Norton, they find themselves driving by Jim’s house where they see his wife and his daughter who have both been impregnated by him. As the Invisible Man is driving around Mr. In chapter two we are introduced to an important character, the local oddity Jim Trueblood. Washington was famous for being a black man who claimed that complete equality was not necessary and that economic equality was what was most important there is a parallel between this claim and what IM is doing as they both settle for less than complete equality and avoid the phrase because of the reaction they know they will receive from the white men with power over them. Washington is also significant and relates to this theme of degrading oneself in order to please those with more power than you. The part of the speech where IM quotes the famous Booker T. IM had to swallow his pride in order to avoid a backlash from the white men listening to him. This is even more evident with the line “I was swallowing blood,” as Ellison made a reference to the ancestral blood of the Invisible Man - the blood of slaves. This part of the chapter is significant because it shows that the Invisible Man was sacrificing part of himself in order to please the white men. He said the word equality at first, and then corrected himself and used the word “responsibility,” instead. This conversation occurs in the middle of the Invisible Man’s speech. The white man was no longer the one exerting power over the black man, which is a major contrast to the pre-invisible days during which the white man possessed the power entirely, for instance, the Battle Royal. In that moment, IM had the power to take the life of a white man. Furthermore, during the fight IM “got out my knife and prepared to slice his throat” (4), but shortly after stopped the blade. He is able to do this because of his awareness of his invisibility, which is something that he does not yet have in Chapters 1 and 2, and thus is why he would never do such a thing in those chapters. IM had just demanded something out of a white man he does not know. “I sprang at him, seized his coat lapels, and demanded that he apologize” (4). In analyzing this scene, it is important to keep in mind that the prologue is written once IM has established himself as invisible. The fight scene between Invisible Man and the white man on the street is the very first instance of power we are introduced to in the novel.
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