Admiration is particularly salient towards the beginning of Invisible Man, when the narrator takes Dr. Bledsoe and Mr. Norton to be role models. By the end of the novel, the narrator does not admire anyone. Dr. Bledsoe and Mr. Norton have been exposed as extremely flawed role models, and the narrator realizes that he can count only on himself.
Questions About Admiration
- Why does the narrator admire Dr. Bledsoe? The Founder?
- Where and when in the novel does the narrator stop admiring people? Does this mark a significant turning point?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
When the narrator stops looking up to various figures as role models, he has lost his naiveté and made an important step towards a true(r) understanding of the world.