Free Essays - The Ideologies of the Brotherhood in Invisible Man :: Invisible Man Essays

The Ideologies of the Brotherhood in Invisible Man And he had hardly settled himself when he stared at my desk, saying, "What you got there, Brother?" and pointed toward a pile of my papers. I leaned slowly back in my chair, looking him in the eye. "That's my work," I said coldly, determined to stop any interference from the start. "But I mean that," he said, pointing, his eyes beginning to blaze, "that there." "It's work," I said, "all my work." "Is that too?" he said, pointing to Brother Tarp's leg link. "That's just a personal present, Brother," I said. "What could I do for you?" "That ain't what I asked you, Brother. What is it?" I picked up the link and held it toward him, the metal oily and strangely skinlike now with the slanting sun entering the window. "Would you care to examine it, Brother? One of our members wore it nineteen years on the chain gang." "Hell no!" He recoiled. "i mean, no, thank you. In fact, Brother, i don't think we ought to have such things around!" "You think so," I said. "And just why?" "Because I don't think we ought to dramatize our differences." "I'm not dramatizing anything, it's my personal property that happens to be lying on my desk." "But people can see it!" "That's true," I said. "But I think it's a good reminder of what our movement is fighting against." "No, suh!" he said, shaking his head, "no, suh!" That's the worse kind of thing for Brotherhood - because we want to make folks think of things we have in common. That's what makes Brotherhood. We have to change this way we have of always talking about how different we are. In the Brotherhood, we are all brother." I was amused. He was obviously disturbed by something deeper than a need to forget differences. Fear was in his eyes. "I never thought of it just that way, Brother," I said, dangling the iron between my finger and thumb. "But you want to think about it," he said. "We have to discipline ourselves.