Power Week 5

During the race riot that occurs on the streets of Harlem, the Invisible Man once again crosses paths with Ras. The Invisible Man finds him on a huge horse, dressed in robes, and carrying a shield and spear. He and his crowd of followers label the Invisible Man a bretrayer and threaten to hang him. During this moment the Invisible Man is reflective and contemplates the power struggle that is evident throughout the novel. He rejects the pursuit of power by saying, " ...knowing too that I had no longer to run for or from the Jacks and the Emersons and the Bledsoes and Nortons...(559)" The reader may observe that the Invisible Man has achieved enlightenment and rejects the "running" that he feels he has been doing his entire life. He says he will only now run from the "powerful" men's "confusion, impatience, and refusal to recognize the beautiful absurdity of their American identity and mine". He can now see past the facade presented by the Brotherhood and others to see that being an individual and finding yourself is more important than the power and being in "history". Through this realization, the Invisible Man has come full circle as a character because he finally broke away from the curse that his grandfather set in the beginning by recognizing how destructive sub-coming to power (saying yes) can be for the sake of gaining personal power. The state of Harlem made that evident because of the apocalyptic hell-like atmosphere created during the race riot. From the Dante's Inferno perspective, the Invisible Man reached the final circle of hell and faced all of the devils and traitors like the men he listed above. From that experience, his enlightenment and acceptance of being an "invisible man" occurs.