Ex Machina

The metaphor of the machine has been thread in throughout the novel. Mr. Norton refers to the narrator as a "cog." Lucius Brockway calls the narrator and himself the "machines inside the machine." In the beginning of the novel, the narrator is a cog in a well-oiled machine. He performs his tasks just as the whites and blacks expect him to. However, ever so slowly he begins to disrupt the status quo. Whether it is by saying "social equality" instead of "social responsibility", or by gaining realization about the world around him, he slowly becomes a "defective cog" in the eyes of those in control, who also fear that he might ruin the operation of the machine as a whole. This is actually quite a common theme in utopian/dystopian literature. The protagonist realizes the problems with society and the authorities want to quiet this person so that they don't disrupt the peace. And so, the authorities deal with the narrator of Invisible Man. Dr. Bledsoe sends him away from the college to maintain its integrity and his own position. Bledsoe 
makes minor repairs to the cog and moves it to another part of the machine. Now the narrator arrives in New York, and continues to become even more "defective." He gains a better understanding of the racial dynamics between blacks and whites (after listening to the vet on the bus). He bristles at a waiter's stereotyping. He adds sarcasm and irony to his array of verbal tools. He rebels against those around him (his boss and coworkers at Liberty Paints). The breaking point of all of this is where he literally breaks the machine in Liberty Paints. He has escaped the machine. In a last-ditch effort to maintain the status quo, the factory doctors try to give the narrator a non-surgical lobotomy--so that "society will suffer no traumata on his account." In terms of the machine metaphor, they, unable to fix the cog, melt it down into pure metal, removing from it any function or capability. They fail to realize that this metal can be molded, either by the narrator himself or by others. Thus, once again exposed to society, the narrator begins now to verbally speak out against the injustices done to him and other blacks. He has molded himself in the image of an aspect of his childhood--a speechmaker. However, the Brotherhood has now recruited him and begun molding him the way they see fit. What plans the Brotherhood has for the narrator have yet to become clear, but I am expecting the narrator to once again escape this new machine he has become a part of.

Bigger and Dr. Bledsoe

In Native Son, we discussed how Bigger never shows anyone his true personality. He acts subservient towards whites and puts up a wall of emotionlessness towards his family. It is only in prison where we see Bigger's true thoughts and feelings. Similarly, Bledsoe has two masks. To the whites he is humble, gracious, and servile. To blacks he shows himself as a leader wanting to further the black community. The narrator believes this until he finally reads Bledsoe's letters. Both Bledsoe and Bigger were low in status and use masks to try and raise themselves. They also become their masks. Bledsoe becomes greedy for power and selfish. Bigger lets the idea of white superiority become ingrained in him. So far, we see that Bledsoe has not escaped the confines of the mask. Bigger, although too late, does manage to discard the masks. He even wants to go a step further--to understand people as they truly are and let them understand him: “He would not mind dying now if he could only find out what this meant, what he was in relation to all the others that lived, and the earth upon which he stood” (Wright 363).
 Another similarity between Bledsoe and Bigger is how they affect the people around them. Both of them managed to enlighten someone. Bledsoe taught the narrator of Invisible Man how to use the mask and not become it (as the narrator had earlier, truly believing in the superiority of white people). Ironically, Bledsoe himself is consumed by the mask he put on in desire for power. Likewise, Bigger was able to help Jan understand him and other blacks as individuals and not all the same. He might have also helped Max in understanding his situation and those with similar situations. Another way Bigger and Bledsoe affected people was in their perpetuating of stereotypes. Bledsoe continues to be the subservient black man to whites in an effort to rise in status. He even gets other black students like the narrator to do the same thing. Bigger also portrays the same stereotype in order to keep his job. However, Bigger becomes a second stereotype. That of the primitive and savage black man. In telling Britten how he did not want to eat with Jan and Mary, Bigger gives the media evidence that they could use to say that the primitive black people do not want to be disturbed by white society. In killing and "raping" Mary, Bigger becomes to white people the savage black man hungering after white women.

Bigger and Bledsoe, although seemingly vastly different characters, do share many similarities once you take a closer look.

Peggy and Mr. Dalton in Native Son

Hopefully it is not too late to come back to Native Son. I thought Wright did an excellent job in showing the different ways whites reacted to blacks during his time. Mr. Dalton, Mary, Jan, Britten, Max, Peggy, and Buckley represent different attitudes common among whites during Wright's time. I will focus on Mr. Dalton and Peggy. Mr. Dalton is a rich white man who proudly talks of his support of the NAACP. He donates much money in support of blacks. However, none of this is that great when you consider where he sends the money to: The South Side Boys' Club. He gives them ping-pong tables. Even Bigger says that he and his friends occasionally commit crimes there. Thus the money does not go anywhere useful. Mr. Dalton represents rich white people in Wright's time who would donate money and support the black cause, but because they don't really understand blacks, they cannot truly help them. We talked about a sort of blindness between blacks and whites in Native Son. I think this is a great example of that. Mr. Dalton wants to help black people, but he doesn't understand them. At the same time, blacks might not let the whites understand them, perhaps because they have to retreat behind the stereotype of the subservient, simple-minded black person. This is one of the points Wright  is trying to make. Even Bigger comes to this conclusion at the end of the book. He realizes that he wants to go and interact with people: understand them and let them understand him. “He would not mind dying now if he could only find out what this meant, what he was in relation to all the others that lived, and the earth upon which he stood” (Wright 363).

Although we didn't talk much about Peggy, I felt there was a lot to her character. Peggy, the Irish maid, adds another aspect of how whites react to blacks in the book. On one hand, Peggy is able to sympathize with Bigger--the Irish were often discriminated against in America. Also, the Irish were subject to harsh British rule--a sort of parallel to how blacks were enslaved in America. Both Peggy's and Bigger's ancestors share common troubles. This would explain why Peggy is very kind to Bigger. At the same time, even Bigger notices something is off. Peggy always says "us" when referring to the Daltons and always talks about Bigger's "people." When the Irish began immigrating to the US, they were discriminated against as "lesser whites." Oftentimes they came to America because they fell on hard times in Ireland. Thus, their low status led to much hatred and rioting against them. In America they were often considered just as inferior as blacks. Since the Irish had to compete with blacks for the same jobs, they often distanced themselves from blacks to show they were not like them. Although the novel is set in the 1930s, this history might explain Peggy's attitude towards Bigger.
Both Peggy and Mr. Dalton are just two examples of the wide variety of reactions Wright wrote in his novel towards blacks. The novel does a good job in portraying the relations between blacks and whites during the 1930s.