Sex Week 4

Due to Brother Wrestrum's accusations of the invisible man's selfishness, the brotherhood has assigned him to lecture downtown on the Women Question. After his first speech, he leaves with a woman interested in their ideology and the invisible man himself, "And it was only when I turned to ask a question of her that I realized that she was leaning only a nose-tip away, her eyes upon my face." (414) Her sexual forwardness disorients while arousing the invisible man, "And I wanted both to smash her and to stay with her and knew that I should do neither." (415) The invisible man's confusion occurs due to her desire to discuss freedom and women's rights, but also her desire to become engaged even though she is married. Again, Ellison places the invisible man in a situation to test his mental strength and control, "in one swift motion the red robe swept aside like a veil, and I went breathless at the petite and generously curved nude... I was heading for the door, torn between anger and fierce excitement... I went to her, thinking, Let them break down the door, whosoever will, let them come." (416) Ellison presents the complexity of the invisible man's self restraint towards women with his desire to comply but also to escape the situation through violence. He also illustrates a shift from the invisible man's devotion to a disciplined and polite way of living to challenging those he both fears and respects. In this case, the invisible man fails to contain his urges towards the woman and Ellison's purpose is to give reason to his future paranoia as result of this immoral action.