Barton,+Holly


 * September 28, 2011.**


 * Characters**
 * Main Character: ﻿I never found out the main character's name, which I don't know if I like or not. But nonetheless, I feel like he was, at first, just trying to make a life for himself and not really necessarily do anything tremendous for the black community. He often liked white people more than other black people because the black people who were uneducated embarrassed him. Throughout the book, many other black people kept mentioning race, but I don't think the main character ever got mad because people treated him unfairly because he was black. He was mostly concerned with himself as opposed to being concerned with his race.
 * Dr. Bledsoe: ﻿I feel like he was an early antagonist. He was the president of the college, I believe. He was a black man, but white people respected him and he could act as an equal to them. He is the one who expels the main character for reasons that I think are adequate. I'm sure I don't understand his reasoning because it has to do with the time in which the book is set and the fact that these days, a lot of people couldn't fathom how unequally treated other races were. But, social norms aside, I still don't like Dr. Bledsoe because he lied to the main character when he said that he could have his spot back in the college when he gets enough money saved up.
 * The Veteran: ﻿He is a veteran who is now in a mental institution. He shows up twice in the book, which is a lot for a character who isn't the main character. When he is first introduced, it's not clear if he is insane or not, but eventually, he goes off on Mr. Norton, a very respectable white man, and insults him and scares him after he has already fainted. When he is on the train with the main character, however, he seems to be rather wise. He is the one who gives the main character the advice to be his own father. In other words, he told him to take care of himself. I don't know if he is significant enough to be labeled a protagonist or antagonist.
 * Brother Jack: ﻿ Brother Jack is a lead of the Brotherhood, which the main character joins in the middle of the book. I think it is an organization devoted to helping create a better community, although later it is revealed that they are corrupt. Bother Jack is an antagonist because he brings the main character into the Brotherhood and there is where the main character becomes "invisible" because Jack and the others "do the thinking" for the Brotherhood. Also, they want Harlem to become corrupt and destroy itself.


 * Summary**
 * In my opinion, there wasn't much of a consistent plot. I felt like it was more of a philosophy book than a novel, which is interesting. But the book pretty much follows the main character from when he receives a scholarship (in a rather odd way, might I add) to college, where he is expelled, to living and working in New York. The story is a lot about racial issues but not in a typical way. The main character does not get angry at people for the way they respond to the color of his skin and he doesn't much identify with other black people. The reason this is called //The Invisible Man// is because the whole book leads up to him joining the Brotherhood, where he then realizes he is invisible. If you want to know how he realizes this, then you'll have to read the book.


 * Rating**
 * 3.5 because I felt like it was too slowly paced and some parts dragged too much. The reason I didn't rate it lower is because even as I think about it now, I realize how many brilliant things there are about the book. Like perhaps the reason the main character doesn't have a name is because he is "not important enough" by society's standards. He is not one man but he is just part of a race. Honestly, though, if I wasn't reading this for an assignment, I most likely wouldn't have finished it.


 * Wiki Reflections**
 * I really like using Wikispaces because it's really convenient and easy to use. There's not too much structure so it's not restricting. It also allows us to discuss everything we want to whereas in a classroom discussion we would not have the time. Also it's a lot better than writing a paper.


 * September 17, 2011.**

I'm on page 300, so I'm more than half way done, which is good because it's due in a week. I think the main character became somewhat invisible when he moved to Harlem just because in a bigger city, people don't notice others as much as in a smaller town. So he feels like people look right through him. As for feeling like an oppressed black man, I don't think he's really had any thoughts or done anything yet to suggest that he hates white people. However, he's in the middle of a big speech right now which may be the turning point in the story. As for the character himself, I think he's changed a lot since the beginning. He doesn't want to go back to college anymore, he just wants to make a living, I suppose. I get the feeling that he doesn't like to interact with others, but I notice that they influence him greatly. For example, in the "riot" when the old couple was being evicted, he let the rage of the crowd take him over and he made a speech and turned the crowd violent. At this point, I'm not sure if I'm glad that I chose this book. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have kept reading if I didn't have to, but I do enjoy some parts. I really don't like how I'm on page 300 and I don't really see much of a big plot, yet.


 * September 9, 2011.**

I'm on page 144, which means only about 350 pages to go. Oh joy. My favorite quote from the book so far comes from a black veteran in a mental institution. The vet and the main character are on a train headed north after the main character gets expelled from one of the few colleges for black people. It's interesting because the reason he gets expelled is partly due to the fact that the vet viciously insulted a trustee of the college while the main character was taking care of him. But, what the vet says is rather wise, especially for an insane man. He says, "...Be your own father, young man. And remember, the world is possibility if only you'll discover it..." I like this quote because it's rather common advice with a certain twist on it. I think the vet means that the main character should discipline himself and look out for himself like a father would. Also that there are a lot of possibilities in the world, but they won't just present themselves to you, you have to work for them and look for them.


 * September 2, 2011.**

I am only on page 53. This is probably because I cannot concentrate on this book with other people around, so my reading time is limited. I'm hoping to get a lot more reading done this weekend. As for the main character, I'm not sure it has said his name yet and even if it has, I don't know what it is. He speaks very eloquently, especially for a black man in this time period, which is only a few decades after slavery was abolished. He's also a quiet, meek, man. He doesn't want to offend anybody. Even in the introduction, he does not blame people for not seeing him and feels sorry for a man that he nearly beats to death. He does not hate the white man for treating him and other black people badly, which is an interesting twist I didn't expect. I'm not sure what to expect from him. I'm thinking he might eventually get fed up with the way that he's being treated and start hating the white man. I'm looking forward to how he "becomes invisible" because right now he keeps saying "before I was invisible..." and I thought he was invisible the whole time.


 * August 26, 2011.**

I will be studying //The Invisible Man// by Ralph Ellison. I've been told that this is another book about a black man being oppressed because of the color of his skin, which does not sound appetizing. However, I've also been told that it's deep and mature. I'm not really sure what to expect, but I hope it's not //just// another book about racial equality.