I'm
really not going to lie, I haven't read more than the first chapter of the
Invisible Man, though it does sound pretty awesome and a good topic to write
about. I have mixed opinions about the first chapter: firstly, the character
seems sort of pretentious. Secondly, Ellison's writing is (in my opinion) hard
to understand because it is obviously not direct and I'm guessing just by the
beginning that this book has to be analyzed to truly understand the plotline.
But the idea is interesting -- what is an Invisible Man? I think the main
character is supposed to symbolize the corruptness in society as a whole (i.e.
beating a man unfairly just because of a first impression), and trying to show
the corruptness in equal, yet different, aspects (because, as we realize now,
words can be just as painful as physical wounds). So far, I think it shows an
accurate picture of racism/discrimination/etc and how it is considered in a lot
of society's. Though I really haven't read enough to really pull exact examples,
it really did remind me of this one episode from "Fairly Odd Parents"
(or something along those lines. It's basically a show about an unfortunate kid
who has two little fairies running around granting him wishes) when Timmy (main
character) encounters a few bullies who were discriminating against him. When
he gets fed up, he wishes that everybody is a grey blob in order for everybody
to be equal and stop being discriminating. Of course, it seems okay in the
beginning, but when he confronts the bullies again after his wish, the bullies
say to him, "Actually we’re
the grayest and the blobiest". And
that's when Timmy, and the viewers, realize that it's really not about race or
wealth or generational difference; racism is about people who push others down
in defense, because they'd rather die than believe they weren't entitled in
society. Do they really care if they are
Black or White or Asian? Does the bully really care about how much money you
have? Do kids really care about how ugly or beautiful their peer is? No, of
course not, they could care less -- it's more about young kids being taught
that shunning/pushing away/bullying kids unlike them will make them more intelligent
in the future. Nickelodeon, which rarely makes an impact in the adult world, really
asked all of the adults who (many times) encourage (whether it's indirectly or
not) discrimination: What would the world be like if we were all just gray
blobs? Because now as I look around, it's completely accurate. We're all just
awkward organic forms with weird flabs of skin that breathe and speak. If
aliens saw us, they'd probably wouldn't see a huge difference between
ourselves, except possibly our obnoxious ignorance.
Though I may have just rambled off
into a totally different subject because it's a Friday night and there's five
children in my house and I may be feeling a bit reminiscent, but I do hope
Ellison goes for this idea. Who are we to say that we are better, when we are
really just the same? Whether it's God, or Evolution, or an idea we are yet to
fathom, were we really meant to see ourselves so different?
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