In the beginning chapters the author explains the stereotyping of the blacks and the whites during this time period by talking about the rich white man that he is driving for and their little "adventure" they had together when he was driving him one afternoon. They rode around and ended up talking to this black farmer that had an interesting situation i guess you would say that he found his way into. Mr. Norton (the rich white guy) is just amazed with this story because it's just unheard of such a crime and he is in discuss. Then while talking to this farmer, the man explained how all these black men were never treated nearly as good as him no matter how good of men the were and he committed such a horrible crime. He couldn't understand how these white men treated him so good giving him gifts and money, but not hardly caring at all about the other black men. This just bewildered our author just like the farmer and then suddenly when they leave, the rich white guy gives him a hundred dollar bill (a hundred dollars back then was like thousands today). Then this amazed our author which was a great student and very smart and had always been a good kid, but had never been given such a gift. Very strange I would say myself. Then our author showed how distant the two races were at this time having differents schools and were called by their races like when the author used "your people" when the characters spoke of the other race. Then later, they went to The Golden Day because Mr. Norton wasn't feeling well. They ended up talking to a man who claimed to have been a doctor during the world war and this man said that Mr. Norton and our author were blind. That our author's destiny was to do "Mr. Norton's bidding" because he beleived in "a false wisdom of white is right". He also says that he thinks that our author is just another "achievement on Mr. Norton's scoreboard". Then after all of this they had to go back down stairs where a brawl just happened with a bunch of crazy people still down there. This all put as a whole is confusing at best but if you look at it and read between the lines you'll see that the distance between the races also connects them. It happens blindly to everyone involved, but it shows that in this time period the white seemed to still have the dominance in everyone's minds because it's been programed into the characters' minds over the years. Yet with all this happening, they don't know these things because of their "blindness" as our crazy guy in the story calls it.
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Mrs. Hulsey
7/6/2012 06:09:28 am
Wesley, this is a good post and your effort is clearly displayed. Next time...avoid so much plot summary. Remember, I want you to reflect on the chapters, use examples from the text, and come up with your OWN analysis. You have done that well and I understand it is difficult to continue with a novel such as "Invisible Man"...but when you write the next post...ask yourself; am I telling what happened in the chapters or am I interpretating what happened and supporting my opinion with examples?
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wesley hughes
7/11/2012 12:16:37 am
I tried, but that was a super hard post i couldn't figure out how to say what i needed to say with it too well.
Molly Williams
7/8/2012 10:03:54 pm
I agree with you, The guy is crazy. On another note, I like how you said the differences between the races connect them. It intrigued me because I don't much understand why you said it. Connection of what? You were right on the dominant part, they were surely that, but just out of curiosity what connections were you thinking of?
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wesley hughes
7/11/2012 12:20:24 am
I ment by them trying to distance themselves from each other in social classes and by having different schools in turn, they used each other as a reference to be different from one another. By this, they studied each other and they're actions creating a connection.
Angela Hatchel
7/6/2012 03:46:16 am
The narrator and some of his black classmates end up fighting each other in a ring blindfolded while the spectators, who are white people, look on. This fighting represents the violence between the black and white society although the fighting isn't between the black and white people, just the black. You could say that the white people found interest in black violence since they enjoyed watching them fight. When the black boys are blindfolded it represents the white men's blindness as they watch the fight. The white men are blind to the fact that the black boys are human beings. To me, the white men look at the black boys as animals or low degrading human beings which is also a racial stereotype. The narrator, himself, is also blind as well. He doesn't look behind the white people's motives. For example, the white men want all of the boys to go and race for the gold coins on the carpet. The narrator realizes too late that the carpet is electrically charged. This is what I thought of the racial stereotypes, blindness, and violence in the first few chapters. Bare with me if they're not the best things or examples in the world. It's only my first post, :)
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Mrs. Hulsey
7/6/2012 06:11:05 am
Hey, looks good to me for a first post! Try this next time...work on cohesiveness. What I mean is...don't list your interpreation and then examples...make them flow. Work on organizing your analysis. Tell me what your analysis of the chapter is with support from the text in each sentence. Email me if you have any questions. I can tell that HTRLLP helped with this! :)
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Summer Pate
7/7/2012 01:10:58 am
I agree with you the white men looked upon the black men as if they were animals.
