Holden Caulfield and Nicolas Scoby

I don't know how many of you know the book The Catcher in the Rye, but we read it last year in the best class I've ever taken called The Coming of Age novel. Thinking about Nicolas Scoby and how I was sobbing over his suicide, I realized some interesting parallels that Scoby has to the main character in TCITR, Holden Caulfield. For those of you who don't know, I'll do a little summarizing and biography-ing below for your edification.
So, TCITR is a short-but-long one/two day journey of a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield. It's the end of the winter semester, and Holden is slated to be expelled from his prestigious all-boys boarding school after being expelled from a long list of other schools. He decides to dip before the semester is officially over and goes wandering around Central Park (in New York) to wait things out. By the end of the novel, the day has passed and the Holden from two years later looks back on this little adventure as a time when he (maybe) grew up a little.
Holden has a very distinct characteristic in that, like Scoby, on the outside, he is very cool and has a facade of being very adult and somewhat mature, but on the inside, he likes childhood and the innocence and purity that comes with it and wants to cherish it. He's uncomfortable with sexual relations with women though he talks about it with his school buddies, he's nice to strangers, and he wants to go back to a time when things were simpler, like in his childhood.
This, I think, is the essence of Scoby's spiral into depression. Basketball, the real essence of basketball, is the childhood memory of it; the purity of just playing the game for the fun of it, no money or pride on the line, just pure simple fun. This was only possible for him during his childhood - everything past that forces some amount of expectation on him. Later, when we see his breakdown and "homesickness", we see that he's trying to bring elements of Hillside to Boston, but more than that he's trying to bring quintessential elements of his childhood back to Boston. Most importantly, these attempts are futile - the smog from the cars he brings back eventually disapates, which I think is a metaphor for how the time of his childhood is gone - time only moves forward, and Scoby can't handle that to a certain extent. His inability to go back to a simpler time when basketball and a god wasn't all he was depresses him and is what ultimately drives him to commit suicide.

Turtle Sex

Cast your mind back to something like a week ago. Do you remember the scene where Denver and Beloved watch at the edge of a lake/body of water and see some turtles start to have sex? Why would Morrison add this into her complex novel about life in and right after slavery? We brought this up before class started one day and Mr. Mitchell said "if you want to write a blog post to try to explicate it, go for it". So, this one is for you, Mr. Mitchell (though I suppose all of them are in a way).
The way I interpreted this was how Paul D and Sethe are attempting to love each other. Both Sethe and Paul D are keeping things to themselves at this point. Paul D has his whole backstory; his time at Sweet Home after Sethe leaves, Georgia, Delaware, and his journey to and from these places. Likewise, Sethe at this point still hasn't told Paul D about Beloved's death, why the community isolates her, why the ghost haunts them. Both are okay with reminiscing superficially about Sweet Home to a certain extent, but if they talk too long about it, they reach subjects that are painful, and neither really wants the other's rememories interfering with their own. Sethe specifically says she wishes that her mind didn't have to take in and internalize all the things that are presented to her, including the information about Halle and the butter churn. They are both trying to open up to each other while simultaneously being guarded.
Now, back to turtles. Obviously, there's a parallel here. Turtles have hard shells to protect themselves, just as Sethe and Paul D are trying to protect themselves. And the turtles are trying to make love just as Sethe and Paul D are. But still, why is the turtle sex scene here? I believe it's all for the last line of the scene; "The gravity of their shields, clashing, countered and mocked the floating heads touching". This line illuminates something about Sethe and Paul D's relationship; That even though they are trying to have a loving relationship, heal and move forward (the loving taps of the turtles' heads together), they are  hindered by their guards against the world and to each other. Not only that it hinders their love, but it ultimately overrides the love they try to have. It negates their intentions for their relationship and mocks their attempt at moving forward and deepening their relationship.
So yeah. Turtles.

From the End to the Beginning

Now that we've read through Their Eyes Were Watching God all the way through, I want to go back to the opening again and relate it to the story as a whole. I remember being really confused by it when we first read it, and going back there are some interesting connections to make. The first paragraph refers to ships, saying "For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon" (1). The ships are said to carry every man's dream, which brings to mind the three men that we get to know in Janie's story; Logan, Joe, and Tea Cake. So for whom did the ships land and for whom did they sail on the horizon? Well, we don't really know with Logan, since we never saw the end of his life. For Joe, it seems that he achieved many of his goals. He started the town, became the mayor, had the prettiest wife, etc. However, he failed to reach his internal goal of owning and controlling Janie forever. She does exhibit little acts of rebellion and especially at the end of Joe's life lashes out at him. For Joe, it's like his ship was an illusion on the shore but truly on the horizon. And then there's Tea Cake. Honestly it feels like Tea Cake is the winner here because his dreams were just to live contently and be happy and in love with Janie, all of which he achieved. Even at the end, Janie loved him, and probably deep down Tea Cake also loved Janie. His ship officially landed.

