the end of the chapter the narrator has decided that being shut out of Harlem isn't really so bad and that he'll preach the Woman Question anyways; "I had almost allowed an old, southern backwardness which I had thought dead to wreck my career" (408). Is this character really any different from the one that left the south on a train headed for work in New York? Has he really learned anything from his journey, or is he still as oblivious and naive as he was when he was evicted from college by Dr. Bledsoe?
I think that the narrator has in fact come a long way since leaving the south. Even though his spot in the Brotherhood seems to be sliding, he still did succeed in becoming a major figure in his community. He gave speeches using his own emotions without censorship (although he was asked to afterwards). He is finally wearing a mask. He is not who people think he is, even his name is fake. To me the fact that this is because the brotherhood made him change his name is not important. Even if you disagree with all of that, the fact that the narrator now realizes he can eat yams without being ashamed is at the very least a small, but important change.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea someone said today that the narrator is still in a maze, just a different one than he would be in down South. On the outside, it may appear as if he has more freedom but when you see how the Brotherhood operates, the dictate literally every detail of his life. And despite their promise of progress, we see a ton of racial red flags and political corruption thoughout. I would say that in New York things are a little less backwards, but I have not seen a ton of actual progress (unless a black man being able to bump into a white lady on a subway without being arrested counts).
ReplyDeleteThe question seems to be, Does the fact that the Brotherhood seems flawed in all kinds of ways, and doesn't itself always live up to its own high ideals, mean that the narrator is making NO significant impact on his community, that his speeches aren't doing anything to chip away at or fight against the oppressive forces that have thus far constrained him? Remember when the Vet tells him to "play the game, but don't believe in it"? Might such a compromise be possible with the Brotherhood's "game"? Is he being totally naive when he says that this organization seems to offer him a better shot than the more mainstream avenues to "success" represented by the college and its trustees?
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