Invisible Man 

Invisible Man Notes

Invisible Man 

Dialectical Journal Assignment 

Dialectical Journal Entries 

1. Why is giving his speech so important to the narrator?  Be specific and elaborate. 

2. How and why is the "vet" a significant character? 

3.  Why is it fitting that Barbee is physically blind?   Why does the narrator believe Bledsoe will be less likely to sympathize with him after Barbee's speech?  What is the significance of the Founder collapsing after he was asked, "What is to be done?"  **All questions should be answered thoroughly**

4.  Explain the symbolism behind the bank.  Why is this significant to the story?  Use specific details from the chapter to support your answer. 

5.  a. Why wouldn't Ras the Exhorter kill Tod Clifton?  How do you know?  b. Explain the significance of Frederick Douglass' portrait.  Why might Brother Tarp choose to hang that portrait in the narrator's office?  c. What kind of effect did Ras the Exhorter and his beliefs have on the narrator?  Explain and elaborate, pointing to specific moments in the text. 

6.  "For they were men outside of historical time, they were untouched, they didn't believe in the Brotherhood, no doubt had never heard of it; or perhaps like Clifton would mysteriously have rejected its mysteries; men of transition whose faces were immobile." Explain the significance of this quote. 

7.  a. Why is the narrator so encapsulated by Rinehart? Elaborate.  b. Why do you think the narrator continues to be available for the Brotherhood?  If he no longer trusts them, then why continue to help them or consider ways to help them?

8. a. Is the invisible man a reliable narrator?  Explain using specific examples from the text.  b.  Analyze the briefcase in the novel.  Why was it significant?  What could it symbolize?  Explain and elaborate.