Symbolism: Week 4

The invisible man feels a sense of pride in his new position in the Brotherhood and begins to feel like he is making a difference in the Harlem community. While working in his office, Brother Tarp appears and hangs up a portrait of Frederick Douglass, stating "He was a great man. You just take a look at him once in a while... He belongs to all of us" (378). Brother Tarp giving the portrait to the invisible man symbolizes the faith he has in him and the belief he holds in his potential to become the next Frederick Douglass. After it is hung in his office, the invisible man cannot seem to take his attention away from the portrait, which gives him a feeling of "sudden piety, remembering and refusing to hear the echoes of my grandfather's voice" (379). The portrait conveys the fact that the Brotherhood believes the invisible man can become the next Frederick Douglass, a freed slave who became a respected spokesman for equality and freedom. The invisible man wishes to become the same prestigious figure, by transforming himself from being suppressed by the whites to becoming an admirable leader in the black community.