March+1+-24-Epilogue+of+Invisible+Man-+Emily+Magee

Chapters 23-Epilogue

Last sentence of the book: the entire book he talks about how he speaks for himself, but at the end he says that he is speaking for you. hypocritical? He ends with a question. Why is that important? The whole book is that he wants to open people’s eyes. Asking people. Can I speak for you? Making the reader think more by asking a question. Connection: he spoke for the brotherhood & College More Ellison speaking? Think about my story, my past: learn from this.

pg 580: As we end the book we are coming back full circle to the beginning. On page 580 he deconstructs some of the crazy things he says at the beginning of the book.

Going underground: literal (lives in a hole) and figurative (socially he is an outsider)

And the mind that has conceived a plan of living must never lose sight of the chaos against which that pattern was conceived: If you plan on living you should never forget what is around Once you know what you want to do with your life don’t let other factors change that Once you have chosen a path don’t forget the things that pushed you into that path/the reasons you had to chose that path. The world is a ball of chaos that cannot be controlled so even if you have your goals all planned lout you can only be that way if you keep in mind that it was chaos from which pattern emereged. there was a period of time where you didn’t have the answers, but that is where the plans/goals came from. how can you live an orderly life if life has no order? a paradox. Bad air: negative thoughts You can’t have art unless you’ve truly suffered. There’s half of me that says forget about all this crap and just be happy, there is the other half that says you have to except and wallow in the horror of it to understand it.

Hes going to abandon his hole: he will be no less invisible, but hes going to live in society. Transformation: new person, new ideas, sees the world in a new way Re-read the book until you’re ready to read the epilogue. Once you are done and understand then you can leave the hole. Overstayed his hibernation: just living for himself, selfish, he could have a very socially responsible role to play. What does that contribution look like. Living in the hole is doing exactly what the white people want. If he leaves he is an agent of change. Who really understands what I’m trying to see except those who have been marginalized. Leads up to the final line. YOU: collective you of americans, not just people of color. There is a fundamental flaw in the american system. If you don’t move away from an individual perspective there is a danger in that. Invisable Man is now understanding what the Veteran was telling him.