The second short paragraph talks about women, who "forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget" (1). This also is interesting to look at in retrospect, as this theme is carried in the telling of Janie's story. She tells very little about her relationship with Logan, mostly because she didn't enjoy it and wants to forget it. She tells little details of her twenty year relationship with Joe because there are important lessons to have from that relationship, but there isn't much there compared to her retelling the story of her and Tea Cake, which may actually be longer than the number of pages given to her story with Joe. This is because her time with Tea Cake is actually something she holds dearly to her heart and she wants to remember every moment she spent with him down to the last second.

Laughter

Let's talk about laughter. All the novels we've read have featured it. You might be thinking "But Jenna, every book with people has laughter in it! Why are we talking about this like it's some big deal?". And to that I answer, my dear friend, is because laughter means something bigger than just a funny joke in the three novels we have read so far. Let's start first with Native Son.
In Native Son, we don't often hear laughter. It's a harrowing story, after all, so this kind of makes sense. There's not many opportunities for us to laugh; it's not meant to be funny. The few times we do hear laughter, it's either at a character's expense or highly highly ironic, usually in situations that are so bad all you can do is laugh. Laughter in this context is a sign of lost hope. When all hope is lost, what can you do but laugh? Laughter is the only thing to do in such dismal circumstances, and it hurts to hear Bigger laugh. It signifies that he thinks there really is no way out of this stupid horrible circumstance.
Now let's compare that to Invisible Man. In Invisible Man, we see many characters laugh. The book is different from Native Son in that it's supposed to be funny; sometimes, we too are allowed to laugh. Laughter in this novel is used as a signal of subverting authority and expectations of the status quo. Bledsoe laughs when he finally lets down the mask in front of the narrator, the vet laughs at Norton's expense, and the narrator at the end with the committee meeting can hardly stop himself from joking around, pulling the brothers on a string, wanting to laugh so badly. We can see how much laughter plays a role in lifting people up in this novel. It gives people power rather than signifying when all power is lost.
Now let's shift to Their Eyes Were Watching God. In this novel, there isn't much mention of laughter until Tea Cake shows up. Before, in her two relationships, there's hardly any mention of laughter. Her partners seemed focused on their own goals and ideals for Janie, and never stop to consider her and her needs. Tea Cake on the other hand loves to make Janie laugh, and actually seems to care for Janie. This shows how laughter in this novel conveys lifting people up in terms of love. The laughter they share shows the connection between them, and shows that Janie is actually falling in love, and that Tea Cake (hopefully) is as well.

Seeing Humanity

We have FINALLY gotten to a point where our narrator is conscious of his invisibility and how people are treating him. It's been a long ride but honestly the pay-off is pretty nice. I think the main thing that really got him to see his invisibility is his own tendency to see people's humanity. Invisibility in an essence is the removal of humanity from a person, whether you are the invisible one or the one who is cannot see another, the basis is that you see a figure instead of a person. I feel like the narrator doesn't really see anyone in his life as human for a long time; Bledsoe is a goal, then an object of hatred, the veterans are all just crazy figures, Mr. Norton is a figure of white power, Jack and the other brothers are just an avenue into history, and it's not until he gets to Harlem that he starts to really see people as people. Most importantly in my opinion are Brother Tarp and Tod Clifton.

The narrator sees Brother Tarp after they talk about his time in slavery and how he escaped. Before, perhaps he was another invisible man to the narrator, but afterwards, the narrator truly sees Brother Tarp. This is not to say that he knew everything there was to know about Brother Tarp, rather that he recognized the 3-dimensional nature of him and realized that there was more than met the eye, and made an effort to understand it. He respects Brother Tarp and sees how his history shaped him. I think one very important part in seeing people clearly is seeing and understanding their past, and the narrator's insight into Brother Tarp's past helps him see Brother Tarp.

