Blindness chapters 5-10

After the Invisible Man is expelled from college because of what happened to Mr. Norton, Dr. Bledsoe tells him to travel to New York and get a job in order to learn the ways of the world. The Invisible Man takes this advice to heart and the day after his confrontation with Dr. Bledsoe, he has his bags packed, retrieves the letter to "white folk" in New York asking for job help given to him by Dr. Bledsoe, and is boarding the first bus out of town. As he boards the bus, he realizes the vet from the Golden Day is there along with an attendee. Unfortunately, the Invisible Man has no choice but to sit next to the vet because those were the only seats given to Negros. During the conversation with the vet, the vet tells the Invisible Man to "come out of the fog..." and to not "be a complete fool in order [for him] to succeed." (153). The vet is alluding to the conversation with Mr. Norton about how the Invisible Man is just a robot, just saying and doing exactly what the white men want him to do. The vet is trying to show him that in order to be truly successful, the Invisible Man has to learn to see the truth and figuratively open his eyes to the world. The vet parallels what the grandfather said earlier in the story by stating that the boy should "play the game, but don't believe in it...play it [his] own way...;earn how it operates" (153-154). By stating this, the vet is simply repeating for the Invisible Man that he should outwardly be everything the white men want him to be, but in the inside, he needs to be true to himself and rebel against them. This is the beginning of the journey for the Invisible Man to truly become invisible because since the vet acts as his first guide, this is the first bit of wisdom and truth that he is given. The vet hints at the need for Ellison's character to become invisible by saying that the boy is "hidden right out in the open...[the white men] wouldn't see you because they don't expect [him] to know anything..." (154). He is showing the Invisible Man that he needs to break from social expectations because the people he is trying to please don't "see" him anyway. They see him physically, but they don't see his potential, they don't value him as a person. The vet is hinting that in order for the Invisible Man to be successful in his life, he needs to embrace the fact that he really in invisible, so that he can focus on being himself and making his life successful for himself.