Term
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man Intro
pg xix |
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Definition
| Too often [Afro-American protagonists] were without intellectual depth. Too often they were figures caught up in the most intense forms of social struggle, subject to the most extreme forms of the human predicament but yet seldom able to articulate the issues which tortured them. Not that many worthy individuals aren't in face inarticualte, but that there were, and are, enough exceptions in real life to provide the perceptive novelist with models. |
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Term
The IM's narration
about whites who weren't aware of invisible people
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 5 |
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Definition
| Would he have awakened at the point of death? Would Death himself have freed him from wakeful living? |
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Term
The IM's narration
about whites who weren't aware of invisible people
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 5 |
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Definition
| I remember that I am invisible and walk softly so as not to awaken the sleeping ones. Sometimes it is best not to awaken them; there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers. |
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Term
The IM's narration
gone underground
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 7 |
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Definition
| Nothing, storm or flood, must get in the way of our need for light and ever more and brighter light. The truth is the light and light is truth. |
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Term
The IM's narration
gone underground
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 7 |
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Definition
| Yet when you have lived invisible as long as I have you develop a certain ingenuity. I'll solve the problem...Though invisible, I am in the great American tradition of tinkers. That makes me kin to Ford, Edison, and Franklin. Call me, since I have a theory and a concept, a "thinker-tinker." |
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Term
The IM's narration
identity
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 15 |
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Definition
| All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was...I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. |
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Term
The IM's narration
identity
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 15 |
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Definition
| It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself. |
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Term
The IM's narration
identity in family
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 15 |
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Definition
| And yet I am no freak of nature, nor of history...I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed. |
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Term
grandfather
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 16 |
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Definition
| Son, after I'm gone I want you to keep up the good fight. I never told you, but our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days, a spy in the enemy's country ever since I give up my hun back in the Reconstruction. Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or burst wide open. |
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Term
The IM's narration
trying to get along in violent culture
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 17 |
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Definition
| And what puzzled me was that the old man had defined it as treachery. When I was praised for my conduct I feld guilt that in some why I was doing something that was really against the wishes of white folks, that if they had understood they would have desired me to act just the opposite, that I should have been sulky and mean, and that that really would have been what they wanted, even though they were fooled and though they wanted me to act as I did. |
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Term
The IM's narration
Battle Royal
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 19 |
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Definition
| There was dead silence, I felt a blast of cold air chill me. I tried to back away, but they were behind me and around me. Some of the boys stood with lowered heads, trembling. I felt a wave of irrational guilt and fear. |
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Term
The IM's narration
about the striper
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 19 |
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Definition
| The hair was yellow like that of circus kewpie doll, the face heavily powered and rouged, as though to form an abstract mask, the eyes hollow and smeared cold blue... |
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Term
The IM's narration
about a man's response to the striper
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 20 |
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Definition
| This creature was completely hypnotized. |
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Term
The IM's narration
Battle Royal
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 24 |
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Definition
| The harder we fought the more threatening the men became. And yet, I had begun to worry about my speech again. How would it go? Would they recognize my ability? What would they give me? |
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Term
The IM's narration
bloody speech at Battle Royal
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 30 |
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Definition
| ...my dry mouth, filling up with blood from the cut, almost strangled me. I coughed, wanting to stop and go to one of the tall brass, sand-filled spittoons to relieve myself, but a few of the men, especially the superintendent, were listening and I was afraid. So I gulped it down, blood, saliva and all, and continued. |
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Term
A--IM
B--men at Battle Royal
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 30 |
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Definition
A: "Social..."
B: "What?"
A: "...equality-"
The laughter hung smokelike in the sudden stillness. I opened my eyes, puzzled. Sounds of displeasure filled the room. |
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Term
A--men at Battle Royal
B--IM
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 31 |
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Definition
A: "You weren't being smart, were you, boy?"
B: "No, sir!"
A: "You sure that about 'equality' was a mistake?"
B: "Oh, yes, sir. I was swallowing blood."
