Manhole Moment ?!
"I heard the cover settle over the manhole with a dull clang."
It was dark, again. The police had the power and were above the narrator, again. Over and over again, we see the narrator's never-ending cycle of struggles throughout the novel. With small details hinting at unfair societal structures, power imbalances, and deeply rooted racism, Ellison subtly but successfully conveys the constant conflicts the narrator has - and more generally, Black people have - to struggle with.
"I tried to find the usual ladder that leads out of such holes, but there was none. I had to have a light, and now on my hands and knees, holding tight to my brief case, I searched the coal until I found the folder of matches the men had dropped..."
Hinting at unfair circumstances people are born into, but somehow have to navigate through. In this case, the narrator is literally in a hole. He's so much further behind than everyone else in society, yet has to reach their level to be treated somewhat equally.
"I needed just one piece of paper to light my way out of the hole, but there was nothing. Next, I searched my pockets, finding not even a bill, or an advertising folder, or a Brotherhood leaflet. Why had I destroyed Rinehart's throwaway? Well, there was only one thing to do if I was to make a torch. I'd have to open my brief case. In it were the only papers I had."
In this scene, the narrator is desperate and so quick to burn his papers, the documents that identified him. All the hard work, identity, and meaning in those pieces of paper that acknowledged his accomplishments was thrown away. Yet, when he tries to burn Clifton's doll, it "burned so stubbornly" that he "reached inside the case for something else", leading him to find the matching handwriting note (568). It's so interesting how he was unable to get rid of the stereotypical and racial phrases and references (depicted through Clifton's doll) that get thrown at him all the time, but could immediately burn and lost his identity and accomplishments that he's developed and worked for.
I think this is a really good analysis of this scene. The part of this scene that I find particularly interesting is the fact that the narrator has to burn these papers in order to see. While I was reading this part, I kind of interpreted burning the papers as the narrator finally being able to really see himself by giving up his identities and accomplishments of the past, and I think that idea might also tie to the room of lights the narrator ends up living in, as he is incredibly visible, but only to himself.
ReplyDeleteI really love your analysis of this scene! Somehow, despite all the other allegorical scenes in the book like the Liberty Paints chapter, I never thought about analyzing this scene in the same way. For the narrator, it's like no matter how much he thinks he's progressed and made headway in the world, he always just finds himself dropped back into the hole out of nowhere. This happens so many times in the book, and it even happens *while* he's in the hole - he's preparing to burn all his papers to escape, thinking he'll get out that way, only for his attempt to end with him realizing that Jack was the one who wrote the note, pulling the rug out from under him once again. He never sees it coming, always thinks that he's on his way back up, only to end up even further down than he started.
ReplyDeleteThe analogy of the hole in the ground is quite interesting, as we see it around 3 times in the story. The prologue narrator, Brockway, and the narrator in the final chapter are all in a "hole" of some kind. To add on to your point, I would also mention the mentality each of these characters has to their situation. The prologue narrator is aware of the fact that he's under ground, and could possibly represent people who aware of the injustice they deal with. Brockway thinks that he has the power, and to some extent he's right, but the fact that he has to work under ground and stay hidden away is something he is somewhat oblivious to. And finally, the narrator in the final chapter absolutely does not want to be in the manhole, but he's at least aware of his situation. Each of these mentalities and mindsets along with the idea of being under ground add on to the analogy for racism that you describe. =
ReplyDeleteYou did a wonderful job on this blog post and with your analysis of the manhole scene. It certainly seems to hold some sort of meaning that he is literally stuck down in a hole below everyone else, unable to find light or a way out. I was especially interested by your interpretation of the fact that he could not seem to burn or get rid of the racist imagery, while the papers of his own identity were easily destroyed and burned without resistance.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good point! I also found this scene interesting, though I did interpret all of the objects in the briefcase to be, at least to the narrator, disposable, and the doll refusing to burn not being part of his attachment to that reality since he did readily try to light it on fire, but more of a commentary of the world. Perhaps what Wright is indicating is that the narrator changed so much about himself, and went through so many stages, just to have each of them destroyed, and the only thing he was unable to change about his circumstance and the world was racism.
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