Bledsoe and Brockway
In the first 10 chapters of Invisible Man we’re introduced to two prominent African American characters besides the narrator and his grandfather, Bledsoe and Brockway. Both characters’ main motivation as portrayed in the book is power. Bledsoe wants to keep his power as the school’s president by creating a front for the white benefactors to see so they will keep on donating money. Brockway wants to keep his power as the man who runs the show at Liberty Paint by creating the Optic White paint. Both characters hold their power by staying under the radar comparatively to white people of power, and by putting the needs of white above the needs of other black people.
Both characters freely share their thoughts with the narrator in fits of rage. Bledsoe is so angry with the narrator that he might have just ruined the entire façade he has worked so hard to create, that he explains how his main goal in life is to get power by putting other black people down to get the support of white people. Bledsoe does nothing to help people like Trueblood and the veteran who spoke to Norton in the bar, instead he pushes them further away in order to uphold his power. He even sends the narrator at the first sign of trouble. Brockway does something very similar by attacking the narrator based on a mere suspicion that he is a spy for people who are trying to undermine his power. He goes on a long rant about how he is the kingpin of the factory and runs the whole place. However, In Brockway’s case, his obsession with white people is more metaphorical. He’s the only one who can make the base for the “pure” Optic White, which is clearly symbolism for whitewashing all the contributions that black people have made in society.
With the clear connections between Bledsoe and Brockway it would be easy to say that they are different representations of the same character, but I view Brockway as an evolution of Bledsoe. Bledsoe is primarily concerned with his public image and the money he gets from his power, but Brockway works underground and isn’t known by anyone outside of the factory. Brockway is more “invisible” than Bledsoe, and by being invisible he is able to gain power at less of a cost to others. Brockway attacks the narrator, but Bledsoe continuously pushes away the people in need, and sends those who oppose him to mental hospitals. This is because Brockway has more visibility, and needs to do more to keep his public image.
At the beginning of the book the narrator is completely invisible and living underground, similar to Brockway, stealing a large amount of power. Could the narrator be another evolution of Bledsoe and Brockway? He definitely follows the pattern of less visibility and less oppression of black people. I don’t really know what message this evolutionary progression is trying to convey, but it will be interesting to see if there are more characters who fit into it as the story progresses.
I think your point about Brockway being a more invisible version of Bledsoe is interesting, especially considering the narrator's views of both characters. The narrator respects Bledsoe more than Brockway, I think for several reasons, but largely because Bledsoe is more visible than Brockway. The narrator admires Bledsoe's prestige and visibility among white people. Also, I agree that the narrator in the prologue seems like an evolution of Brockway, so I'm curious how exactly his time with Brockway will end up shaping the person he becomes.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that your point about Brockway being an “invisible” version of Bledsoe was super compelling!! There are so many excellent points in this blog post. One difference that I found interesting between these two characters' relationships to the narrator is that he seems to still want revenge on Bledsoe (or at least to work against him in any way possible), but he seems to have forgotten about Brockway at least for the moment. I think this definitely also relates to the idea that the narrator seemed to respect Bledsoe so much more at first, until he got expelled, and the complete betrayal and disgust that he felt when Bledsoe removed his “mask.” Like you explain so well, I think it definitely has to do with this public image. In a way, getting back at Bledsoe would probably be much more satisfying than attacking Brockway underground was, both because Bledsoe was the initial cause of the narrator going on this wacky journey and because of his big public image.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I think that Brockway and Bledsoe are definitely at different "levels" of invisibility, and also kind of different types, too. Bledsoe's invisibility is a "hide in plain sight" kind of thing, where his power is very apparent to the people around him, but his personality and motives are much more hidden. With Brockway, he's very upfront about his opinions and motives, never trying to act like something he's not, but he doesn't appear to have much power at all to the narrator, who sees him as an uneducated and unsophisticated fool. I also really like your point of how the different amounts/types of invisibility actually does play a role in how they're able to act - like a vicious cycle.
ReplyDeleteI really like the comparison you made between these two characters. Side to side, I think it's really intriguing to see all of the complete contrasts yet similarities as well. I think this is a good way to look at different coping mechanisms or ways of adaptation. The two characters have made completely different choices and are on separate paths in their lives, but they do so because of the nature of the society they are forced to live in. I also think this is interesting how you mention their relationships with white people, and mindsets about them as well, because I think that is another big reason why they are the way they are.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Personally, I think that Brockway functions more as a parallel to Bledsoe than an evolution. He exists to show the narrator the two different forms of power, one who is in total obvious control, and the other who is unseen but is a vital part of the system he works in. Bledso has a figurative invisibility where he puts up a fake persona, but Brockway has a literal form of invisibility where no one knows who he is or what he does. Most people don't even see him. The narrator in the prologue might either be an amalgamation of these parallels, but we won't know until we see more of him.
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