The Naïve Invisible Man

During Chapters 2 and 3 the reader gets the sense that the Invisible Man is not aware of his surroundings, distracted by his thoughts and his desire to impress Norton. This ultimately leads to a series of difficulties that the Invisible Man seems to have no control over.  

While driving the car for Norton, the Invisible Man is intrigued and puzzled by many of Norton’s statements. Norton brings up the idea of fate, and the Invisible Man recalls his grandfather’s dying words. This makes him worry more about what Norton is thinking of him. Unconscious of where he’s driving, caught up in Norton’s words, he ends up taking by Trueblood’s cabin, and “[s]uddenly [he] was sorry that [he] had blundered down this road” (46).

The entire time the Invisible Man is driving, his attention is diverted away from his course as he ponders Norton’s perception of him. He wants Norton to think well of him as an individual, though during the drive the reader gets the sense that the Invisible Man means nothing to Norton as an individual and is only another indication of his own personal achievement. The Invisible Man’s thoughts reveal his blindness to the reality of Norton; he does not understand that how Norton truly feels about him makes all his worrying pointless.

After speaking with Trueblood, a consequence of the Invisible Man’s preoccupation, things start to go downhill. By unwittingly taking Norton down that path and encountering Trueblood’s cabin, one might say that the Invisible Man’s heedlessness caused him to lose control of the situation. He has introduced to Norton a man that goes against the beliefs and virtues of the school. He only has one place to take Norton for a drink during Norton’s small fit of hysteria, the Golden Day. Here, they will encounter even more of the type of people the school would not want Norton seeing.

The Invisible Man is forced to bring Norton into the midst of the chaos of the Golden Day, among all the veterans. They are eventually moved upstairs with a vet that used to be a physician. When Norton becomes conscious, he is again intrigued as he was with Trueblood and listens to the vet’s story. The vet shares the extreme prejudice he had to endure, being “‘forced to the utmost degradation because [he] possessed skilled hands and the belief that [his] knowledge could bring [him] dignity’” (93). Roused by the Invisible Man’s inability to perceive the injustice that he faced, the vet speaks his mind.

“‘You see,’ he said turning to Mr. Norton, ‘he has eyes and ears and a good distended African nose, but he fails to understand the simple facts of life. Understand. Understand? It's worse than that. He registers with his senses but short-circuits his brain. Nothing has meaning. He takes it in but he doesn't digest it. Already he is -- well, bless my soul! Behold! a walking zombie! Already he's learned to repress not only his emotions but his humanity. He's invisible, a walking personification of the Negative, the most perfect achievement of your dreams, sir! The mechanical man!’ Mr. Norton looked amazed.

 […]

‘A little child shall lead them,’ the vet said with a smile. ‘But seriously, because you both fail to understand what is happening to you. You cannot see or hear or smell the truth of what you see -- and you, looking for destiny! It's classic! And the boy, this automaton, he was made of the very mud of the region and he sees far less than you. Poor stumblers, neither of you can see the other. To you he is a mark on the score-card of your achievement, a thing and not a man; a child, or even less -- a black amorphous thing. And you, for all your power, are not a man to him, but a God, a force --’

Mr. Norton stood abruptly. ‘Let us go, young man,’ he said angrily.

‘No, listen. He believes in you as he believes in the beat of his heart. He believes in that great false wisdom taught slaves and pragmatists alike, that white is right. I can tell you his destiny. He'll do your bidding, and for that his blindness is his chief asset. He's your man, friend. Your man and your destiny. Now the two of you descend the stairs into chaos and get the hell out of here. I'm sick of both of you pitiful obscenities! Get out before I do you both the favor of bashing in your heads!’

[…]

‘Hurry, the man is as insane as the rest,’ Mr. Norton said.” (94-95)

The vet’s piercing words provide a realistic view of both the Invisible Man and Norton. The relationship he depicts between the two men accounts for the Invisible Man’s distraction during the drive, as he wanted to be recognized as an individual by the “‘God’” of a man who would only ever see him as “‘a mark on the score-card of [his] achievement, a thing and not a man’” (95). The vet lays out the consequences of the Invisible Man’s blindness, his belief “‘in that great false wisdom,’” saying that it will cause him to do the bidding of his white leaders, unaware of the injustice being done to him. In characterizing the Invisible Man and Norton, the vet’s lecture establishes the true relationship between the blacks and whites in the novel.

The speech comes as a shock to both men. Norton, who is really good at passing out, passes out while the Invisible Man still worries about impressing the man, thinking about what he could say to assert his devotion to the beliefs of the Founder. The Invisible Man’s sentiments validate the vet’s criticisms; he not only failed to understand the man but also continues to exhibit blind dedication to the beliefs instilled in him by white men.

Questions:

1.  What are your thoughts on the vet’s judgment of Norton and the Invisible Man? Does he actually seem insane, as Norton suggests? What might this mean for the other vets and their insanity? 
2.  How do the vet’s words relate to Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise Speech? Considering Booker T. Washington’s connection to the school the one in the novel is based on, what might the vet think of the school and its students?
3. The vet calls the narrator “‘invisible.’” What does he mean by this, and is it different from the narrator’s idea of invisibility?