A: "Well, you had better speak more slowly so we can understand. We mean to do right by you, but you've got to know your place at all times. All right, now, go on with your speech." |
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Term
the IM's narration
receiving the briefcase
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 32 |
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Definition
| I was overjoyed; I did not even mind when I discovered the gold pieces I had scrambled for were brass pocket tokens advertising a certain make of an automobile. |
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Term
grandfather
in IM's dream
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 33 |
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Definition
| To Whom It May Concern. Keep This Nigger-Boy Running. |
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Term
IM's narration
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 36 |
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Definition
| ...I see the bronze stature of the college Founder, the cold Father symbol, his hands outstretched in the breathtaking gesture of lifting a veil that flutters in hard, metallic folds above the face of a kneeling slave; and I am standing puzzled, unable to decide whether the veil is really being lifted, or lowered more firmly in place; whether I am witnessing a revelation or a more efficient blinging. |
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Term
Mr. Norton
about his daughter
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 42 |
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Definition
| She was rare, a perfect creation, a work of purest art. A delicate flower that bloomed in the liquid light of the moon. A nature not of this world, a personality like that of some biblical maiden, gracious and queenly. I found it difficult to belive her my own... |
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Term
Mr. Norton
about his daughter
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 43 |
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Definition
| She was too pure for life, too pure and too good and too beautiful...I have never recovered. I have never forgiven myself. |
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Term
Trueblood
the blues
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 42 |
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Definition
| I sings me some blues that night ain't never been sang before, and while I'm singin' them blues I make up my mind that I ain't nobody but myself and ain't nothin' I can do but let whatever is gonna happen, happen. |
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Term
Mr. Norton and Trueblood (in blank)
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 69 |
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Definition
| He stood shakily, still staring intently at ____. Then I saw him removing a red Moroccan-leather wallet from his coat pocket. The platinum-framed miniature came with it, but he did not look at it this time. |
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Term
the vet
to Mr. Norton at the Golden Day
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 93 |
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Definition
| Rest, rest. The clocks are all set back and the forces of destruction are rampant down below. They might suddenly realize that you are what they are, and then oyur life wouldn't be worth a piece of bankrupt stock. You would be canceled, perforated, voided, become the recognized magnet attracting loose screws. Then what would you do? Such men are beyond money, and wiht Supercargo down, out like a felled ox, they know nothing of value. To some, you are the great white father, to others the lyncher of souls, but for all, you are confusion come even into the Golden Day. |
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Term
the vet
to the IM and Mr. Norton
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 95 |
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Definition
| He belives in you as he believes in the beat of his heart. He believes in that great false wisdom taught slaves and pragmatists alike, that white is right. |
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Term
the vet
to the IM and Mr. Norton
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 95 |
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Definition
| I can tell you his destiny. He'll do your bidding, an for that his blindness is his chief asset. He's your man, friend. Your man and your destiny. |
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Term
the vet
to the IM about seeing
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 153 |
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Definition
| Play the game, but don't believe in it--that much you owe yourself...Play the game, but play it your own way--part of the time at least. Play the game, but raise the ante, my boy. Learn how it operates, learn how you operate... |
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Term
the vet
to the IM about invisibility
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 153 |
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Definition
| ...down here they've forgotten to take care of the books and that's our opportunity. You're hidden right out in the open--that is, you would be if you only realized it. They wouldn't see you because they don't expect you to know anything, since they believe they've taken care of that... |
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Term
the vet
to the IM about
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 156 |
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Definition
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Term
the vet
to the IM
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 156 |
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Definition
| ..the world is possiblility if only you'll discover it... |
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Term
blues singer in the city: Peter Wheatstraw
to the IM
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 173 |
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Definition
| What I want to know is, is you got the dog? |
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Term
blues singer in the city: Peter Wheatstraw
to the IM
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 175 |
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Definition
| I guess somebody done changed their plans...Folks is always making plans and changing 'em. |
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Term
blues singer in the city: Peter Wheatstraw
to the IM
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 176 |
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Definition
She's got feet like a monkeeee
Legs
Legs, Legs like a maaad
Bulldog... |
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Term
Liberty Paints
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 196 |
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Definition
Keep America pure
with
______ ____ |
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Term
grandfather in dream
the IM about dangers of intimacy with white people
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 186 |
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Definition
| Don't let no white man tell you his business, 'cause after he tells you he's liable to git shame he tole it to you and then he'll hate you. Fact is, he was hating all the time... |
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Term
Bledsoe
in letters of reference about IM
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 191 |
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Definition
| However, it is to the best interests of the great work which we are dedicated to perform, that he continue undisturbed in these vain hopes while remaining as far as possible from our midst. |
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Term
Lucius Brockway--basement boss
to the IM about paint plant
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 217 |
