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Allusions
Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Finks and Finkism:
In a scene that satirizes labor unions, Ellison employs dialect and slang associated with working-class, unionized laborers in the mid-20th century. When the narrator accidentally interrupts a clandestine union meeting while trying to eat lunch at the Liberty Paints factory, he is immediately condemned as a traitor by one of the union members, who argues against including the narrator in the union:
“I’m against it! Brothers, this fellow could be a fink, even if he was hired right this minute! Not that I aim to be unfair to anybody, either. Maybe he ain’t a fink,” he cried passionately, “but brothers, I want to remind you that nobody knows it [...] Please, brothers!” he cried, waving his arms for quiet. “As some of you brothers have learned, to the sorrow of your wives and babies, a fink don’t have to know about trade unionism to be a fink! Finkism? Hell, I’ve made a study of finkism! Finkism is born into some guys.”
The union member repeatedly describes the narrator as a “fink,” an old-fashioned slang term, commonly associated with labor unions, that means “informant.” These unions often had to identify and expel informants who were hired by factory bosses to sabotage the union’s efforts. Here, the union member repeats the word “fink” incessantly, even claiming that he has studied “Finkism” and can identify this characteristic in others who might not even know they are “finks.” Ellison, who grew disillusioned with unions and the communist party in the years before he wrote Invisible Man, satirizes what he considers to be the paranoia and racism of the labor unions.
Related Themes:
