Chapter 24: Late that afternoon at headquarters I reported that things were quieting down and that we were getting a large part of the community interested in a clean-up campaign, which would clear all backyards, areaways, and vacant lots of garbage and trash and take Harlem s mind off Clifton. It was such a bare-face maneuver that I almost lost the confidence of my invisibility even as I stood before them. But they loved it, and when I handed in my fake list of new members they responded with enthusiasm. They were vindicated; the program was correct, events were progressing in their predetermined direction, history was on their side, and Harlem loved them. I sat there smiling inwardly as I listened to the remarks that followed (514). *Title (Just another hole in the ground) relates back because the narrator is digging himself into a hole that will be difficult to get out of. Event: The narrator is lying to the Brotherhood about all the progress Harlem is making and proceeds to give them a fake list of potential members. Development: The narrator no longer sees the Brotherhood as some great power, and is willing to bring them down. Towards beginning of the novel this would have never happened, he is becoming increasingly more rebellious. By going against what the Brotherhood wants and feeding them false information he is defining himself more and reducing society s ability to define him. He accepts his invisibility more in this chapter, his smile as he watches the Brotherhood shows how easy it is for him to blend into the background. I felt highly confident, but here my plan went slightly wrong. Emma was quite gay and responsive, but something about her hard, handsome face warned me to lay off. I sensed that while she might willingly surrender herself (in order to satisfy herself) she was far too sophisticated and skilled in intrigue to compromise her position as Jack s mistress by revealing anything important to me (515). Event: The narrator is looking for a woman he can use to gain political information from about the Brotherhood. Development: The narrator is now comfortable enough with himself that he is unafraid of using people/women. In the beginning of the novel he was scared to even look at the woman who was dancing, he has now developed so much that he is willing to use Emma or Sybil for his own personal gain. He also has come to the notion that no one will notice if he does do anything unethical because he s invisible (ex. he s not worried about George coming home while he is with Sybil). Event: Brotherhood calls the narrator to come help with the riot in Harlem. Development: Even though the narrator helped start the pandemonium in Harlem by lying to the Brotherhood about the progress they were making he still becomes concerned when the district calls and is in need of help. His original identity overlaps with his new found personality for a moment when people are in need of him, it goes to show that he will always
have a little piece of his home in him. The fan whirred. And in a corner, my brief case, covered with specks of dust like memories-the night of the battle royal. I felt her breathing hot against me and pushed her gently away, steadying her against the door frame, then went over as impulsively as the remembered prayer, and got the brief case, brushing the dust against my leg and feeling the unexpected weight as I hugged it beneath my arm. Something clinked inside (527). Event: As the narrator is leaving to find the Brotherhood he remembers his past and how he got to where he is now. Development: Never would the narrator have been in a situation like this in the beginning of the novel. He recalls the night where he received the briefcase for the first time, the briefcase symbolises his journey to what he has become and the dust on the briefcase I believe shows how long its been since he has been himself and how much things have changed since the night of the battle royal. He s become much more confidant with his actions and doesn t question himself as much (ex. his body language and actions with Sybil are apart of his new identity and show his self-confidence). Chapter 25: -Getting Shot At Shows the narrator what he has helped to make Harlem into: this violent, criminal place filled with murders and shootings. The narrator realizes that the Brotherhood wanted a race riot. They helped in the making of it and wanted the black population of Harlem to go down with it. In communism, all people are made equal in pay, land, rights, etc, but in the time that the novel takes place, it would be very difficult to gain the votes of white officials and powerful supremacist to make themselves equal to colored people. The Brotherhood decided the easiest way to eliminate the problem of anticommunism would be to make everyone more alike physically. -Burning the Building The narrator takes part in the burning of a tenant building in Harlem. Instead of taking a step backwards and merely lying to the Brotherhood, the narrator is finally taking part in the disobedience of the general public. He is rushed alongside of men set on burning down the building that the thought symbolized the white control over them. Maybe it was because of the narrator s drunken stupor or possible because he was so taken in by the extreme views of the people of Harlem, but he helps the men burn down the building. I thought this was odd because the narrator was first impassioned by a couple being thrown out onto the streets and in a way, he s doing the same. A woman comes up to the group and begs them to stop because she has no other home and no other place to go, but the men ignore her and burn her home to the ground showing how no matter what, there will always be stereotypes and a ladder of power. Now that the black people are in charge in Harlem, sexism comes into play. One prejudice is replaced by another. This brings in a troubling paradox for me. The black people have now come to power in Harlem, but through violence and aggression, the exact way that white people
