How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #16
N*****, this isn't the time to lie. I'm no white man. Tell me the truth! (6.34)
Dr. Bledsoe employs a double standard when it comes to lying – lying to white men is fine, but not to him.
Quote #17
You're nobody, son. You don't exist – can't you see that? The white folk tell everybody what to think – except men like me. I tell them; that's my life, telling white folk how to think about the things I know about…But you listen to me: I didn't make it, and I know that I can't change it. But I've made my place in it and I'll have every N***o in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am. (6.76)
This is the first time we see the narrator being told of his invisibility. Dr. Bledsoe has achieved a position of power incredibly rare among men of his race, but he feels no obligation to aid other black people, saying that he has no qualms with hanging every black man in the country if it means maintaining his power.
Quote #18
…I remembered something my grandfather had said long ago: 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 you all the time…(9.147).
The narrator's grandfather argues that black people and white people should never get close enough to be real with one another. Is this useful advice for this particular situation? (Emerson is trying to get to know the narrator better.)