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Jacora Smart
7/6/2012 02:52:13 pm
- Reflect upon the racial stereotypes and themes of blindness and violence in the beginning chapters. Comment on the relevance of these.
The themes of blindness and violence appear the most to me. The racial stereotypes tie in with these two themes. The narrator of the story finds himself with a group of boys that have to fight in a ring against white men. The narrator is describing the anguish he is enduring while “everyone (is fighting) hysterically”. (23) The chaos and mass violence represents slavery to me. During slavery, slaves had to ‘fight’ a constant battle against a majority of the white race and bondage. This parallels how the black men had fight and how the black race continuously fights society. One example of blindness in the book represents fury. When the blindfold was placed on the narrator’s eyes, he “felt a sudden fit of blind terror”. (21) This reminds me of when anger overtakes someone and it is described as ‘blind fury’. This blindness can also lead to a loss of identity and dignity. As the narrator is being brutally beaten, he feels like a “baby or drunken man”, because the blindness strips away his ability to fight. The narrator later mentions a statue of the Founder of the college he attends. He says the statue is “lifting (the) veil” of a “kneeling slave”. He is considering if the veil is actually “being lifted or lowered”. The lowering of the veil adds more blindness and symbolizes slavery once again. As the narrator is experiencing the revelation of what the statue represents, he notices a flock of birds. Flight, or in this case the flight of the starlings, represents freedom from slavery. And when the birds defecate on the statue, this shows how slaves’ freedom can eliminate the blindness. The narrator even states that the “bird-soiled statue (is) more commanding” than the clean one. (36) Why? Because freedom can overpower any blindness whether it’s brought on by racial injustice, prejudice, or even ignorance. The racial stereotypes tie in with both of themes. First, blindness can represent ignorance. In the era this book is set in, blacks were stereotyped as being ‘ignorant’. When the blacks fought each other, the white men stereotyped them as lowly people that can be controlled. This was also common in this era. So in my opinion, the violence, blindness, and stereotypes go hand in hand.
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Mrs. Hulsey
7/6/2012 11:53:39 pm
beautiful Jacora. Very well done! Did HTRLLP help you take notice to thing like birds and violence? You analyzed this beautifully.
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Jacora Smart
7/7/2012 02:38:19 am
Thank you! And HTRLLP definitely helped.
DaValyee' McGee
7/7/2012 12:40:56 am
Reflect upon the racial stereotypes and themes of blindness and violence in the beginning chapters. Comment on the relevance of these.
Nameless, the narrator begins this story by expressing his point of view on his state of being or lack thereof. He discusses being "invisible" to a world that has a voluntary blindness-- one that refuses to see him as the man he is. Revolved around the pre-Civil Rights era, a time when Jim Crow laws mandated segregation throughout the South, the early chapters depict violence, mass chaos, and blindness, which recur throughout the narrative.
The narrator shares the memory of an extremely humiliating and violent experience after his high school graduation. Although the narrator is extremely proud of an invitation to orate his speech, he is soon thrown into a word in which he is violently treated like an object rather than the intelligent young man he is. The violence of the “battle royal” symbolizes stereotypes of black people being no more than beastly animals who have to fight for mere survival in a racist society. Also Ellison introduces the reader to the narrator’s physical violence during his fight and the mental anguish within as he struggles to grasp coming to an event to be honored only to be humiliated and manipulated by “higher” society. This racist society forces blind fear and rage into the hearts of young black men who violently attack each other as they are told, “See that (black) boy over there? I want you to get him I want you to run across at the bell and give it to him right in the belly. If you don't get him, I'm going to get you,” (17).
