Which
men are all the same? To be specific: the superintendent, Mr. Norton, Dr.
Bledsoe, Emerson Jr., the Doctor, and Brother Jack. Each man looks at the
narrator and wants to "keep him running." They want to both mold him to somebody who can and will follow a path that leads to no ultimate success and that they deem best for themselves or the narrator. The superintendent, Bledsoe, and
Emerson Jr. all hand the narrator papers that take him on to a new chapter in his life that doesn't really benefit the narrator at all (you could argue that Emerson's letter got the narrator a job, but Emerson was still doing it out of a want to defy his father and the job was awful in and of itself.) Mr. Norton tells
the narrator that he is literally in charge of Norton’s fate and he wants the college to mold students like the narrator to follow through with Norton's fate, again not treating the narrator like an independent individual, but rather somebody who they can use to represent what they think a black man like the narrator should be. The doctor(s) from the factory are physically trying to rewire the narrator into what they want a black man to be.
Brother Jack also fits in to this category of men who want to mold the narrator. He sees (much like the superintendent) a skill the narrator has to give speeches and he tries to exploit that. He sees the narrator as a tool to spread the Brotherhood's rhetoric and as a sort of "poster child" for the Brotherhood since he is a black man and the Brotherhood s mostly white. Similarly to the job the narrator took at the factory, he is only working for the Brotherhood because of financial reasons. Yes the narrator does not seem to fully agree with what the Brotherhood wants and he definitely is more skeptical than before his accident at the factory, but I would argue that the Brotherhood is still "keeping him running" because the narrator does nothing to undermine or defy their authority and control over him. All his skeptical-ness is in his head and he has a long ways to go before completely following the advice from his grandfather.
Brother Jack also fits in to this category of men who want to mold the narrator. He sees (much like the superintendent) a skill the narrator has to give speeches and he tries to exploit that. He sees the narrator as a tool to spread the Brotherhood's rhetoric and as a sort of "poster child" for the Brotherhood since he is a black man and the Brotherhood s mostly white. Similarly to the job the narrator took at the factory, he is only working for the Brotherhood because of financial reasons. Yes the narrator does not seem to fully agree with what the Brotherhood wants and he definitely is more skeptical than before his accident at the factory, but I would argue that the Brotherhood is still "keeping him running" because the narrator does nothing to undermine or defy their authority and control over him. All his skeptical-ness is in his head and he has a long ways to go before completely following the advice from his grandfather.
Speaking of the grandfather, do you guys think that he fits into the same category as the men above? I think an argument could be made that he does since he is sort of trying to mold his grandson into what he believes a black man should be. Thoughts?
Nice post! I agree that the parallels between the characters who keep the narrator running are really interesting. I think Brother Jack is a little different though because while the other men send the narrator off, Brother Jack seems to be trying to be more involved in the narrators life. I'm really interested to see how that develops. I don't think the grandfather and Mary fit in the same category of people trying to influence the narrator. While the grandfather has a big influence the (older) narrator seems to admire and respect his intentions. And while Mary encourages the narrator, she doesn't ask him to fill a specific roll.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the similarities we see with all these characters keep showing up. I feel like we can sort of split them into two categories. Bledsoe and the Doctor both just want to be rid of the narrator, but the superintendent, Mr. Norton, and Emerson all try to help, before sending him on his way. The last three gave him a scholarship and a job, but did end up not sticking close. I feel like from the narrator's perspective, Brother Jack would be in the second category because ehe has gotten him a new job with lots of money, but from a more cynical reader's perspective, I am not sure about his motives yet.
ReplyDeleteCool post bucko! I would say the grandfather doesn't exactly fit in this category, because he doesn't directly hand the narrator a letter or tell him exactly what to do. He just gives his advice and dies, saying that the narrator should go so deep in the system that he is able to then break it.
ReplyDeleteI think the grandfather is kinda like the men above in the sense that he too went through this world "running". From what I can tell he just went along with what anybody told him, but followed it with his self interest in mind. I've never really thought much about it before, good post!
ReplyDeleteI think that's part of the story, this repetitive character of the "man of power" pulling the strings. I think the grandfather really doesn't fit into these categories for a variety of reasons. One, he's not really in a position of power at all because he was dead, but even when he was alive he was said to be a lowly kiss up. It seems that the grandpa, no matter how tough his love is in the narrators dreams, wants him to succeed. So to do this he's giving the narrator the best knowledge he has.
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