Symbolism Week 5

Gaining more followers than ever before, Ras the Exhorter begins to rise to power, and he orders two of his followers to attack the Invisible Man on the street where he is almost beaten to death; however, the attackers are stopped by a door man. After this happens, the Invisible Man decides to wear a disguise ,so he buys a pair of sunglasses: "seized the darkest lenses I could find. They were of a green glass so dark that is appeared black"(482) and a hat: "I went in and bought the widest hat in stock and put it on"(482). When the Invisible Man puts on this disguise, he is mistaken for a man named Rinehart who has many different identities: "Rine the runner and Rine the gambler and Rine the briber and Rine the lover and Rinehart the Reverend"(498). The Invisible Man realizes when Rinehart pretends to be different people, he has the freedom to do what he pleases, and no one sees through his façade. Therefore, these objects symbolize freedom and for the first time, the Invisible Man can go unrecognized by his enemies. These objects enable the Invisible Man to have a true identity, rather than those given to him by other people. Finally, he vows to be visible to himself, even though he is invisible to everyone else. This revelation will allow him to define himself and create his own reality.