Violence Week 5

After chaos devours the town of Harlem, Ras and his followers march in, “Moving in a tight-knit order, carrying sticks and clubs, shotguns and rifles” (556). Amongst the mayhem, the invisible man begs for his life, explaining his belief to the belligerent mob that the Brotherhood “Wants the streets to flow with blood; your blood, black blood and white blood” (558). The invisible man reaches realization that the Brotherhood does not truly attempt to fix the problem of racism. Contrastingly, they strive to evoke violence within the city merely so they can continue to portray themselves as valiant and heroic to the distressed and frenzied citizens of Harlem. The Brotherhood induces aggression and disorder so that they can “Turn your death and sorrow and defeat into propaganda” (558). The Brotherhood thrives off of chaos to keep their artificial goals and corrupt ideologies alive. The IM becomes aware that the Brotherhood had plotted all along to turn everyone against each other, and Ellison uses this aggression to reveal the underlying truth that the Brotherhood is phony and simulated. Ellison illustrates violence throughout his novel to expose different characters fighting for their individual, unique beliefs. The violence these characters employ portrays the chaotic mindset and disarrayed goals of all the characters in the novel as a whole.