The Brotherhoods in the Invisible Man
The Brotherhood in the Invisible Man Brotherhoods are associations, usually of men, that unite for common purposes. The members in the brotherhood typically respect one another, defend one another, and cooperate to obtain specific goals. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States, whose goal is to create better employment opportunities for workers. Kappa Sigma and Sigma Chi are two of the largest university fraternities in the country and whose similar values are leadership, service, and scholarship. In the novel, the narrator rarely speaks of his family, except for his grandfather who continues to appear throughout the text, thus there is a large absence of family. Brotherhood is a notion in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, where the narrator joins a brotherhood to create bonds with other men like him. In the novel, the narrator encounters three brotherhoods that prove self-serving organizations that prey on the Black community. The narrator comes into contact with three man-led brotherhoods with very distinct ideologies. The first brotherhood the narrator encounters is led by a West Indian man by the name of Ras, the Exhorter. Ras the Exhorter supports a specific, black-centered worldview. He feels deeply rooted for black segregation and power. Ras believes in returning to his roots as a black man and has a hatred for the white man. Perhaps Ras is modeled off of Marcus Garvey, a political figure of the 1950s who believed in returning to Africa and his roots. Brother Jack, the opposite of Ras, is another leader the narrator meets and joins his Brotherhood. The Brotherhood practices to an ideology based on that of American communist groups in the 1930s. Their ideology is centered on the Marxist theory of history which holds that those of lower social status must submit themselves to the unavoidable class struggles on the path to equality (Marx: Theory of History). The last leader of a brotherhood
Cited: "Marx: Theory of History." Revolutionary socialist culture of peace. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2013. <http://sfr-21.org/history.html>. Ellison, Ralph. Invisible man. 2nd Vintage International ed. New York: Vintage International, 1995. Print.