cadi's english blog!

    Despite Brockway and Bledsoe's stark surface-level differences in Invisible Man , they share many deeper qualities that affect the narrator in similar ways . Bledsoe's expelling the narrator the way he did was a complete shock to the narrator's prior perception of him as an authority, and Brockway completely undermines the narrator's perspective of what an authority figure should look like. In these regards, both Bledsoe and Brockway contribute to major developments in the narrator's critical consciousness, values, and assumptions.     Brockway is the exact opposite of anything the narrator has known or expects from an authority figure. From the narrator's view, Bledsoe is the quintessential embodiment of an authority figure—respectful and humble while still maintaining an unquestionable air of power surrounding him. Even when his "mask" of humility is lifted upon becoming angry with the narrator, the narrator still respects him for how he plays th...

    As Bigger Thomas's situation intensifies throughout Native Son , he becomes used as evidence for other characters to promote their perspectives. In particular, Bigger is used by both Buckley and Max in strikingly different ways during the trial to advocate for their contrasting racial and economic opinions.        The most clear of these situations is Buckley's use of Bigger to further demean the African American race. Buckley argues for Bigger's death sentence and in doing so, he fails to acknowledge the fact that Bigger's situation (and that of many other African Americans in similar positions) wasn't entirely his fault and rather a product of the racial environment. As a result, nothing gets done about trying to uproot the systemic injustices shaping the racial divide and the black population is further subjugated.      In contrast, Max uses Bigger to protest the underlying systemic injustices that put Bigger in the sit...