dreams (week 5)

The narrator has just discovered that Brother Jack had written the anonymous threatening letter to him. That night, he has a dream in which he is by a river and he is surrounded by Brother Jack, Emerson, Bledsoe, Norton, and Ras. Every character that has produced an obstacle for him, or an illusion to his seemingly stable reality. They each handed him a new mask and even with that he was still invisible to them. In this dream, the men are mocking the invisible man and are telling him they can relieve him of his "illusions." They end up plucking out his eyes, which is a reference to Oedipus who was a Greek King of Thebes who struggled with his identity and ended up plucking his own eyes out. They ask the invisible man how it feels to be "free" of these illusions, and he responds by telling them they are nothing in the midst of the universe. They will not leave their mark or be remembered by their continuous cycle of a false reality and facade veiling them behind their insecurities and selfishness. The river in itself is symbolic in relevance to the river of Styx near the gates of hell. The invisible man ends the dream by laughing at the men, and being lifted out of his misery (a metaphorical rebirth) in which the men are shouting that they must get him back down under their control. This dream symbolizes his release of ignorance and his new found principle of self awareness. He finally is able to look his grandfather's prophecy in the eyes and laugh due to it's absurdity and how easily you can get caught up on the never ending track (running) of life. He truly sees without seeing. He had to look with his own mind in order to unveil the truth of life: you are the only voice you should have, the only heart and mind you should follow, and the only reliance you will ever need. We are invisible as people because we choose to not stand out in order to avoid being outcast-ed or rejected by the very same people that share the same feelings towards us.