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Definition
| They got all this machinery, but that ain't everything; we the machines inside the machine. |
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Term
the IM's narration
new sight
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 232 |
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Definition
| A face was now level with mine, looking closely and saying something without meaning...I was pounded between crushing electrical pressures... |
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Term
the IM's narration
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 243 |
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Definition
| There was no getting around it. I could no more escape than I could think of my identity. Perhaps, I thought, the two things are involved with each other. When I discover who I am, I'll be free. |
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Term
IM's narration
about Mary
Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
pg 258 |
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Definition
| ...she was something more--a force, a stabel, familiar force like something out of my past which kept me from whirling off into some unknown which I dared not face. It was a most painful position, for at the same time, ___ reminded me constantly that something was expected of me, some act of leadership, some newsworthy achievement... |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
about unreliability as narrator
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 6 |
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Definition
| Even now, when a flutter of my pulse makes me think of final things, I find myself losing my temper, because a drawer sticks or because I've misplaced my glasses. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
about unreliability as narrator
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 6 |
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Definition
| A little too much anger, too often or at the wrong time, can destroy more than you would ever imagine. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
finding grandfather's grave
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 13 |
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Definition
| My father always said when someone dies the body is just a suit of old clothes the spirit doesn't want anymore. But there we were, half killing ourselves to find a grave, and as cautious as we could be about where we put our feet. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
care-taking with father
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 13&14 |
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Definition
| We worked a good while at putting things to rights...I think he regretted that there was nothing more for him to do. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
moment of balance
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 14 |
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Definition
| Then I realized that what I saw was a full moon rising just as the sun was going down. Each of them was standing on its edge, with the most wonderful light between them. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
moment of balance: sun and moon
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 14 |
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Definition
| It seemed as if you could touch it, as if there were palpable currents of light passing back and forth, or as if there were great taut skeins of light suspended between them. |
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Term
John Ames's father
after moment of balance
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 15 |
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Definition
| I would never have thought this place could be beautiful. I'm glad to know that. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
insight into Robinson's own mind
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 19 |
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Definition
| For me writing has always felt like praying, even when I wasn't writing prayers, as I was often enough. You feel that you are with someone. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
about his son
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 19 |
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Definition
| ...I pray for you. And there's an intimacy in it. That's the truth. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
words and how they reveal us (his experience with confessions of others)
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 44 |
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Definition
| ...where is the strength, what is the strategy?...how well the two sides bring each other along, how much they can require of each other, how the life that is the real subject of it all is manifest in it. By "life" I mean something like "energy"...or "vitality," and also something very different. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
incandescence
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 44-45 |
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Definition
| ...I am struck by a kind of incandescence in them, the "I" whose predicate can be "love" or "fear" or "want," and whose object can be "someone" or "nothing" and it won't really matter, because the loveliness is just in that presence, shaped around "I" like a flame on a wick, emanating itself in grief and guilt and joy and whatever else. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
incandescence
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 45 |
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Definition
| A good sermon is one side of a passionate conversation...There are three parties to it...the self that yields the thought, the self that acknowledges and in some way responds to the thought, and the Lord. That is a remarkable thing to consider. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
about his son
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 52 |
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Definition
| There's a shimmer on a child's hair, in the sunlight. There are rainbow colors in it, tiny, soft beams of just the same colors you can see in the dew sometimes. They're in the petals of flowers, and they're on a child's skin. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
language
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 53 |
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Definition
| The twinkling of an eye. That is the most wonderful expression. I've thought from time to time it was the best thing in life, that little incandescenece you see in people when the charm of a thing strikes them, the humor of it. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 56 |
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Definition
| I have been thinking about existence lately. In fact, I have been so full of admiration for existence that I have hardly been able to enjoy it properly. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
metaphor
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 57 |
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Definition
| I feel sometimes as if I were a child who opens its eyes on the world once and sees amazing things it will never know any names for and then has to close its eyes again. I know this is all mere apparition compared to what awaits us, but it is only lovelier for that. There is a human beauty in it. |
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Term
Narrator: John Ames
metaphor
Marilynn Robinson, Gilead
pg 57 |
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Definition
| In eternity this world will be Troy, I believe, and all that has passed here will be the epic of the universe, the ballad they sing in the streets. Because I don't imagine any reality putting this one in the shade entirely, and I think piety forbids me to try. |
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