A lot happened in chapter 10. There was a lot of discussion in class. Here is a blog post. (more of an extended question I guess)
There was so much symbolism in chapter 10, from the paint to Kimbro to the union. I could write so much about just the paint scene and Kimbro, but I'll save that for later. It was a lot to take in, but I feel like the amount of symbolism corresponds to the development of the narrator as an individual. Especially with the Optic White paint, it seemed like the narrator was becoming more aware and all the details given made us more aware as well. It seemed like quite a dramatic change, from the breakfast scene earlier.
And then there's the dentures. Overall, I found the scene quite humorous and somewhat anticlimactic, but I still enjoyed reading it. However, it also raised some questions. In class, there were many comments about how the narrator fighting Brockway really showcased his development as a character. I don't doubt that we see changes in the narrator at this point (see previous paragraph for thoughts on that), but I can't help but wonder: if the narrator was still as submissive and innocent as in chapter 1, what would he have done? Would he have defended himself against Mr. Brockway if put in this situation at an earlier stage in his life? Or would he have just allowed Mr. Brockway to hurt him? The narrator believed that Mr. Brockway was stabbing him, so I have a hard time believing that he would have just stood there and allowed it to happen. Thoughts in the comments?
~~~
I really like your intro here! I think that if the narrator hadn't gotten mad or attacked Brockway, then Brockway would probably not have hurt him at all. I think that they would have ended up just yelling at each other until either the narrator walked out, ran away, or the thingy exploded. Judging by how embarrassed the narrator and Brockway seem to be after the fight, I think that if the narrator hadn't stood up and pushed back at Brockway, they would not have fought.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tim in that I don't think that they would have fought, but if we threw the narrator from chapter one into this situation I don't think he would be yelling at Brockway either. I feel like he would have just submitted and done whatever Brockway wanted him to do. Also, going along with the symbolism of white and black I thnk that there is also symbolism of invisibility, I think the part about painting the coal is shows this. They said if you paint coal with their paint you would have to crack it open to see the black. In this way the black of the coal is invisible.
ReplyDeleteI agree there's definitely symbolism of invisibility with the paints. Along with what you said about the black of the coal, the drops of black put into the white paint itself also shows invisibility. Although maybe in a different way than the coal, which seems to show white masking black whereas the drops show black disappearing into white. Or maybe it is the same thing..? Not sure, but yeah I agree.
DeleteI kind of agree with Tim and Joaquin. The narrator from Chapter 1 didn't like being yelled just as much as he didn't here. And he did stand up for himself against Bledsoe (we see him screaming "I'll fight you!"). But the difference between that situation and the one in Chapter 10 is that the narrator *actually* fights. At this point, he doesn't care as much about the consequences and he's ready to stand up for himself: a big change from Chapter 1.
ReplyDeleteIf the narrator was the same person as in chapter one I think that he would have not let Mr. Brockway hurt him, but would have posed less of a threat. I think that he would have been a bit more confused, and his instinct wouldn't have been to fight back. I think that he would still have that innocence and mind set that the people want to hear what he has to say and try to reason it out. Instead he fought back, and got himself sent to the hospital and essentially fired.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Brockway and the narrator from chapter 1 wouldn't have butted heads at all. Brockway is pretty confrontational from the start, but the narrator gives it back in the form of attitude--which we've generally seen as a good thing at this stage in his development. It means that he isn't just blindly deferring to figures of authority, and he isn't as prone to being manipulated and ordered around--which characterizes him in chapter 1 perfectly. And yet, the fact that this more skeptical attitude ends up with him in this ignoble, farcical fight with an old man, over pretty much nothing, suggests that maybe the skepticism isn't a big step on the way to self-definition. Like so much else in this novel, Ellison tends to undercut the narrator just when he's feeling like he's got it all figured out.
ReplyDelete