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Definition of Tone
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical... read full definition
Chapter 25
Explanation and Analysis:
The tone of Invisible Man is cynical and critical. Throughout the course of the story, the unnamed narrator attaches himself to various institutions and groups which he believes will help him to make sense of the chaotic and irrational world around him. Invariably, he is let down as these institutions fail to live up to their promises, contributing to his pessimistic worldview. In the final chapter of the novel, he finds himself in a riot in Harlem, trapped between the police and the violent Ras the Destroyer, who calls for him to be hanged due to his affiliation with the Brotherhood, with which the narrator has also grown disillusioned. At this climactic moment, the narrator reflects wearily upon the events of his life and the limitations of the various parties competing for power:
[They] wanted my death not for myself alone but for the chase I’d been on all my life; because of the way I’d run, been run, chased, operated, purged—although to a great extent I could have done nothing else, given their blindness (didn’t they tolerate both Rinehart and Bledsoe?) and my invisibility. And that I, a little black man with an assumed name should die because a big black man in his hatred and confusion over the nature of a reality that seemed controlled solely by white men whom I knew to be as blind as he, was just too much.
Here, he characterizes his life as a “chase,” noting that he has been “run, chased, operated, purged” by various different institutions and groups. His outlook is, at this point in the novel, highly critical, matching Ellison’s own criticism of various factions in American politics. The rioting crowds, he claims, are subject to “blindness,” Ras the Destroyer is stuck in a state of “hatred and confusion,” and further, Ras is being manipulated by “white men” such as Brother Jack who are “as blind as he.” Ultimately, he feels that nobody is able to see things as they truly are.
Related Themes:
