Have Some Trust for the Invisible Man

There are times in our lives when we see the actions of others and feel as though we are wise enough to understand just what is going on by seeing through the surface and being able to assume peoples intentions. However, it takes time and experience to be able to do this, and even then it is still challenging to interpret these said intentions. In Invisible Man, we as readers, see the scenes play out from a birds eye view, seeing the entirety of the situation and have the ability to say to ourselves, "Something isn't right." And we all experience that anxiety that sweeps over us when we realize the character in the situation doesn't see what we see, therefore handling it in a way other than how we think they should handle it. For instance, in the battle royal scene the narrator is giving his speech after being brutally beaten, to a crowd of rude and unconcerned men. After finally extinguishing their laughing fit, they present the narrator with a briefcase and a diploma which the narrator accepts gladly. As readers, though we are delighted by his happiness and opportunity, we are hesitant to find the men's intentions anything but deceitful. Even the narrator finds an undertone of doubt in his dreams which he simply discards.

It is this trust in others that can make people be considered naive and young. The narrators trust in people is portrayed throughout the novel with almost everyone he encounters. He trusts Dr. Bledsoe, who after sending him away promises his return after spending time in New York working with a company Dr. Bledsoe will set up for him. It isn't until later that the narrator realizes this mistake in trusting Bledsoe when he reads a letter that was meant for a working possibility that states he was expelled and will not be returning. The narrator trusts the doctors who electrocute him, the Brotherhood, who even from the beginning the reader gets a bad feeling about, and the number of women he associates himself with. Practically every person he trusts, ends up stabbing him in the back, and yet, his trust in people and society do not flounder until the very end. He does not grow up, he is not wise, but he has experience. Experience can make a person grow up and be wise. His decisions lead him to be more mature in the sense of being independent, by thinking about his own thoughts and opinions instead of going along with what everyone else might say. After the riot in the last scene, the narrator ends up in a hole in the ground where he burns all his possessions from the briefcase. This symbolizes his progression towards independence, which leads to growth and maturity. Even though it takes him the entire novel to learn, the narrator finally understands that to make it in this world, you cannot trust anyone but yourself. Which is depicted in the final scene and the prologue where he is living underground, safe from the outside world's influence. Though the Invisible Man does not end up growing up as we might have hoped by the end of the novel, he showed promise towards getting there.

A Prince's Facade Provides Hope for Maturity

Upon completing Henry IV, I find that being able to see the growth in characters has been one of the easiest things for me to identify in the literature we have read so far. Who grows up in Henry IV? Clearly, the most obvious answer is Prince Hal. But why? Well, in the beginning of the play, he was associating himself with a lower class that consisted of pub crawlers, and by the end, takes responsibility for his position as future King. Shakespeare clues readers in on Hal's true motives when Hal admits that his irresponsible behavior is all just a facade, and he has alternative motives of transforming himself into a worthy prince. So, does that mean he has been mature this entire time, and is just pretending not to be for the sake of preparing himself for his expectations? Well, pretending not to be mature, when you actually are, doesn't sound very mature to me. As stated in previous posts, growing up can be defined as being able to understand what is expected of you and fulfilling those expectations to the best of your ability. Prince Hal already knew what was expected of him, he just was procrastinating. Even, so I think it is fair to conclude that Prince Hal shows growth and promise in this play. A thought occurred to me that I couldn’t exactly answer. Does Prince Hal fake his interest in the pub crawlers to procrastinate his duties as prince, or is he simply using this façade to prepare for his responsibilities? I have heard it and personally interpreted it in different ways. I find he is simply preparing himself, while others claim it is procrastination. If it is procrastination, is it due to laziness or fear? Although this question seemed important as I pondered it, it proves to be irrelevant by the end. Whether it is out of preparation, or procrastination, fear, or laziness, Prince Hal rises up to his expectations as a noble prince, takes charge, and fights. He proves himself to his father and grows as a character, no matter what level of maturity he started at. One scene that puzzled me was when Falstaff claims to have slain the infamous Hotspur, and Hal lets him take credit for it. I can’t tell why he does this, and if it plays a part in his growth as a character. Is he giving Falstaff this victory so Falstaff can be recognized for a more honorable status that drunken slob? If so, I would say it does add to his growth. He could be honest and take credit for his kill of Hotspur, to lead him to an even greater accomplished Prince, but instead he lets Falstaff take credit. I find that to be pretty mature, if that is the reasoning behind his actions. Now, finalizing my thinking, I recognized a comparison between Henry IV and Oedipus Rex: Prince Hal is the main character, Oedipus is the main character, both showed the most obvious signs of growing up in both of their pieces of literature…I am seeing a pattern.

