Invisible Man
Chapter One
In the underground hole, the narrator flashes back twenty years and thinks of how naive he is. He thinks about the enslavement of his grandparents eighty-five years ago but later freed after the Civil War. He now feels ashamed of being ashamed of the incident.
He remembers the last words of his grandfather to fight oppression. Though he was known not to be a troublemaker, he detested oppression as an instrument of the white. The man passed on after this.
The invisible man living in the hole now narrates his life history. He is a young boy in a nameless Southern town. He has been a responsible and dutiful student. He does not know whether his grandfather or the white people will believe him to be a treacherous person.
He has the opportunity to deliver a speech at a graduation ceremony on “humility is the secret, indeed, the very essence of progress. “It is an understatement to say that the speech was impressive when he delivered it. The narrator is thereby invited to deliver the speech to the white leaders of the town.
The narrator is now in the hotel ballroom to deliver his speech where the town leaders are already on the ground drinking and smoking. He also meets nine of his schoolmates who are there to participate in a “battle royal” to entertain the guests at the event. The narrator is asked to join his colleagues. They change into boxing shirts and gloves and are brought up on stage.
There is already a naked lady dancing on the stage. The narrator and his colleagues are compelled to look at the lady. One of them faints while another begs to leave but is not allowed because the people have already surrounded them.
The drunken men in the gathering come out to touch the lady’s nakedness. She tries to disallow this by resisting and trying to leave the place. The men chase her and fondle her, throwing her up in the air. She eventually escapes with the help of some men there.
The boys also try to leave but are not successful. They are blindfolded and ordered to mount the boxing ring. They are instructed to knock the lights out of the other black boys. The narrator on his own is rehearsing his speech in his mind.
A bell is rung and the blindfolded narrator realizes he is being punched from all sides since he cannot see. He only hears people shouting. He later feels the taste of blood in his mouth and the body wet with either sweat or blood. He is later punched in the stomach and while trying to get up, he realizes that he can see the other fighters. He now fights on behalf of different groups.
The rule of the context is that the last person standing will be given extra money. The other boys now leave the narrator and Tatlock in the ring to fight. He does not know about this arrangement.
The fight continues and the narrator then whispers to Tatlock that he can have his money if he fakes defeat. He even offers to pay him seven dollars. Tatlock then responds that his desire to fight him has nothing to do with white, but his own decision.
The narrator later realizes that they have bet on them from the way the people are shouting and yelling. The narrator is badly hit and thinks the fight is over. The men then bring out a square rug with coins and bills on it.
The fight continues in the context of money. They later realize that the rug is circuited and can electrocute anyone who touches the money. They continue fighting over the money and the white men enjoy the context, jeering at them.
The narrator reaches to the leg of the chair where a white man named Mr. Colcord who owns a chain of movie houses and entertainment houses sits. The latter tries to push the narrator off but the slippery body does not allow him to succeed.
The narrator is knocked over and rolls onto the electric rug. The rug is then removed and the M.C. announces that the contest is over. He then pays the boys five dollars each in the back room and Tatlock is given an extra five dollars as the winner of the contest.
The narrator is initially disappointed, not because he is beaten, but because he is not allowed to deliver his speech. He is later called back into the room and introduced to the white crowd who clap for him.
He is then allowed to deliver his speech where he quotes a speech given by Booker T. Washington involving an unfortunate ship in need of water and a more fortunate ship that tells the fortunate ship to cast down its bucket so that they can provide the water. The speech connotes unity of purpose among the people. The races work together and help one another.
The white gathering continues their merriment as the narrator makes his speech. They berate his use of big words and make him repeat the words. He is made to repeat “social responsibility “several times and mistakenly says “social equality”. He then defends himself that he was swallowing blood in his mouth while making the pronunciation when the people react.
At the end of the speech, he is applauded and the school superintendent gives him a briefcase and a scholarship to the State College of the Negroes for his exemplary performance. He then breaks into tears of joy and leaves the place.
When he gets home, he is congratulated by the people but has a nightmare that night about himself being in the circus with his grandfather who refuses to laugh at the clowns, no matter how funny their performances are.
His grandfather then asks him to open the briefcase where he finds envelopes within envelopes and a note that reads, “Keep This Nigger-Boy Running.” The narrator then wakes up with the old man’s laughter ringing in his ears. He concludes that it is a dream he needs to remember and dream again for many years after but could not interpret the meaning then.