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英语论文范文-The Symbolism of Identity in the Novel(4)

2013-07-02 01:11
Staying in the underground, he burns the papers in the Calfskin Briefcase—his psychological baggage, also the papers in it imply his Identity, just as the protagonist says at the end of the novel, “….and, as I said before, a decision has been made, I’m shaking off the old shin and I’ll leave it here in the hole. I’m coming out, no less invisible without it, but coming out nevertheless….” (Ellison 2002: 581). Ellison speaks of the need to burn out the past, “before he could have some voice in his own destiny, he had to discard these old identity and illusions, his enlightenment” (Frederick 1985: 191).
The invisible man’s progress turns out to be a pilgrimage to the discovery of his identity. The encapsulation of his sufferings throughout the whole novel does speak out the main source of his life as an invisible man. He says:

“My problem was that I always tried to go in everyone’s way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another while no one really wished to hear what I called myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man.” (Ellison 2002: 573)
The protagonist is not only a black man, but also a complex American searching for the existence in a technological society characterized by swift change.

2.4  The Embodiment of the Symbolism of Identity
In this novel, the protagonist assumes many identities imposed by other people. Just as Ellison in the Shadow and Act says that each section begins with a sheet of paper, each piece of paper is exchanged for another and contains a definition of his Identity or the social role to play as defined for him. All of them imply the same meaning, “keep this nigger boy running” (1995: 176-7).
1)  Various Identities in the Novel
Of all the identities, like Norton and Bledsoe, Jack in Brotherhood treats him as a tool that suits their own needs and doesn’t view him as man with human feelings but just as an image.

“Here I had thought the Brotherhood accepted me because they felt that color made no difference, when in reality it made no difference because they didn’t see either color or men…for all they were concerned, we were so many names scribbled on fake ballots, to be used at their convenience and when not needed to be filed away. It was a joke, an absurd joke. And now I look around a corner of my mind and saw Jack and Norton and Emerson merge into one single white figure. They were very much the same each attempting to force his pictured of reality upon me and neither giving a boot in hell for how things looked to me. I was simply a material, a natural resource to be used.” (Ellison 2002: 508)

a) In the town of south, he is viewed as an obedient black boy in the eyes’ of the town’s big shots, just as what he says in the oration humility was the secret, indeed the very essence of progress. He naively thinks that the white men really enjoy his speech, however, they view it as an amusement, a play, a funny thing as battle royal, the naked girl and the struggle to pick up the coins.

b) To the white trustee Norton, he is just the fruit of Norton’s generosity or the beneficiary. He said that:” I felt even as a young man that your people were somehow closely connected with my destiny” (Ellison 2002: 41) “You are my fate, young man” (Ellison, 2002: 42) However, as the Vet in the Golden Day reveals that the fact when he discuss the protagonist’s destiny with Mr. Norton.

 “Poor stumbles, neither of you can see the other. To you he is a mark on the score card of your achievement, a thing and not a man; a child, or even less----a black amorphous thing. And you, for all your power are not a man to him, but a God, a force----I can tell you his destiny. He’ll do your bidding, and for that his blindness is his chief asset. He’s your man, friend, your man and your destiny.” (Ellison 2002: 95)

c) In the hospital, he is the experiment for the new machine, and people take no regard for his thought, or his situation. “The machine will produce the results of a prefrontal lobotomy without the negative effects of the knife…..and the result is as complete a change of personality as you’ll find in your famous fairy tale cases of criminals transformed into amiable fellows after all that bloody business of a brain operation.” “But what of his psychology?” “Absolutely of no importance…” (Ellison 2002: 236), he is just the object but not a human to take care of.
d) The new name, new identity the Brotherhood gives him are the declaration of departing from his former life, which he views as the new beginning for him and the manifestation of the Brotherhood’s respect for him. Again, he is just a tool for the advancement of the Brotherhood’s aims. The anonymous letter threatens him to take care of his words and deeds. The criticism for his behavior when he holds a funeral for the Clifton annoys him. He is just the toy the Brotherhood controlled to lead him do what they want, once violated, they would impose punishment on him.