Blindness is relevant because after the fighting ceases the superintendent introduces the narrator and his purpose of being there, to deliver his speech, and lets the narrator have the floor. The narrator goes on and on, and of course the audience is not listening, until the narrator chooses to say “social equality” instead of “social responsibility.” The white men refuse to even recognize the narrator’s speech until he says the wrong word. Ellison presents the narrator’s dilemma of the "language of the eyes,” or the act of seeing and not seeing the narrator because they “look” through blind eyes and force the narrator to satisfy their demands without asking him for input, which causes him to struggle with identity and individuality.
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Clara Grace
7/7/2012 01:07:32 am
I don't really think that people were voluntarily blind. Sure they could have changed at any moment, but I don't really think it was their fault. If you want someone to blame, go back a couple hundred years to the times of the Triangular Trade. It has just become a way of life. Therefore, you cannot hold them at fault for being raised a certain way, but you can find them guilty in not breaking the cycle once they realize the monstrosity of their people's actions.
That middle paragraph blew me away. You are an excellent writer! When you said, he was "coming to an event to be honored only to be humiliated and manipulated by “higher” society." I feel like this is very true. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was very important, but how effective would it have been had no one listened to it. What the narrator had to say was very important. But to his audience, he was just exhaling air and vibrating his vocal chords. Until like you said, he spoke of social equality. I bet you could have heard a pin drop. And I hate how the only reason he made a mistake is because the white people were taunting him. Also, it must have been awful to be bleeding like that and try to gain the respect of the people around you.
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DaValyee' McGee
7/7/2012 01:32:33 am
Thanks so much for your insight and feedback Clara Grace, but as far as voluntarily blindness and the Middle Passage go, we can go even to The Fall of Man which resulted in freewill and choice. That statement is not one of blame or fault but of accepting social responsibility. And I stand by the observation and analysis as I do because "a way of life" does not excuse voluntary blindness.
Mrs. Hulsey
7/7/2012 03:20:52 am
To Clara Grace & DaValyee:
I love seeing respectful battles of opinion and intellect. Beautifully written posts & responses on both sides, AP KUDOS! I know you have both satisfied your response requirement, but I would like to read your analysis on one aspect that neither of you have addressed.
First, what do you make of the narrator distaste and shame for his own race? There seems to be three levels (or more..) of blindness...blindness from the racist white men, blindness from the narrator (the "educated" black man), and blindness from the other so called "uneducated" black men. Where is this blindness stemming from? What is going on here?
Anyone else, feel free to jump in anytime (I'm feeling Jacora may have a few things to say about this.... ;)
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Jacora Smart
7/7/2012 02:06:33 pm
Ahh Mrs. Hulsey you know me too well! But I believe the different levels of blindness stemmed from one narrow line of 'vision'. Like for example, if we had the ability to see what's behind them and around them at all times without turning our heads, our view of the world would change. Most people in that era were probably influenced to have a negative view of things, because they were products of their environment. If some individuals chose to broaden their narrow tunnel-vision (i.e. recognizing blacks as equals, not blaming ALL whites for everything) the different levels of blindness would disintergrate even before eyes begin to 'close'.
Jacora Smart
7/7/2012 02:08:22 pm
Sorry about the typos... I'm sleepy, but I wanted to get my thoughts out before I went to sleep and forgot everything. :)
Clara Grace
7/7/2012 12:51:22 am
Reflect upon the racial stereotypes and themes of blindness and violence in the beginning chapters. Comment on the relevance of these.
First, I would just like to point out that the narrator never has a name. I first, I was puzzled by this. But then I climbed out of my blonde moment and remembered the title. He is invisible. Our names define us. We are recognized by them and this is how people address us. The only name I have seen so far is “nigger”: a person of any race or origin regarded as disgraceful, inferior, and ignorant. Oh let the irony begin. The narrator graduated Valedictorian of his high school. From this, we can assume a higher intelligence level of the narrator and also from the way he speaks. During the battle royal, this intelligent man becomes barbaric entertainment for the white men. While the white men yell “Get that nigger,” they should be referring to themselves with that word due towards their lack of knowledge. However, the white man’s blindness leads to the invisibility of the black man. Maybe they were blind because the “battle royal room was foggy with cigar smoke.” Or because the fighters were blind themselves, and this caused the audience an even greater blinding. Or even by the naked woman prancing around the ring. “She seemed like a fair bird-girl girdled in veils calling to me from the angry surface of some gray and threatening sea.” Daedalus and Icarus much? Don’t get distracted by pretty things that shine. The white men further seized power away from the fighters when they “climbed under the ropes and allowed [themselves] to be blindfolded with broad bands of white cloth.”
