Speeches #2

While boarding the bus on his journey to Ney York, the invisible man has another encounter with the blind veteran and his companion, Crenshaw. After his reluctant seating decision, a series of questions presented by the vet begin to probe the invisible man and force him into conversation. It is quickly revealed that the two have different destinations, due to the vet being transferred to Washington D.C. This establishes that he will no longer be able to guide the invisible man through his journey, yet this does not prevent him from delivering significant dialogue to him before this occurs. The vet states that it is necessary to "play the game, but don't believe in it" (pg. 153). The invisible man must "play it his own way," even if it lands him within a "straight jacket or padded cell" (pg. 153). This will allow him to be "hidden right out in the open" if he "only realized it" (pg. 154). The lesson presented here is the foundation on which the prologue had built itself. These words are the begging steps in the change that will ignite as the invisible man spirals toward enlightenment. The anonymous state it allows one to achieve relieves the binding of conforming to society's expectation; something the invisible man has been conditioned to preform since his grandfather's passing. Furthermore, the advice further cements the blindness of society, due to the fact that recognizing this higher form of thinking is associated with mental illness. People have been tempered to speculate conformity, they would not "expect" or "know anything" was amiss (pg.154)