Oedipus Rex

I have spent a lot of time considering the connection between growing up and the myth of Oedipus Rex. Originally, I focused mainly on the main theme of this tragic play--blindness-- and I came to the question; can one mature out of ignorance? Or does Oedipus's final fate (actual blindness) render him forever blind? Now, as we all know, in this play, blindness is just symbolism for ignorance. However, because of the actually action of becoming blind, I got the feeling Oedipus's ignorance was much more concrete. I found that by physically blinding himself, he is securing his state of ignorance forever. Contradictingly, I found that by the end of the play (thanks to Foster), Oedipus gain's a different kind of sight from his discoveries--self knowledge. I found his actions illustrated a matured and wiser Oedipus than the character we were introduced to in the beginning. At this point of my wandering in circles, I decided to give in and research exactly what some define, "growing up." This is what I found:

"It is thinking less of yourself and more of others...You take the blame for your screw ups and learn from your mistakes so that you don't keep doing it again and again." (yahoo)

"Mentally growing up means to become fully aware of your possibilities, your limits, your resources, your situation in comparison to others, your goals and your responsibilities" (quora)

"I think it means actually taking control over your life. When you're a kid, your parents are guiding your life. You're just sitting in the backseat. When you grow up, you start driving it yourself" (soulpancake)
(I personally inserted fate where she stated parents, for the sake of the play)

So in summary, taking responsibility for you life is a definite sign of growing up. This made things much clearer for me. Oedipus fights the possibility of his proclaimed fate for the entire play, though we all know, deep down, he knows. He just can't accept it, he refuses to see the truth and take responsibility for his actions. It isn't until the very end, after discussing the possibility with countless sources that he fully realizes his fate interjected itself and steered his life. This is when he gouges his eyes and admits the horrible actions he has committed. He then states without hesitation, he is to be exiled.

This certainly was a turn of events for me, after feeling like I knew Oedipus's character, I figured he would try to scheme his way out of it and make up excuses. Why? Because that is the kind of person he was portrayed in my eyes in the beginning of the novel, arrogant, naive, and childish. However, his character changed, he did not do anything I expected him to do, he handled the situation much more calmly than I envisioned, and took full responsibility for his actions. He took control of his life and banished himself, so to not continue to cause Thebes any more distress than he had already caused. Do I believe Oedipus grew up from these horrific experiences? Certainly. He progressed from an arrogant, self-righteous man, trying to escape his fate, to an accepting, responsible, physically blind yet insightful, grown up.

Grown up? Not yet...

    After a thorough analysis of potential questions that will guide me through not only the novels selected for this class, but through future novels, and possibly life in general, I chose a simple question that arises many contemplating thoughts. What does it mean to "grow up"? Seems simple enough right? Well, I find that this question is one that will never be completely answered. I regard this question as one that could not, and will not be answered until our final stages of life, as we near closer and closer to the end, we are finally capable to examine our lives with wise eyes that can understand what it means to grow up, and when we finally did, if we did at all. However, even as some of us know this, whether we acknowledge it or not, we all still strive to find the answer. Society has placed answers in front of us, but as most of us know by now, society is stiff and restricting in almost every category. And we, in turn, have taken these said answers, and personalized it only slightly. Society says you are an adult at 18, others may find being an adult comes when you have complete freedom, say at 21, or when you get to college, when you get a job, when you get married, when you stop partying. I find all of this to be very general. Growing up is specialized for every individual, there is no one specific answer that can apply to society as a whole. My whole life, I have awaited the moment that I hit "grown up", yet every time I hit another milestone that I previously labeled as growing up, I have still felt like a child, naive and oblivious to what's going on in the world. Birthdays pass, my age accumulates, my freedom increases, my life shapes into something new and different, and yet, nothing feels all that different. And now, though I have matured, I know, though I try to fight it, that I will not understand and know the point in which I have grown up until I am able to look back on my life knowing it is final. I will not know until I am a viewing my life almost from a birds eye view, not bias, not unsure, but appeased by the peace of mind that comes with experience and wisdom. I find that this question can be applied to virtually all literature, because with the unfolding of events and situations, characters (connecting them to ourselves), mature and grow up. It is these events and situations, and how these characters handle them, that result in when and how they grow up. Pick any novel, and you will see that the characters either endure a situation and solve it, and they evolve to a different being by the end, or they don't, and that shapes them into the person they are and will be, and illustrates their maturity, and how they are so distant from growing up. And after thinking about it, this "big question" that is used to help us observe and analyze our lives and others, can and most likely will, contribute to our journey to maturity and growing up.