And then there's Tod Clifton. At first, Tod is also invisible to the narrator; he is just seen as a pretty boy with a nice voice and ideas that coincided with the narrator. The narrator sees him as a partner, but doesn't see him as a man. That is, until the incident with the dolls and the abrupt ending of Tod's life. Only then does the narrator fully realize Tod as a person, which he expresses at the funeral and at the meeting with the Brotherhood. He recognizes that they put Tod onto a pedestal and turned him into a symbol, stripping away his humanity. He recognizes that Tod was much more nuanced, and that he was "full of contradictions" and that is the nature of humanity. Most importantly, the narrator pronounces him a man; not a hero, not an angel, but a man. He had flaws and the narrator acknowledges this and sees that he must have had complicated circumstances. Again, he doesn't know everything about Tod - far from it - but it's his acknowledgement of that and that there was more to Tod erases his invisibility.

The question of seeing humanity in people is the reason why the Brotherhood is blind; they can only see the numbers and big picture - they can't see the people as people.

Gradations of Grandfathers

Throughout Invisible Man our narrator has mentioned multiple people who have greatly influenced his view on race and his relationship to the race and responsibility to it, the first of which is his grandfather. His grandfather told him "I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy's country (...) Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open" (16). The narrator continues through his life meeting people who's life philosophies are often very similar to his grandfather's words, although slightly altered in some ways. The first person who we encounter who is reminiscent of his grandfather is the vet.
The vet is able to dissect the narrator's situation and consciousness with uncanny accuracy. He seems to have followed the grandfather's life advice pretty closely. He speaks to Mr. Norton without deference, speaks sarcastically to him, and laughs at his expense. One could say that the vet is a reincarnation of the grandfather or someone who follows the grandfather's footsteps. However, there is a slight difference; the vet's position in society. While the vet has been exiled to the edges of society, the grandfather was able to keep his position for all his life, effectively being a spy for all his days. The vet, on the other hand, was only able to while he was practicing and while he understood the nature of being invisible. Once he was sent of to the psychiatric ward he no longer really functioned the same way as the grandfather.
The next person we encounter who is reminiscent of the grandfather is Dr. Bledsoe. Bledsoe seems to be the perfect follower of the grandfather's doctrine; he is a public figure, he has all the white people fooled, and knows how to get what he wants. However, he lacks the community aspect that the grandfather carried. As he said "learn it to the young'ns", he is emphasizing the need to teach everyone, not just keep this technique or power hidden for oneself (16). Bledsoe on the other hand is fully in the game of life for himself and thinks of no one else.
Who really is more grandfatheresque then? What is more the essence of following the grandfather's doctrine?

Licensed Invisibility

Being invisible (in the case of this class) isn't about being literally invisible, it's about your true self being invisible to another person. They don't see you for you, they see whatever they want to see. This is an issue brought up both by Ellison and Young (the author of "A Poem for Players"). In his poem, Young riffs on the idea of being allowed to do things, e.g. being allowed to be sports stars or jazz musicians or even politicians. However, these are very specifically and carefully chosen players; namely, they're players who are deemed "acceptable" by the society at large, specifically white society. This is where Mr. Mitchell brought up the idea of being "licensed", meaning that you're allowed to live with some terms and conditions. You're allowed to be certain things as long as you color inside the lines. To me, being licensed and being invisible are very similar things. If you're licensed, you're allowed to go about your life doing whatever you want so long as you stay in the boundaries. This means that society as a whole is free to ignore you for who you are and slot you in as whoever they want to see you as, since you meet the status quo. However, this deal breaks once your license is revoked and you're seen as breaking the status quo. You're still invisible, as no doubt you'll still only be a figment of whatever the other person wants to see, but you'll be invisible in plain sight. This insight is what I see as the final stanza of "A Poem for Players", which ends with "They'll let you play anybody but you / That's pretty much what they will do".
But who is "they"?. We got to this in discussion in class, but at a first glance it seems like "they" is white people/societal norms, which makes sense, but there's another side to "they", which is also the black community. While you can be invisible to an outside community from your own quite easily, you can just as easily be invisible to your own. We briefly talked in class about how Wright talked about the inevitability of black critics towards Bigger Thomas, seeing him as a bad example of the black community. Likewise, we see our narrator in Invisible Man being ashamed and scoffing at the lower class non-educated black members of society. Thus, it is important to note that the figures mentioned in "A Poem for Players" are all very safe-for-families members of the black community, which members of both the white community and black community valued.
So ... Yeah !