Insights on African American Literature

In Chapter 20 of Invisible Man , the narrator returns to Harlem after three weeks to discover that a shift has occurred. Harlem became a ghost town, and the narrator notices the Brotherhood appears to have changed. Entering the headquarters, the narrator finds himself in search of Brother Clifton, but no one can give him any information regarding his whereabouts. In fact, the narrator gathered that “Brother Clifton had appeared at the district as usual up to the time of his disappearance. There had been no quarrels with committee members, and he was as popular as ever.” (428). The narrator was confused and worried, both with the Brotherhood’s dismissal of his attendance and of Clifton’s apparent absence. The narrator leaves the headquarters in pursuit of a new pair of shoes on Fifth Avenue. By complete coincidence, the narrator finds Tod Clifton on the walk there, but it is not in a setting he ever expected. Tod Clifton is on the side of the road selling Sambo dolls, a complete 180 to...

The Brotherhood is a group of individuals dedicated to activism based in New York. Partway through the book, the narrator finds himself sucked into associating with them. His experiences in the Brotherhood change how the narrator views his relationship with his own identity and begins chipping away at the wall of invisibility that surrounds him. The narrator is skeptical of the Brotherhood when first talking to Brother Jack, this being one of the first moments that the narrator thinks for himself. Because of his skepticism of Brother Jack’s “kindness”, the narrator thinks to himself “something told me to refuse [Brother Jack’s offer], but I was intrigued and, underneath it all, was probably flattered.” (288). The Brotherhood is both intriguing and untrustworthy to the narrator, and their control of his identity, later on, confirms those suspicions. As the narrator enters the Brotherhood and continues his journey with them, he finds himself both exploring his own identity further but co...