feared. They have channeled their selves through their stereotype and embellished it. Where before the white people had no basis on which to prove their stereotypes, now because the colored people of Harlem acted in violence, they have there proof. We could never put a colored person in a position of power because they will act like they did in Harlem. Those people are violent and cannot be trusted. I told you so. -Returning for the Briefcase The briefcase represents the narrator s past. Mary s bank, Clifton s Sambo doll, the anonymous letter, the narrator s Brotherhood name, and his high-school diploma are all in the briefcase. Every major event in the book is represented in one way or another in that small bag. The bank represents the narrator s fears of becoming the stereotypical black man and his shame in believing Dr. Bledsoe s lies. The new name represents the narrator s numerous rebirths throughout the novel, his willingness to change, and his easy acceptance of the Brotherhood. The anonymous letter represents the narrator s fear of disapproval; the idea that if he fails, he will never reach his goals which goes along with his obliviousness to manipulation and deceit. His high-school diploma symbolizes his past in the South, his grandfather s dying words, and his determination to prove to the white people that he can be successful. Even the briefcase represents his struggles at the battle royal and his ability to be pushed around by the white men in his life. Returning for his briefcase is a last stitch effort to try to hold on to his past. Throughout the book the narrator always claims that he puts his past behind him and that he s becoming somebody new, but returning for his briefcase helps to prove the exact opposite: the narrator has refused to let go. - Ras the Destroyer and the Dummies The Brotherhood fueled Ras behind the Narrator and Clifton s backs. In chapter 25, he goes into town in an eccentric outfit, riding a horse, blazoning a spear and shield calling to lynch the white men. When Ras spots the narrator, he calls the crowd to kill him as well. Ras doesn t understand that he and the narrator are on the same side, but just differ on the amount of violence needed in order to be heard. The Dummies are cloth-less, hairless, white mannequins what represent the white supremists. Ras orders people to lynch the narrator next to the white people he worked for. - Rinehart and the Broken Glasses When the narrator runs away from Ras and the rioting citizens, he decides to put on his Rinehart costume and to blend in; to fall back into the stereotyped Black Hipster, but he comes to realize that the glasses that he needs for the costume are broken. This is when the narrator finds out that he can t hide behind the façade of another person. He realizes that he cannot be what anyone else wants him to be or even what he, himself, wants to be. He must accept the way that his is and embrace it. -Longing for Mary
This ties back to the middle of the novel when Mary is considered a motherly figure. Like all children struggling, the narrator looks towards a parental figure for guidance. The narrator tries to go to Mary s house but ends up going in the opposite direction. This represents how the narrator tries to run away from his mistakes (breaking Mary s coin bank). -Falls Down Hole I felt myself plunge down, down; a long drop that ended upon a load of coal that sent up a cloud of dust... as from somewhere above their voices came floating down (565). The narrator is confronted by racist policemen that ask to see what s in the narrator s briefcase. The narrator is afraid of what the policeman will do to him no matter what is in his briefcase. He s not willing to end up dead like Clifton because of corrupt police officers, so he runs. And of course, being the unlucky guy that he is, falls into an uncovered manhole. You goddam black sonofabitch, someone called, see how you like this, and I heard the cover settle over the manhole with a dull clang (566). This shows how corrupt the Northern policeman were too. The idea that the North was so much better than the South was a fallacy. This plays into the Brotherhood and their communist views. Even though in communism, all people are equal, to the white members of the Brotherhood, black people are like pawns on a political chess board; if they lose a few, or all of them, the more important pieces are still intact. -Decides to Burn His Past I was in a deep basement, full of shapeless objects that extend farther than I could see, and I realized that to light my way out I would have to burn every paper in my briefcase (567). Like how I said before, the narrator s briefcase holds every major event in the book symbolized by items in the briefcase, or even the briefcase itself. As he lights them on fire, some burn more stubbornly than the others showing how difficult it was to let go of some events compared to others. An example of this is how the Sambo doll barely lit while the Brotherhood name burned up in an instant. -Dream Sequence The narrator has a dream at the end of the 25th chapter involving all of the authority figures throughout his life described in the novel. The dream shows how the powerful men mocked him and took advantage of him. Because of the dream, the narrator decides to spend time down in the hole to hibernate and ponder about his past, present, and future. Epilogue Agree em to death and destruction, grandfather had advised. they their own death and their own destruction, except as the principle lived in them and in us? And here s the cream of the joke: weren t we part of them as well as apart from them and subject to die when they die
(375)? This quote reveals a revelation of the narrator about his grandfather s final words. He finally realizes what his grandpa is talking about. He sees that he is basically the same as everyone else, including the whites. He also sees that the whites who are oppressing him are subject to the same things as he is such as death, and bad experiences. Even in the last chapter of the book, he is still learning about himself and his relationships with whites. Don t you know me? I said. Should I? He said. You see me? I said, watching him tensely. Why, of course - sir, do you know the way to Centre Street (578)? This quote comes at a meeting of the narrator with Mr. Norton. This quote shows how much both he and Mr. Norton changed since their last meeting. Also, it shows that even though the narrator is seen by Mr. Norton and everyone else, people do not really see him as who he is just his outside and the color of his skin.