Invisible Man
Chapter Seventeen
Four months later, after training with Brother Hambro, Brother Jack calls the narrator’s apartment at midnight to prepare to meet him. He does meet him and they drive to El Toro Bar where they have a drink.
The narrator is worried about his meeting with Brother Jack but concludes that if there is anything; Brother Hambro would have told him. He declares that he enjoyed his tutoring under Brother Hambro.
Brother Jack informs the narrator that it has been decided by the committee the previous day he is going to be the chief spokesman of the Harlem district the following day. He warns him to maintain the discipline of the Brotherhood as the new position gives him a lot of freedom.
He sheds light on what is expected of him and that he will continue what he started at Harlem the other time. He then tells him to meet him and the rest of the committee in Harlem by 9 am the following morning. Brother Jack shows him the Harlem office of the Brotherhood that night. The district offices are located in a converted church structure.
The narrator meets Brother Tarp who is to help him according to Brotherhood Jack. Though elderly, Brother Jack says he is young in the spirit of wanting to make a change. Brother Tarp shows the narrator his new office.
The narrator meets with the committee the next morning and he is commended for being punctual at the meeting. Everybody is present except Brother Tod Clifton whom someone says will join them.
Brother Jack then introduces the narrator as the spokesman and advises that he be given maximum support. He also tells them that they must plan methods of increasing the effectiveness of their agitation and also work towards increasing the membership of the Brotherhood.
In this instance, Brother Tod Clifton, a young and handsome member of the Brotherhood comes in late with a bandaged face which he attributes to his encounter with a black nationalist’s boys; Ras the Exhorter.
Brother Jack then looks at the narrator and tells him briefly about Ras the Exhorter that he is the wild man who calls himself a black nationalist. It is added that the man doesn’t like black and white being together. Brother Jack also reminds them that the Brotherhood is anti-violence.
The narrator discovers that Brother Clifton is three years old in the Brotherhood and sees him to be very focused in his work.
The evening of the speech is cold and the venue is full of black people. No sooner than the narrator starts his speech they smell a problem. Brother Clifton, who stands by his side, tells him to continue his speech and that trouble is at hand. It’s Ras the Exhorter who urged the narrator to prepare for it.
Suddenly there is pandemonium, someone has knocked out the light, and everywhere is black. Clifton is seen heading to where a red neon sign is shining in the darkness. The narrator also sees himself engaging in somebody fighting.
He later sees Brother Clifton fighting Ras the Exhorter and jabbing him seriously both in the head and stomach. The narrator then observes that Ras the Exhorter is holding a knife and hesitating to use it on Brother Clifton.
Ras the Exhorter says that he is supposed to kill Brother Clifton because of his association with the white which is not supposed to be. He says Clifton is black and should not trust the “enslavers” referring to the white.
The narrator also joins in and he is able to get the knife from him. He then wonders what somebody like the narrator can be doing with the Brotherhood. He says they might be bribed by women. He says he has been hearing the narrator’s “rabble-rousing.” He asks him what he is doing with enslavers as a black man.
The narrator then tells Ras the Exhorter that the Brotherhood will be coming out for their speeches every night and that they don’t want trouble. That if anybody brings one they will fight back.
Ras the Exhorter also responds that he is not a betrayer like the narrator and Brother Clifton. Clifton suddenly hits Ras the Exhorter and starts bleeding. He says Ras is crazy. Ras then comments that three blacks fighting because of white I’d insanity. The narrator then asks them to leave.
It rains the following morning and the narrator reaches the office before the others arrive. Brother Tarp joins him later. He put up a poster of Frederick Douglass on the wall. He then asks the narrator whether he knows the man. The narrator says his grandfather used to tell him about Frederick Douglass. Brother Tarp adds that he is a great man and that he belongs to them.
The narrator makes some calls to the community leaders for their support of the eviction campaign and the responses are really encouraging. They organize a parade a few Sundays later and it is a big success.
The narrator is becoming more popular and the Brotherhood gaining more ground. The science of the Brotherhood’s theory and its ideas are of immense help to the narrator.
Chapter Eighteen
The narrator receives an anonymous letter warning him of his activities and to be cautious as he is going too fast. It encourages him to work for the people and also reminds him that he is one of them from the South and the white men will not want him moving fast, or else they will cut him down.
He is worried about this letter and wonders where it might come from. He asks Brother Tarp about it and he tells him that he also saw it in the box. He says somebody might have brought it very late in the night the previous day.
The narrator then requests information from Brother Tarp on what the members think about him. Brother Tarp responds that they think that he is doing fine and looks up to him as a real leader. He has not heard anything bad about him from any member of the Brotherhood.
Brother Tarp later reveals some things about himself to the narrator. He tells him about his membership of a gang down South and his escape. He tells him the cause of his limping leg is a result of his being chained for nineteen years, six months, and two days for his lack of cooperation with those that want to take something from him.
He explains how he freed himself by using filed steel. It also led him to lose his wife, his son, and a piece of land. He gives the filed steel he used to escape to the narrator… The experiences of Brother Tarp he just listened to give him more confidence.
The narrator concludes that whoever sent the letter just wanted to confuse him and halt the progress of the Brotherhood and says that it surely was not sent by Ras the Exhorter because he is confrontational in his own approach.
The narrator begins his work by attending to the people, including a woman that wants to bail out her husband who is detained for beating her. Brother Wrestrum then enters the office and complains about the filed steel he puts on the table. The narrator observes that Brother Wrestrum seems to possess some kind of authority in the Brotherhood.
Brother Wrestrum tells the narrator that some members of the Brotherhood are just there to boost their own ego and proposes an idea that the Brotherhood should have a banner that is different from the American flag. He also suggests buttons for members to recognize themselves. So, they will not be mistaken to be under Ras the Exhorter.
The narrator receives a call in the presence of Brother Wrestrum from the editor of A New Picture Magazine requesting to interview one of the most successful men in the Brotherhood.
The narrator is not interested in the interview and proposes Brother Tod Clifton, the youth leader of the Brotherhood. Brother Wrestrum then convinces him that they want him to do the interview. He says he has become famous and they want him to continue in that way. Brother Wrestrum is being mischievous here. The narrator eventually agrees to do the interview.
There is a meeting of the Brotherhood two weeks later where the narrator arrives late to the meeting as other members are already on their seats. Brother Jack first addresses the accusations put on the narrator which comes to the narrator as a surprise. Brother Wrestrum is called to speak on it.
He accuses the narrator of being self-promoting using the name of the Brotherhood, citing the example of the magazine interview that the narrator has even forgotten about. He adds that he wants to turn himself into a dictator. The narrator denies ever seeing the magazine.
He also denies working for his own reputation and they know that he works for the Brotherhood wholeheartedly. He then explains that the editor of the magazine called that a reporter was being sent for an interview and he took a few pictures and gave him some of their literature books.
The narrator is asked to excuse them while the other members decide on the issue. He is later called in and he is exonerated on the issue of the magazine article but not cleared of other allegations. He is thereby left to choose between becoming inactive in Harlem and accepting an assignment downtown; lecturing on the “Woman Question.” The meeting is then adjourned.
The verdict does not go down well with the narrator but still encourages himself that he is a good speaker, so should be able to speak on any topic that is brought before him. That the Brotherhood still believes in him for still allowing him to speak in their name. He is not happy leaving Harlem and the people he is leaving behind; Brothers Tarp and Clifton.