An Eye for an Eye
Recently as we read Invisible Man I came across the moment where Brother Jack's glass eye falls into his glass of water, shocking the narrator. This then prompted me to a variety of thoughts regarding the symbolism and irony of Brother Jacks glass eye.
I wondered if the idea that Brother Jack only had 1 eye meant he could not see the world clearly, and that thought seemed to be supported by the narrators joking with Jack. Though Jack clearly misses his joke, the narrator asks him to recommend him to his oculist so "then I may not see myself as others see me not". I found it incredibly ironic, and funny, that Brother Jack, who acts as if he is the all seeing leader of this brotherhood, cant even see that well, literally and figuratively.
Furthermore, I thought about how Brother Jacks humble bragging about his "sacrifice"of an eye was similar to the Gandhi phrase "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".
Though somewhat of a stretch, I began to think about how Brother Jack's narrow minded vision for the world, tied into this phrase. For him to literally lose his eye, as a 'heroic act' almost admirable to his followers, if his followers were to continue down his narrow path to 'worldly success', in the eyes of Brother Jack, then they too would be blinded in similar ways as he is. It was very clear to me Ellison strategically created this aspect of Brother Jack, to fit with his character. Not only is he blinded partly physically, he is blinded party figuratively as he does not see the whole world as it is, he only sees it as he wishes to see it. The narrator touches on this point in talking with the brotherhood as he says he sees Harlem differently than they do. Ironically, Brother Tobitts defense to this argument, his Black wife, only illustrates this point more. The entire Brotherhood has a narrow minded view of the world, and their path towards this post-racial world seems to truly benefit them more than the actual Black community itself.
Moving forward from this moment, I wonder how the brotherhoods blindness will be shown more, and how the narrator will react to it. Now that he has been 'made aware' so-to-speak, both physically with Jack's glass eye, and figuratively with their discussion of his actions, I wonder how he will move forth with his own ideas on furthering the Black community. Will he move on similarly to the way he did after the battle royal, comparing his speech then with the discussion he has with the brotherhood? Or will we see a new side to the narrator where he takes more action? Or will he too be blinded, losing his eye to the Brotherhood?
I find myself asking a different question as well. If Brother Jack is blind, does that make Ras the Exhorter the opposite? Can we symbolically say that Brother Jacks glass eye can be contrasted by Ras the Exhorter's glasses?? or something directly opposite of a glass eye?
I wondered if the idea that Brother Jack only had 1 eye meant he could not see the world clearly, and that thought seemed to be supported by the narrators joking with Jack. Though Jack clearly misses his joke, the narrator asks him to recommend him to his oculist so "then I may not see myself as others see me not". I found it incredibly ironic, and funny, that Brother Jack, who acts as if he is the all seeing leader of this brotherhood, cant even see that well, literally and figuratively.
Furthermore, I thought about how Brother Jacks humble bragging about his "sacrifice"of an eye was similar to the Gandhi phrase "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".
Though somewhat of a stretch, I began to think about how Brother Jack's narrow minded vision for the world, tied into this phrase. For him to literally lose his eye, as a 'heroic act' almost admirable to his followers, if his followers were to continue down his narrow path to 'worldly success', in the eyes of Brother Jack, then they too would be blinded in similar ways as he is. It was very clear to me Ellison strategically created this aspect of Brother Jack, to fit with his character. Not only is he blinded partly physically, he is blinded party figuratively as he does not see the whole world as it is, he only sees it as he wishes to see it. The narrator touches on this point in talking with the brotherhood as he says he sees Harlem differently than they do. Ironically, Brother Tobitts defense to this argument, his Black wife, only illustrates this point more. The entire Brotherhood has a narrow minded view of the world, and their path towards this post-racial world seems to truly benefit them more than the actual Black community itself.
Moving forward from this moment, I wonder how the brotherhoods blindness will be shown more, and how the narrator will react to it. Now that he has been 'made aware' so-to-speak, both physically with Jack's glass eye, and figuratively with their discussion of his actions, I wonder how he will move forth with his own ideas on furthering the Black community. Will he move on similarly to the way he did after the battle royal, comparing his speech then with the discussion he has with the brotherhood? Or will we see a new side to the narrator where he takes more action? Or will he too be blinded, losing his eye to the Brotherhood?
I find myself asking a different question as well. If Brother Jack is blind, does that make Ras the Exhorter the opposite? Can we symbolically say that Brother Jacks glass eye can be contrasted by Ras the Exhorter's glasses?? or something directly opposite of a glass eye?
I had never considered the differences between Jack's glass eyes and Ras' glasses, but that makes perfect sense! Jack is blind to the realities of society, but Ras understands too well the crushing nature of racist oppression. Other people might see Ras' militancy as short-sighted (ha) but really there appears (ha) to be no other option. The narrator seems to occupy a middle ground between Jack and Ras because he opposes the Brotherhood's cold ideology but doesn't support militancy.
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