invisible man. quote.

This quote appears on page 15 but I think it is one of my favorites because it captures the essence of the narrator's journey throughout the novel.

"All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory... I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer."

Like I said this quote embodies the narrator's struggle throughout the novel. Appearing in Chapter One as a recollection of previous years the narrator is now aware of his naivety and has come to accept the fact that he had been completely manipulated. This quote ties in directly to one of the last scenes in the novel when the narrator starts to burn the items in his briefcase. The briefcase, which is a recurring symbol throughout the novel and represents the false promises and hopes laid before the narrator throughout his journey, is finally burned at the end signifying the narrator realizing his own stupidity and becoming an invisible individual.

In this quote the narrator also makes reference to the number of people who mislead him, but may have been confused themselves. Mr. Norton was an example of someone who was self-contradictory. He thought that he was doing a good thing, sponsoring the college that the narrator attended. However, as readers we know that Mr. Norton is ignorant to the "bigger picture" and although he thinks he is contributing to better society, he really is one of the evils he is trying to eliminate. He comes to refer to the narrator as more a thing than a human at the end of his tour and the machine reference is brought in, making the narrator out to be more a tool with a purpose than a human. Another man who was self-contradictory was Brother Jack. He, like Mr. Norton, lacked the vision to see the bigger picture and although the Brotherhood wanted to do some form of good, Brother Jack eventually was fighting against the people he should have been trying to unite. This self-contradictory can be seen as absurd because even when trying to make progress, humans seem to turn back to primal instincts to try to accomplish their goal.