The Disillusionment

Chapters 22 and 23 are the first chapters where we really get to see the narrator from the prologue. It is at this moment that he actually starts to use a more critical consciousness and think for himself. We also see that he is starting to pay more attention to what his grandfather has said.

In the beginning, the narrator is always avoiding what his grandfather said or just not understanding it. That comes from the beginning when the grandfather first started talking about how he was a traitor and then "the younger children were rushed from the room" (16). Even then, to the narrator's parents, the thought of being subversive was completely against their nature. That is why, in the beginning, we could see the narrator as completely naive and believing that "white is right". His avoidance of what his grandfather is saying is seen in the Golden Day as well. When the Doctor very accurately describes the relationship between the narrator and Mr. Norton, he dismisses it by labeling the Doctor as crazy. There have been other moments of disillusionment before the scene in chapter 22, but the narrator still remained optimistic and it isn't until now that he really sees that the brotherhood and the society is flawed.

In this scene all we get from the brotherhood is sarcasm. They aren't clearly upset with what the narrator did, but instead of being able to speak scholarly like they always pride themselves in, all they can do now is just repeat what the narrator is saying in a mocking voice. The narrator is clearly the more sophisticated one here actually developing clear and precise sentences and undermines everything that the others are saying, especially Brother Tobitt. They are making a change in the way things are being done in Harlem and even though the narrator ends up going along with it, he is still thinking for himself. He not only questions their authority, but thinks about breaking apart completely, but decides that this solution would not work. It isn't until the end of chapter 23 when he finally sees past the whole illusion and begins to embrace his invisibility.

Thus, the narrator has changed a lot from the naive college undergraduate to the Rinehart like Speaker in the brotherhood.

Bled

As the point came up in class, there is a way that Bledsoe still takes up residency in the mind of the narrator. He is not under the "influence? of Bledsoe any more, but he does dream of exposing his mask and he gets very aggressive with it when he explicates, "You're a sneaking chitterling lover! I accuse you of indulging in a filthy habit Bledsoe!..." (265). Then he starts laughing like a hyena after he thinks about the scene. It's crazy how much the narrator changed from chapters 13-15 to chapter 16 because in 13-15, there are other ways that he compares to Bledsoe and is a little bit like him, but then in chapter 16 those similarities disappear.

In chapter 14 when he gets the job but has to cut his ties with Mary he describes the relationship he has with her and even though he doesn't hate her he doesn't actually like her that much. The way that he relates to Bledsoe in this scene is that he explains that people like Mary "usually think in terms of 'we' while I always tended to think in terms of 'me'," (316). The way that he relates to Bledsoe at that moment is that he is saying that he only cares about himself and not the black community as a whole which is similar to Bledsoe saying, "I'll have every N-word in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am" (143). That shows that even if he doesn't think so, he is still acting in a way similar to that which Bledsoe recommended. If you have power, you better work hard to keep it. 

Another way that he is similar to Bledsoe is that he is developing a mask as well now. It is not  the same mask that Bledsoe wears, but it is one that makes it to where the people think that they would be in charge, but they aren't. He clearly tells us this when he states that, "they might think I was acting like Booker T. Washington; let them. But what I thought of myself I would keep to myself," (311). Therefore, he is giving them what they want while he is actually doing what he wants which is a little bit like Bledsoe.

In chapter 16 however, we see a growth where what the organization wants is aligning with what he himself wants and he is actually starting to care about other people and that can be seen when after the speech he gives, he is telling himself that, "I would do whatever was necessary to serve them well," (353). Therefore, we can see a growth where at first he just wants to please white people, then he wants to be himself and only cares about being himself, and now he wants to help the black community as a whole.