The vet One of the shellshocked veterans at the Golden Day tavern. Norton, is a racist who hides behind a mask of philanthropy. Broadnax (Broad-in-Acts) The white couple who appear in Jim Trueblood's dream. Kate and Matty Lou Jim Trueblood's wife and daughter, respectively. Jim Trueblood Although readers may tend to think of him primarily as the sharecropper who has sex with his teenage daughter, Jim Trueblood is the only true "brother" ("blood") in the novel: He accepts full responsibility for his behavior, makes peace with his God, and fights for himself, his family, and his land. Like his namesake (the blind poet Homer, author of The Odyssey and The Iliad), Reverend Barbee is a powerful orator and storyteller. Barbee The blind Southern preacher from Chicago who visits the campus to deliver a moving sermon about the Founder's life and death. Bledsoe destroys the dream to promote his own selfish interests. Entrusted to fulfill the legacy of the Founder's dream, Dr. Bledsoe is the president of the black college established by the Founder. Hebert Bledsoe Known to his students as "Old Buckethead" because of his fondness for reciting the Founder's famous speech on service and humility ("Cast Down Your Bucket"), Dr. Although he does not appear in the novel, the Founder (like the grandfather) exerts a powerful influence on the narrator.ĭr. Washington, founder of Alabama's Tuskegee Institute, the Founder exemplifies the black American who rose "up from slavery" to achieve the American Dream. Norton is a covert racist who hides his true feelings behind a mask of philanthropy. A "smoker of cigars teller of polite Negro stories," Mr. Norton A white Northern liberal and multi-millionaire who provides financial support for Dr. In the end, Tatlock defeats the narrator and proudly accepts his $10 prize. Tatlock and the narrator are final contestants in the bloody boxing match, which results in a temporary deadlock. Tatlock The largest of the ten black boys forced to participate in the battle royal. Jackson's overt racism and vicious - albeit thwarted - attack on the narrator foreshadows Brother Jack's covert racism and equally vicious attack on the narrator's psyche. Jackson The most brutal, sadistic white man at the battle royal. After tricking him into participating in the battle royal, he rewards him with a calfskin briefcase and "a scholarship to the state college for Negroes." The school superintendent The nameless white man who invites the narrator to give his high school graduation speech at the smoker, where he acts as master of ceremonies. He appears in the novel only through the narrator's memories. The grandfather The narrator's ancestor and spiritual guide whose deathbed revelation haunts the narrator throughout the novel and serves as a catalyst for his quest. Although he undoubtedly has a name, he remains nameless and "invisible" throughout the novel. The narrator (the "Invisible Man") A misguided, mis-educated young man whose quest for meaning and identity as a black man in white America leads him into numerous dangerous situations. Because their significance depends solely on how the narrator chooses to see them, none can be clearly designated as major or minor characters.įollowing are brief descriptions of the key characters, listed in order of their appearance in the novel. Many are simply ordinary, everyday people living ordinary, everyday lives. Invisible Man features a long and complex cast of colorful characters the narrator meets on his quest for meaning and identity who function on both a literal and symbolic level.
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