I'm going to be completely honest with you. I don't understand this book.
I mean, I get the general gist and the point the author is trying to make. What I don't get is how the majority of this book helps to make this point.
It starts with a battle royal - black kids beating each other while the white leaders of the town laugh and egg them on. It ends with a race riot. And in between, the main character (who has no name) learns what life is like for a black man in a white world.
Maybe it's because I expected the whole book to be the invisible man metaphor, like the prologue set it up to be. Just a metaphor, very profound, but not really personal. And then it turns out to be the life story of an actual guy and his repeatedly being betrayed by the white men.
Except he rises pretty far in the clandestine organization called the Brotherhood. And he becomes pretty confident in who he is and his ability to lead and make a difference. So why completely abandon that in despair and become "invisible"?
It's very possible that I just don't have the perspective to truly understand this story. After all, I'm a white girl who lives in a small town. And it's possible that in the 62 years since this book was published, things have changed so much that it's out of date. Things have certainly changed somewhat, but I think the recent events in Ferguson show that the problem is definitely not solved.
So I'm sorry to say that I don't really understand this book. I was hoping to write a deep, reflective review. I was hoping to gain wisdom and a new view into a world that is different than mine. I was hoping to be changed by this book.
I'm sure the fault is mine. This book is a classic, after all, so it has much merit. And the message is an important one. I'll just need to learn it better in a different book.
I mean, I get the general gist and the point the author is trying to make. What I don't get is how the majority of this book helps to make this point.
It starts with a battle royal - black kids beating each other while the white leaders of the town laugh and egg them on. It ends with a race riot. And in between, the main character (who has no name) learns what life is like for a black man in a white world.
Maybe it's because I expected the whole book to be the invisible man metaphor, like the prologue set it up to be. Just a metaphor, very profound, but not really personal. And then it turns out to be the life story of an actual guy and his repeatedly being betrayed by the white men.
Except he rises pretty far in the clandestine organization called the Brotherhood. And he becomes pretty confident in who he is and his ability to lead and make a difference. So why completely abandon that in despair and become "invisible"?
It's very possible that I just don't have the perspective to truly understand this story. After all, I'm a white girl who lives in a small town. And it's possible that in the 62 years since this book was published, things have changed so much that it's out of date. Things have certainly changed somewhat, but I think the recent events in Ferguson show that the problem is definitely not solved.
So I'm sorry to say that I don't really understand this book. I was hoping to write a deep, reflective review. I was hoping to gain wisdom and a new view into a world that is different than mine. I was hoping to be changed by this book.
I'm sure the fault is mine. This book is a classic, after all, so it has much merit. And the message is an important one. I'll just need to learn it better in a different book.
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