The narrator “now felt a sudden fit of blind terror. [He] was unused to darkness.” The narrator has never seen the full ruthlessness of these white folks before and still doesn’t even that night. Up to this point, he hasn’t taken head to his grandfather’s warning about staying invisible to the outside world yet keeping the resentment within, which is ironic now in the battle royal. The narrator has to fight stereotype with stereotype, and has to actually fist fight as a gifted black man against his own race and racially fight against the white onlookers. And I quote from the narrator, “Blindfolded, I could no longer control my motions. I had no dignity.” I think that this same statement can also apply to all the people in the world “blindfolded” by racism. They have no dignity, no pride.
So why take off the blindfold when the narrator and Tatlock fight? Tatlock was obvious to win the fight, however the narrator put up a good fight. I think that they gave him sight so that he could see just how bad he was beaten. He could face his opponent and have no other obstacles. The narrator could have no excuse for why he lost, except that we were inferior to Tatlock, and to the white people who surrounded him. The narrator finally delivers his speech. The white people tantalize him by making him repeat lines of his speech. At the end, they realize he is of a higher intelligence, but they cannot realize how high he is because of their own ignorance. The superintendent said, “He makes a good speech and some day he’ll lead his people in the proper paths.” He is referring to the path that they make for the colored people. Their freedom lies within the constraints of the white peoples liking. The narrator was there to give a speech, but ends up fighting for his life. But wouldn’t his speech giving also constitute a fight for his life, for his freedom? A battle lost but with the gain of a scholarship to college.
While attending the college, the narrator sees a statue. “The cold Father symbol, his hands outstretched in the breathtaking gesture of lifting a veil that flutters in hard, metallic folds above the face of a kneeling slave; and I am standing puzzled, unable to decide whether the veil is really being lifted, or lowered more firmly in place; whether I am witnessing a revelation or a more efficient blinding.” “I see a flock of starlings flighting before me.” What do birds represent? Bingo! Freedom. The birds are able to rise about the statue just like the narrator wants to rise above the oppression of racism. “I look again, the bronze face, whose empty eyes look upon a world I have never seen, runs with liquid chalk.” Quite simply, the birds left their mark on the statue, a very unpleasant one to say the least, but still a mark. Aren’t the scars on the slaves left by the whips unpleasant? Birds can be shot down by the superior human. Dreams can be shot down too. I am undecided at this point in what direction the book will take. I am leaning towards the second option.
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DaValyee McGee
7/7/2012 02:01:50 am
That is very interesting Clara Grace, I agree with you 100% on the analysis of the narrator being nameless. Like you, I came upon further critical analyses in my readings when I was trying to understand the anonymous narrator. . . great job on that!;) I would like to add that I think Ellison chooses to represent the narrator as "any man" or "every man" lacking the "visibility" of seeing and being seen any time or any where in life. So I think that Ellison expressed through the nameless narrator that identity and awareness involve so much more than a branded name. Also the quotation involving the narrator ". . . some day leading his people. . ." is brilliant and ironic because it reinforces the theme of blindness in this work as it suggests that the superintendent is speaking with "blind" faith and goodwill for the narrator, when he actually feels completely opposite.
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Clara Grace
7/7/2012 03:55:20 am
Whoa. Any man or every man. Never thought of it. But I did feel it when I read it! Ellison lets anyone relate to the story; black, white, or even purple!
