As we finish our discussion of Invisible Man I wanted to write about one of my favorite chapters in the book - Chapter Three, the Golden Day chapter. As chaotic as it is, I love the idea of the Golden Day; it's an isolated part of society where ordinary social norms and hierarchies don't apply. As soon as Mr. Norton walks in, he is ridiculed and mocked by the patients. They call him Thomas Jefferson and John D. Rockefeller and make other jokes that importantly, are at his expense. We talked a lot in class about how important laughter and humor are in Invisible Man - they function most often as a means of undermining someone's authority or importance. Specifically, the jokes that compare Mr. Norton to any other white guy are powerful because they basically send the message that Mr. Norton is of little importance or concern to the patients. He might as well be any other person and in that sense the patients' jokes really serve as the first warning that something is different at the Golden Day. Later, the patients brutally beat up Supercargo, the manager of the bar. He's supposed to have control over the bar, but the patients have no regard for his authority and so the entire scene flies into chaos. One thing that's really important is the fact that Supercargo's uniform is all white. It's not a coincidence that Supercargo, a tyrannical figure of authority, is associated with the color white. Further, on page 83 before beating up Supercargo, one of the patients yells "he's the white folks' man." Supercargo is undoubtedly then, associated with whiteness. At this point the Golden Day is depicted as an establishment where traditional notions of social hierarchy are completely destroyed. More importantly though, the specific social hierarchy that has fallen to shambles in the Golden Day is one where whiteness is equated with power, influence, and respect.
Another thing about the scene that I really liked was the discussion of "insanity" that it drove. We talked in class about how few of the "insane" asylum patients actually seemed "insane" and especially about the vet who actually seemed quite competent if not extremely intelligent. The vet is one of the most influential figures in the narrator's journey to consciousness and this is the first scene that we're introduced to him and his ideas - he talks about the way that society mistreated him for no good reason, and also calls both the narrator and Mr. Norton out on their ignorance and inability to see each other for what they are. Based on what he says in this chapter, and honestly throughout the book, the vet seems far from insane - instead he seems really conscious, reflective, and intelligent. I think that's kind of Ellison's point though, that "insane" is actually a word used to silence and cover up people like the vet - people who have it figured out. The patients at the asylum and the the vet specifically are all threats to a white dominated social hierarchy - which is clear when we see the way that they run things in the Golden Day - and for that reason they have been labeled as "insane."
I really liked the way you talked about "insanity" in invisible man and in society. I definitely agree that what's considered insane is socially determined and usually it is used to shun people who think differently than others, especially if that different thinking challenges and beliefs that those people had before. Like the vet, someone who clearly can think very logically fro himself and is very smart, but someone who challenges the belief that African-Americans are inferior and less intelligent so he is labeled "insane" to get him away from society and hide him.
ReplyDeleteI also really loved this chapter, just because of its sheer chaos and nightmarishness. It feels so much like a dream to me, which I always think is a really interesting and rare thing to find in literature. But also, yeah, it's a huge part in Invisible Man that I honestly forgot about. I believe the scene with the vet is actually the first in which someone explicitly tells the narrator that something is wrong with society (except for the grandfather, but even that was a little more subtle), so you could say that this was really where he started to open his eyes to his surroundings. Like, before he was exposed to things that you'd think would make him scratch his head but because he had no reason/push to think otherwise, he was just like whatever.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this! After reading this, I feel like this chapter contradicts the rest of the novel in that it shows what the world could be like if we didn't label "white" as "right." In your first paragraph you quote, "he's the white folks' man" in context with Supercargo. When I read that, I was kind of thinking about how that line could also apply to the Narrator who we see falling in line with white people before he discovers his invisibility. I agree with your second paragraph on how the word "insane" silences those who see the problems with society and go against them. Great post!! :)
ReplyDeleteThis chapter cracked me up lol. I liked the humor with Norton's other nicknames, and how the people who had actually understood the white supremacy system around them where "insane". Of course, there is the much deeper meaning and picture here, showing how those who understand are suppressed and pushed to the bottom of society. But I really appreciated the sense of humor Ellison had in this chapter specifically.
ReplyDelete