I'll be posting some questions from the AP guide mixed in with some from my brain for each chapter. Feel free to comment on these questions or share your own insights, interpretations, questions, etc. with us. Post all things relating to Chapter 1 here.
*How is allusion used in paragraph 2?
*Explain the advice that the narrator's grandfather gives him.
*What is the significance of the narrator viewing himself as a "potential Booker T. Washington"?
*What is the effect of the images of the white men?
*How is the imagery in the main paragraph on pg. 23 ironic?
*How does this chapter show the limits of assimilation?
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23 comments:
I thought it was very ironic when the upperclass white leaders watched as the black students were blind-folded and forced to fight each other. The metaphore of blindenss applies to the white race, and then during the fight the black students were essentially blind because of the blind fold but the white leaders were the real blind ones because of they way they saw the black students symbollically.
I think it's horrible how the black students were forced to fight each other blindfolded like wild animals. I think that it's terrible how the white people used the blacks as a form of entertainment for themselves. For instance when the whites put money and brass coins on an electrified carpet and told the balck students to jump on the carpet and try to get all the money they could grab. That's bad because those white people that were their telling the black students to do all those things are the leaders in that community.
The grandfather's advice tells of how he was a traitor to his people and ended up fighting for the white men after the Reconstruction. He tells his son to live on risks and fight the white men by obeying them. He tells the son to pass it on to the children. The grandfather wants the son to take risks and go against the white men, but agree with them to their faces. The narrator, however, feels like he went against his grandfather's words because he too lives to serve the white man, not go against him.
I thought it was very terrible how the black students were treated and forced to fight each other for the white's entertainment. I found it ironic that it is stated that the most looked-up to white men were there and the leaders of the community were also there at the gathering and they treated the blacks like they were nothing. And in during the fight they were name-calling horrific names, spitting and cheering for the blacks who are about to kill each other. I then found it ironic that they let the black boy coe up and give his speech and they all applauded him at the end and even gave him a briefcase and a college scholarship.
The significance of the narrator viewing himself as a potential Booker T. Washington is that in his youth he believed he could make a difference. In his youth the narrator was full of hope and thought even if he was black, his intelligence would move him in the world. In this youth he believed he had ideas that would revolutionize the world and perhaps change white outlook on blacks.
I thought it was horrible how the white people forced the black people to fight each other blind-folded! And then it was even worse to make them think that they were going to collect their money off of the rug, but then tricking them by having it be electrified! The black students are treated unfairly and horribly! I'm glad that they let the narrator give his speech though. And it's great that he has a scholarship and can attend college! He seems very bright, and that he will be a great man that does something very important someday.
I also thought that it is horrible how the black students are forced to fight and act. It is wrong to make them fight eachother blindfolded and how they are a form of intertainment for the white people. Also its cruel to get the blak students hopes up when they tell them to grab all the money they can from the carpet, because when the boys do they get shocked. This is cruel because the boys want the money but are forced to get hurt to receive the money .
I think thats its ironic how the white people who force the students to fight,are the leaders in the community and the respected ones. Its just goes to prove that the leaders are not always the best people and that people with power and respect can get away iwth a lot and think they are above the rest.
On his deathbed, the narrator's grandfather tells his son that he has to keep up the fight because their lives are a war against the white people. He says he has to be a spy just like him by showing respect and making them feel good. He has to pretend like he loves them to mislead them. "I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction"(p. 16). He then tells him to tell all his advise to the kids. The narrator constantly thinks about it and feels guilty that he has become too close to the white people.
I thought it was interesting in a way when the grandfather says to keep an eye out for the white people but be sort of two faced towards them. To be nice to them but to also keep an eye out for them and I immediatley thought about what Baby Suggs said in Beloved about not trusting the white people. I noticed many similarities amongst the two books while reading. Especially what the grandparents had to say because they both thought it was very important not to trust white people.
Blindness plays a big role in the whole book. During the battle royal the black students are forced to wear blindfolds. The blindfold on the narrator represents his own blindness, he can only see the white men having good motives. This is not the the case. The white men only want to use the blacks for their own pleasure and entertainment. The white men are blind in the way they look at blacks. They see them as animals that are inferior to them.
In the first chapter, the narrator talks about his grandfather and how he lived a meek life by following the white people and allowing them to walk all over him. And the grandfather feels ashamed of this and feels he has been a traitor to African Americans. I think it is horrible people find entertainment in forcing the boys to fight and to be bllindfolded while doing so.
Also, i did not like the part where they tricked them with the money. i think his dream was really weird. its like his grandfathers words continue to haunt him not only in the day but while he's asleep too. The narrator feels guilty and feels like he is a traitor to African Americans like his grandfather.
Is what the rich whites doing in this act of Man vs. Man right? I don't think that anybody should be forced to fight each other, and as the narrator is only made to fight because he wants to get noticed so he can say his speech. Even when he is saying his speech in front of the rich whites, they act like drunken idiots and ignore him anyway. Fortunately however, I was very glad to learn that he got his scholarship shortly after.
The grandfathers advice to the narrator is be proud of who you are and stand for your rights. The grandfather believed, unitl his deathbed, that the blacks were seperate but equal from the whites. The grandfather tells the narrator and family to "agree ’em to death and destruction." So throughout the first couple chapters, when ever a white man is happy with the narrator, the narrator feels shame for goign against what his grandfather said. I don't understand why the grandfather felt equal with the whites, until he got on his deathbed.
The grandfathers advice is something that narrator never understands which is why it haunts him thought his life. What the grandfather is saying that they need to act like there are giving the white people respect to there faces but go against them. Like Amelia said the grandfather calls himself a traitor because he got to close to the white people.
The narrator is blinded to his surroundings throughout the book. A good example is in the first chapter. While he and the rest of the students are being humiliated and blindfolded he never once stops to think of the horrible things that the white people are making him do he only cares about his speech and delivering it in front of all the important WHITE people. He only cares about what they think of him.
I agree with a lot of people here that in chapter 1 when the black students had to fight each other blindfolded was a terrible act because the whites just watched them fight like for their own entertainment. This chapter showcases a lot of the wrong doings the whites made the black enduce. As Brett said the instance with the money and the carpet was another instance of the just how terribly the blacks were treated
I believe, especially in this chapter, that the white people are put onto such a pedestal of prestige that the blacks make it seem as though it is unconquerable. The blacks are amazed with any humane contact with the whites and consider it out of the norm. Lack of assimilation is rampant throughout this chapter, including the discrace of the boxing match and the electrified carpet. Im suprised that none of the blacks believed it was wrong. They are bacically following the whims of the white people.
I thought that it was awful when the black students were forced to fight eachother blindfolded. I cant imagine what the narrator must have felt like. He was couldnt see anything and was being beaten senseless. He must have felt so alone. It wasn't even like "i cant see you, you cant see me" which would have fit into the invisible theme, but then again this was before he realized he was invisible.
Though none of you care, I always feel lost at the beginning of a book. I'm still trying to figure out who is who and what the setting is and why the characters matter. That said, chapter 1 confused me. I didn't really understand why the narrator was boxing/fighting with other people. I was even more confused when he earned a scholarship. I didn't really get why wealthy white men would give a scholarship to a black man they had just ridiculed and forced to fight. The only reason I can fathom is that the men get some sick enjoyment out of forcing the black men to fight and scramble for "gold" that is so readily available to themselves. This argument is effective in rectifying why the white men would give the black men money to fight over, but to give on of them a scholarship just boggles my mind.
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