Molly Williams
7/7/2012 01:06:22 am
Reflect upon the racial stereotypes and themes of blindness and violence in the beginning chapters. Comment on the relevance of these.¬¬¬¬
In the first chapter, we read about the violent fight in the ring. A group of Black people are squeezed into a wrestling ring to fight blindfolded while the white people enjoy the show on the outside of the ring. The blacks are blind while they fight one another, but the whites are also blind. The whites are blind to the fact they are treating people as they are below them or they are some sort of animal that they can just order around. Which is a racial stereo-type, because in no way are the blacks different than whites, other than the way they are treated in this time period. Another violent act, the same black boys that fought in the ring are told they are going to get paid for fighting. They are all placed around a rug with money dispersed all over it, and told “Boys, it’s all yours. You get all you grab”. (26). That alone was violent, because they were forced to fight for the money they ‘earned’, but of course that couldn’t be fun for the whites to watch, so they charged the rug with electricity and watched the sweaty boys be shocked as they scrambled for the money. The whites also yelled violently at the boys calling them racial names and threatening if they didn’t pick up the money. So just in the first chapter alone, displayed violence in everything the blacks did, and blindness as well. Blindness as the boys were helpless to how the whites treated them, knowing if they stepped up to them it would be worse, even though they knew how they were being treated was unfair.
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Mrs. Hulsey
7/7/2012 03:34:51 am
Good Molly. Next time, try to use a little less summary and a little more analysis...I want to know what you think all of this means. Why was it relevant for the author to present things in the way that he did?
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Summer Pate
7/7/2012 01:08:31 am
In the beginning chapters of invisible man racial stereotypes, blindne, and violence are very important. The stereotypes for the white men is that they are town's big shots in their tuxedoes, wolfing down buffet foods, drinking beer and whiskey and smoking black cigars. The stereotypes for the black men are that they are ginger colored and are all usless except for the entertainment of the white men. The theme of violence is displayed when they blind fold the black man and make them fight. Violence is displayed when they start actually fighting and the white men are hollaring racial comments out and they are getting pleasure out of seeing the black men being hurt.
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Alli Cook
7/7/2012 02:54:01 am
Reflect upon the racial stereotypes and themes of blindness and violence in the beginning chapters. Comment on the revelance of these.
The story starts out with the narrator going to something called the Battle Royal. A group of black males are blindfolded and put into a fighting ring and told to beat the mess out of each other. Not only are the blacks blind, but the whites are as well. You see, they are blind to how they are treating the blacks by making them do this to each other. They are blind to the fact that the blacks are people too.
Violence is also a theme in this chapter too. The blacks are beating each other. For what? Money? The whites' entertainment? Whatever the reason, its dumb. There constantly seems to be violence between the blacks. When Trueblood is telling his 'story', his wife beats him with an axe, including many other things. How about when the narrator goes to the Golden Day. Everyone starts to beat Supercargo for apparent reason other than him being drunk and 'trying to keep order'. To me, it seems that they are just full of rage, which drives them to violence.
If you think about, all of this is somehow part of a racial stereotype. In no way are blacks different than whites, because we are all human.
Sorry if this short, its the first post:(
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Mrs. Hulsey
7/7/2012 03:36:38 am
Good, but next time develop your ideas a little more. Why are they full of rage? Why is it all part of a racial stereotype? Why are they blind? Analyze!
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Angela Hatchel
7/8/2012 04:43:43 am
I agree with you on your thoughts about violence Alli. This is one of my thoughts on why the black people are so full of rage, which causes them to be violent at the bar...maybe they are tired of the way they and their fellow people of their race are getting treated by the white people? Like earlier in the novel, the black boys are put into a ring, blindfolded, and are told to fight each other while the white people spectate. The white people find it amusing and they take joy in watching them fight. Then later on, the black boys are told to get money off of a floor that electrocutes them. Now if I was a black woman and learned about all this, I'd be outraged. I would be upset that people of my race were getting treated like that. For all I know, I could be next. So generally people will let their emotions get to the best of them and partake in violence, like they did at the bar. But they turned on one of their own people of their color...why did they do this? Maybe because they knew they wouldn't get in trouble if they beat up one of their own kind. I'm sure if they tried to beat up a white man, they would all get into some serious trouble. That's just how things were back then in that time. Those are just a few of my thoughts though. They may not be totally correct but of course not all opinions are :)
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wesley hughes
7/11/2012 12:32:22 am
That sounds pretty good to me about "they are all full of rage" cause it is very true in this firtst chapter. All the blacks are being driven into this rage by the whites throughout the whole first chapter. Very good point Alli.
