March/April MOR-- Invisible Man

Hi May! Thanks for reading this book with me! I don't know why, but Invisible Man just reminds me of Crime and Punishment a lot, probably because its length (both 550+ pages :[ ), its lonely protagonist, its countless symbols, etc. 

One of the reasons I like Crime and Punishment is its sophisticatedly designed symbolism, like the crossroad and the Bible, which convey its connotations so well. Invisible Man achieve this purpose too and this makes me like the story. Among all symbols that are used in the Prologue, my favorite is the basement where the invisible man lives, a place with 1369 light bulbs. On page 13 the invisible man says, "Before that I lived in the darknessinto which I was chased, but now I see. I've illuminated the blackness of my invisibility--and vice versa." I think this quote, together with the symbol, are so powerful because it shows the invisible man's ultimate goal. This is the best designed symbol as it reflects on the man's desire of being seen. The invisible man calls himself invisible since he is ignored by the world and white people. He is a victim of racism. Because of this unfair treatment he suffers, he escapes from the world by locking himself in a basement. This action shows his twisted action under social injustice. However, the society could not suppress the invisible man's most natural desire of being seen, of being a successful, intelligent person. In order to satisfy this desire, the invisible man steals electricity from Monopolated Light & Power Company to light up the 1369 light bulbs in his little room. Through lighting up his "small world", he feels that he can finally be detected by the "blind world" and be someone's attention. The juxtaposition of locking himself in a small room and lighting up countless light bulbs show the internal struggle the invisible man is going through. It also symbols the struggle between the suppressing society and the suppressed self. Besides, I also find out that the bright lights in the small isolated room can be interpreted as the tiny last hope the man has in his heart. I am really curious of what is gonna happen next. Will the invisible man finally be seen? Will this hope come true? I can't wait reading the next chapter. But before ending this entry, I would like to ask you what other symbols you have found in the story? Do you see anything special in the symbol of 1369 light bulbs in the prologue?