Invalidation of the Narrator's Identity in the Brotherhood

In the first part of Invisible Man, we see the narrator wander aimlessly among several wealthy, powerful aristocrats (Bledsoe, Norton, Emerson) in an attempt to try and form an identity and make something meaningful of his life. Early on, this ardent desire of the narrator to force his life in a certain direction takes the form of attempting to siphon an identity from these wealthy, powerful characters, such as Bledsoe, and actually ends up having the reverse effect of blinding the narrator from the character's true intentions and what is really going on behind the scenes. We observe this in the first part of the book through the narrator's unrelenting, delusional optimism even when situations look dire, as he simply convinces himself that he will find success with one of these men rather than having to form his own identity and make his unique mark on society. Due to the narrator's lack of ability to do this, coupled with his reliance on others stemming from the belief that he must strive to be like them to succeed, he is never able to form an identity and progress independently throughout his life, thus appearing invisible. This notion changes when he joins the Brotherhood, however, as Brother Jack makes an appearing offer to the narrator to become a leading spokesmen of the organization, providing the narrator with a chance to feel like he himself, as an individual, has a purpose in life, by persuading others to take action and making a difference in their lives. Because of the narrator's newfound confidence due to exposure to the rest of the community, he no longer feels invisible as he has, with the help of Brother Jack, made an identity for himself in the Brotherhood organization. While the narrator seems to be content with his position in his Brotherhood for the majority of his time in the organization, it is after the controversial death of Brother Tod Clifton, and the perhaps even more controversial (at least within the Brotherhood) funeral ceremony that the narrator puts on for him that causes the narrator to see the Brotherhood in a different light, as well as start to question the true motives behind the organization. After debating with Brother Jack and Tobitt about Clifton's death and subsequently arguing with Hambro about the Brotherhood's policies and true motives, the narrator realizes the meaninglessness of his identity in the Brotherhood, once again appearing invisible and without identity, and causing him to take on his grandfather's beliefs of tricking with feigned optimism, as although he has lost his identity, the difference from the beginning of the book is that he understands his invisibility.

Immediately following the narrator's witnessing of Clifton's death at the hands of a white cop, the narrator is astonished and speechless, feeling that he is at fault. In response to this, the narrator decides to hold a funeral procession for brother Clifton simply because of his unjust death at the hands of a white cop for an act as meager as illegally selling paper Sambo dolls. It is important to note here that the narrator does this and speaks at the ceremony without first consulting the Brotherhood committee. This act of the narrator comes back to punish him, as Brother Jack and Tobitt confront him about his individual acts regarding Clifton. Brother Tobitt is more than happy to call the narrator out on his rash, individual actions, sarcastically asking if "that [is] all the great tactician has to tell us?" (463). Tobitt realizes that the narrator acted alone his his endeavors, something that looks even worse after the debacle with Brother Wrestrum, and strives to heavily express his disapproval of the narrator's actions using sarcasm. The narrator genuinely believes that Clifton deserved a proper, publicized funeral, as he was unjustly killed by a white cop, but Brother Tobitt and Jack misinterpret this as an act from the narrator that's against the Brotherhood organization. When the narrator expresses his views as to why he acted as he did, stating that it was his "personal responsibility" to hold the funeral, Brother Jack simply tells him that he did wrong because Clifton was a traitor, again with a strong use of sarcasm in order to undermine the narrator and make him look silly, throwing his own words back at him by stretching out "personal re-spon-si-bility" (464).. While the narrator protests, saying that it is unjust that Clifton, unarmed, was killed for such a petty reason, Brother Jack is quick to silence him, stating that "you were not hired to think. Had you forgotten that? If so, listen to me: You were not hired to think" (469). This is where the narrator starts to see the true method and motives behind how the Brotherhood really works. Up until now, the narrator believed that he had found his own identity with the Brotherhood and that the Brotherhood is what gave his life meaning, pulling him out of his cloak of invisibility. After hearing Brother Jack clearly and directly remind the narrator why he was hired, however, the narrator starts to question his position in the organization, as if the true behind-the-scenes motives of the leaders are overshadowing his own opinions and thoughts regarding the organization, then maybe the narrator's identity in the organization isn't so set it stone after all.

While the confrontation with Jack and Tobitt in the meeting plants these doubts of the Brotherhood's legitimacy and transparency inside the narrator's head, it is his meeting with Hambro about sacrifice following Clifton's death that convince the narrator that his identity with the Brotherhood is invalidated. Hambro states that it is necessary to make sacrifices in order to achieve the ultimate goal of the Brotherhood, which frustrates the narrator, as it means that during the narrator's time with the Brotherhood he hadn't been told the whole truth. In the narrator's eyes, this notion of sacrifice implies that the Brotherhood doesn't really care about it's members, and deems them expendable, further invalidating the his position and identity with the Brotherhood. While at first the narrator though the Brotherhood cold provide him with a unique purpose in his life and a way to escape his prior invisibility, he simply ends up being invisible again after realizing the truth about the Brotherhood: "Only in the Brotherhood had there seemed a chance for such as us, the mere glimmer of a light, but behind the polished and humane facade of Jack's eye I'd found an amorphous form and a harsh red rawness. And even that was without meaning except for me" (507). Now that the narrator has understood the way in which the Brotherhood manipulates and later disposes of its members, he once again feels as he did earlier in the book, lacking identity and a purpose. The narrator had simply been blindly following the route Brother Jack had set up for him, only now stopping to consider how much the Brotherhood actually valued and paid attention to his opinions, realizing that all the real work is done by a select few leaders in the organization. While the narrator does go back to his previous position of lacking identity that he had in the first half of the book with Bledsoe, the difference is that the narrator now knows how he is being played, and understands his invisibility, contrary to before when he simply expressed delusional, unrealistic optimism. Keeping this in mind, the narrator decides to test out his grandfather's way of progressing through life, that is, "overcome them with yeses, undermine them with grins, I'd agree them to death and destruction" (508). The narrator now understands his invisibility and decides to finally play the "game", feigning optimism and positivity in order to eventually undermine the Brotherhood.