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Laurel Bell
7/18/2012 05:38:19 am
You are right. We are all human, contrary to what the white
believe. Having a certain skin color does not make you superior to others. God created us all equal. Also, in the first chapter, there was violence everywhere. Just a little too much for me. I couldn't fathom being that cruel to any other human being for entertainment! They were seriously twisted. As for the black boys, I can relate. When I am angry, I could move a two ton bus! Like you said, it drove them and had to been unleashed some form.
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Laurel Bell
7/18/2012 05:39:01 am
*white men
Laurel Bell
7/13/2012 01:04:38 pm
Reflect upon the racial stereotypes and themes of blindness and violence in the beginning chapters. Comment on the revelance of these.
When I read the title of this novel, I immediately thought the main character was going to possess the ability be physically unseen. Boy was I wrong! But then again the narrator is truly invisible only not in the supernatural way.
The novel begins in the South in the days before the Civil Rights Movement. African Americans were treated EXTREMELY unfair no matter what the circumstances were. Take our narrator for example. He is highly intelligent and seems to achieve a great deal of success. One night, he goes to a gathering of the town's supposed "leading citizens" (How ironic is that?) to read a speech. Upon arrival, he discovers that he isn't just going to give a speech; he is also going to participate in the battle royal. This is where it breaks my heart. The narrator actually thought his hard work had earned him respect from the white men. Neither his intelligence or stature mattered. Honestly, I think he could have been the pope, and it wouldn't have changed their attitudes. You see, in their eyes, he was just another dumb, ignorant black boy. He was immediately placed into a certain category based on the color of his skin.
Now, what about violence? It's everywhere! The black boys were placed into a boxing ring, blindfolded, and expected to beat each other into a pulp. Meanwhile, these so called "upstanding" white men are cheering from the sides for them to "Uppercut him! Kill him! Kill that big boy!" How barbaric is that? It just further proves how all blacks were placed in a specific stereotype. They were considered nothing more than a mere animal. As if that weren't enough, the bruised and bloody fighters were forced to fight for their earnings on an electrified carpet. At this point, I wanted to rip off those white men's heads. Those black men are people too! But all of this represented an African American's daily struggles. They constantly had to fight for equality and what was rightfully theirs.
As for blindness, I think that all the characters, including the narrator, were blind to a certain degree. Like I stated earlier, many African Americans were invisible. The white people refused to let go their old school ways and accept that ALL men were equal. So instead of looking pas one layer of skin, they chose to not see them at all. Although intelligent, the narrator was naive. He couldn't see the true motives of those around him. The ones he thought cared and wanted to see him succeed, were the very ones who were expecting him to fail.
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Daryl Hall
7/26/2012 05:11:11 am
In the first chapters the narrator was forced to get in a boxing ring with more of his african american classmates. They were blind folded and told to fight each other. I see this as stereotypical because the audience, white people, assumed that all of them would be willing to do it because of they needed the money. They also thought that just because the narrator was black he could fight or was naturally athletic. The violence took place as each person in the ring charged at each other feeling to find someone to hit because they couldn't see. I think that the blindness of the african americans represented the blindness of the audience because they fail to see that these were actual people and they had just as much feelings as they did.
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Zachary Howard
8/4/2012 06:10:25 am
Reflect upon the racial stereotypes and themes of blindness and violence in the beginning chapters. Comment on the relevance of these.
Well as I read these chapters to me the themes of blindness and racial stereotypes comes up a lot. The stereotype of the white men watching the black kids fights on another. To me the white men used the black kids for enjoyment and they also tricked them. Another funny one is how Mr. Norton reacted about the black man having a baby by his daughter, which is the stereotype how white people over react about things to me. Now to the blindness, the fight no doubt displays this. I believe he wanted to use that situation to give us a look on how the book will turn out. I believe as this book goes on that a lot of this will be seen.