"Poor stumblers, neither of you can see the other. To you he is a mark on the scorecard of your achievement, [...] a black amorphous thing. And you, for all your power, are not a man to him, but a God, a force."The veteran's social critique is very similar to what the narrator says in the prologue: "I am invisible, simply because people refuse to see me." Mr. Norton and the narrator are not real people to each other, instead they are just symbols of something they want to achieve. They are not invisible because of their lack of substance, but due to the other's blindness.
This lack of identity happens often when people are grouped together and generalized. Several times, the narrator is told he will bring credit to "his people" or has to make "his people" look good. This distinction of "my people" and "your people" separates two groups and creates for Mr. Norton that "black amorphous thing" which he only sees as an opportunity to be a humanitarian.
Typically it is the white people who refer to the black people as "your people" but at The Golden Day, Mr. Norton becomes a "white amorphous thing". When he arrives the veteran all call him something different: General Pershing, Thomas Jefferson, John D. Rockefeller, and even the Messiah. All of these names are ideas of power that reflect the way the veterans see the entire white population.
The doctor-veteran points out that white Mr. Norton and the black narrator are equally guilty of being blind. Neither of them take kindly to being called out and dismiss him as crazy. Ellison's social critique is extremely ironic because he has the character that has made the most sense so far be someone who is mentally unstable. Because of this, the doctor-veteran isn't given any credit for his insights. In a way, he too, is invisible.
I think you did a really good job of outlining the double-sided situations that we see in chapter three. In an unnerving scene, we see a role reversal of the general characterization of a people group. You also talk about the invisibility of the white man, not just our narrator, and it adds more dimension to the meaning of invisibility in this context.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting example of the "race as one person idea" we see happening in the golden day and with perception of black people by whites all the time is the church scene. We see many mentions of "we all did this or that" saying that all black people were living as the Founder. Considering that the sermon was very tied in with Bledsoe's fake values, it makes sense that this subtle allusion is a bit in line with the white perspective.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right that the doctor/vet too is invisible in this scene. Not only is he not given credit for his insights, but like Mr. Norton and the narrator are blind to each other, they are also blind to him. Much how they group each other by race, they group the doctor as just another member of the insane asylum.
ReplyDeleteVery true, even Halley at the Golden day says "How come you bring this white man here school-boy". Another example of grouping by race or position in society.
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