The Symbolism of Games in Invisible Man, Essay Example

Thesis statement

One of the first scenes in the play ‘Invincible Man’ is the dismalfight known as the battle royal, in which the author together with the other young black men are taken to the ring, blindfolded, and then made to fight one another by being provoked. Moreover, there are more games in the text,which are both evident and symbolic, when we consider for example, the game that is played by Dr. Bledsoe with both the blacks and the whites.What games can be identified in the book, and what are their symbolic roles in accordance with the theme?

Introduction

Throughout the book, “Invincible man”,an advice that is given to the author by his grandfather resurfaces regularly, either in a direct form or indirect form. Hispropositionthat he agree them to death, however, becomes theunsoundas well as self-denying attitudeshaping the early or initial experiences of the author. At the start of the play, the narrator quickly pleases and molds himself to the requirements of the world of the white and it is not until well into the last part of the play that he really starts to realizethe way this line of thinking is wrong.However, he thinks that the only means to truly is real, to not beimperceptible, to be true to one’s self(Ellison, p23-213). Going by the self-effacing logic of his grandfather, he simply strengthens his sense invisibility as he cannot fully realize himselfoutside of the stereotypes together with the bounds of the white’s opinion. Bydetachingthisviewpointin exchange for one that doesn’t refutethe self the narrator comes to his definitiveepiphany.

Games symbolism in the play

The young central character, a model student, sets off to give a speech to the leading white citizenry in town, but instead he finds himself in competition against the other black youths in a kind of aggressiveOlympic Games.Yet hisoppressorsfinallygive him a scholarship to a flagship Negro collage.

However, one day, heunintentionallyexposes some skeletons from the Negro society’s clandestineto a major patron of the collage, and he is thereforegiven expulsion by Dr. Bledsoe, the hypocritical president of the collage, In search of hisluckin the New York City, he is deceived by somedishonorableletters of introduction from Bledsoe.Finally, he finds a job in a factory dealing with painting which also endsdevastatingly.

Heafterwardfalls in with a communists group, who facilitates his rise as the community leader of Harlem, though in the end, he gets thephilosophyof the communists to be double-crossing. After an apocalyptic Harlem race insurgence, we see the invincible man burying himself in a hole in underground, from where his story is told.

On the death of Tod Brother, his speech can be taken as a game. He was killed by a policeman and during the funeral, in his speech, the Invisible Man speaks out his heart, he put down his fighting tools and gives up the struggle and was termed in the story as ‘as black as Munch Screams.

When the funeral was done he looks at the crowd as with his face filled with the look of failure and a reflection of defeat written all over. He didn’t see those people as the crowd attending the funeral but saw each individual man and woman as a person on his or hr own. Only Brother Jack is the one who is aware of what is happening. At that time he was back at the communist headquarters and he knew what the ‘invisible Man’ was trying to do, to take the responsibility to his own hands and he goes a head to warn the readers a bout the trend and behavior of the politicians, They are not always what they present themselves to the public. He uses the words, “politicians are not personal persons”

The crowd on the other side is demanding for what they believe is their right. The most likely result will be total sadness and terror, steps taken against the law as they are likely to match and riot against the happenings. They are demanding for their leader to come out and address their issue. This is a result of the speech from the Invisible Man showing how they were duped and played around with. Comparing the speech that was taken as a unpleasant and untidy. Painful reality for them to face and contradicting.

The invisible Man outwits and out shines his opponent Ras the Extorter who was brighter than him as he answered all the questions just like people wanted but we can see that the game the Invisible man played on him works and he is defeated, This is evident from the Invisible man last stamen in his narration, to mark his triumph “freed from illusion”

He symbolizes life to a game, saying that life should not be controlled but lived and the only way to this is ‘lay it in the face of defeat of certain defeat’. He goes on to say that a lot of your game that is life will be lost unless you play it as much love as through hate. He admits that “I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest” showing how he was cheated and played with people.

Work cited

Ellison, R., Invisible Man, 2001.