Okay, these chapters tend to be a bit confusing. There is a goldmine of symbolic meaning, so if you try to read into pretty close to everything, you're doing your job well here. Try not to get too focused on plot here- symbolism is the name of the game. Think of these questions as you read:
*Explain the extended metaphor of Liberty Paints.
*How are Lucius Brockway and Dr. Bledsoe similar?
*What literary devices contribute to the sense of disorientation on pages 231 & 232?
*What is the rhetorical purpose of the conversation thaat the narrator overhears on pages 236 and 237?
*How is the narrator different after he leaves the hospital?
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Lucius Brockway and Dr. Bledsoe are similar in the way of power. They both believe without them the paints or the school would not be a success. Lucius told the narrator that he is the only one that can do his job the best and without him there nothing gets done. The paints would not be a good product without Lucius Brockway being there. He expresses this a lot in a conversation with the narrator. Dr. Bledsoe is also like this. He belives that he has started the school and controls the white trustees and the black students. He says to the narrator in a conversation, "Negroes don't control this school..nor white folk either..but I control it." Both men believe they are the heads and do not like seeing people push them around.
Dr. Bledsoe and Brockway are similar in the way that they both feel that their career could be over if they do not do everything for themselves. Dr. Bledsoe feels regret in letting the narrator take Mr.Norton for the drive because it reflects a bad image upon "his" school.Lucius Brockway also feels like the narrator is out to get his job like the other workers at the paint factory.I also agree with Kristin in saying that they both believe that the job can only be done right if Brockway and Bledsoe do it themselves.
I think it's interesting how twice in Chapter 10 the narrator cuts into the dialogue and avoids revealing his name to the reader. The narrator already is losing his sense of importance or purpose by regarding his name with little significance. The hot-tempered, uneducated men who run the paint factory discourage the narrator because he takes so much pride in his school and education, yet these are the types of people he must submit to. Unfortunately, the narrator's feeling of "invisibility" seems to grow with every experience he has encountered so far in Harlem.
I agree with both Abby and Kristin in that Lucius Brockway and Dr. Bledsoe are similar because of their feeling that without them, their particular business/school would not function properly. I also feel like they are similar in that they both kind of left the narrator out to dry; Bledsoe wrote those letters that the narrator thought were real but weren't so he was on his own to find a job; and Brockway just left the narrator down to try and fix the machine by himself which ended up severely injuring him. The narrator is different after he leaves the hospital because he feels stronger in a sense; he isn't afraid anymore. Going through that whole process when he couldn't remember his or his mothers names was almost like a beginning of a new..him. I am interested in seeing what happens in the next chapters with the narrator and how he acts toward others.
After the narrator leaves the hospital, the reader is able to notice that he has changed a lot. The narrator points out, "I had the feeling that I had been talking beyond myself, had used words and expressed attitudes not my own, that I was in the grip of some alien personality lodged deep within me." The narrator no longer fears Bledsoe and all of the other trustees because he realizes that there is nothing that he can expect from them.
Lucius Brockway and Dr. Bledsoe share some very similar traits. First of all they both seem to be high on thier horse, both thinking the companies wouldnt run without them. Brockway believes that no one else will be able to do his job as does Bledsoe. They also in a way betray the narrator because Dr. Bledsoe tricked him into believing he would be aloud back to the school and Brockway for leaving the narrator down in the furnace room- like kiersten kristin and abby said. The narrator, when leaving the hospital thinks "I had been talking beyond myself, had used words and expressed attitudes not my own..." this quote explains how the narrator is different because he is more confident in his word choices and will later find that he wants to go back to being a leader and making speeches.
I think that when the narrator awakes in the hospital, in a way he is reborn and he gains freedom. When he wakes up, he does not remember anything and he can not understand the doctors speech. After he leaves the hospital, he gains freedom by losing his job at the paint factory. The job at the factory was his last connection to his life at the college, and by losing the job, he also loses his complete devotion to the college, thus gaining a greater freedom.
I agree with Kristin and Abby about how Dr. Bledsoe and Lucius Brockway are similar in the fact that they are all about themselves and seem a little concieded. I think there is irony about the name Liberty Paints. "Liberty" means "free" and "the power to do as one pleases." But when the narrator is working at Liberty Paints he is not free. He is bossed around and has to do what his boss tells him as are all the other workers, and the narrator still feels like he needs to be devoted to the college and to work which I wouldn't really consider "free." I also do believe that there was more to the narrators illness then what the doctors led him to believe. But I think what had happened to him was a good thing because he did become a new person. It is like he has to start over from scratch because he doesnt remember his name and he forgot many other things. I also agree with Marie that the job at the factory was his last thing tied to the college and that he did gain more freedom after he left. That also ties back to the Liberty thing. He has more freedom when he is not there than when he is even though it's called "Liberty Paints."
I think that after the narrator leaves the hospital he is reborn. when he wakes up at the hospital he doesn't remember his name, his mother's name or who he was. He also can't understand what the doctors are saying to him, these are characteristics of a baby. This marks a change in his life, a new beginning. He has the chance to start over and have real freedom. I think that because he lost his job he can experience real freedom.
Mr. Brockway left the narrator to be knocked unconscious after their scuffle. I believe that he couldn't win the fight physically, but he could mentally. Mr Brockway only talked about how important he was to the company, yet he feared others taking his job. The one good thing that came out of the fight and unconscious is that the narator seems to be wiser and not so naive. He sees why people are what they are. I feel that he is off to a better start, almost like a rebirth (like what Hilary Hannigan said).
Lucius Brockway and Dr. Bledsoe are similar because of their strong feeling of importance. Lucius Brockway feels that he is the heart of the paint factory because he makes the base for the paint. He says without him, the factory would not be successful because no other man knows how to run the machines like he does. Dr. Bledsoe feels that he is the most important person at the school. he says that he is more improtant than even the white men that donate to the school because his leadership is the reason for its success. He believes that without him, the school would not be successful. These men both feel that nobody is the boss of them.
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