Early on in the novel (the sixth page to be exact) the Invisible Man identifies himself as Jack the Bear. After that the images of Jack the Bear and Jack the Rabbit are brought up time and time again. My question: "Who was Brer Rabbit?" and seeing as the 'doctors' in the paint factory asked the narrator that exact question, the answer may be worth looking into.
Brer Rabbit dates back to trickster characters in African folklore (ex. the hare) and in the stories, he has always won against his opposition by being quicker, both mentally and physically. When brought into the context of African American history, some scholars believe that Brer Rabbit represents slaves who used their wits to escape their masters. In Invisible Man, it could be that the narrator himself represents Brer Rabbit, in that he's able to escape society by becoming invisible. But the narrator never calls himself a rabbit, rather he says that he's like Jack the Bear. This could be a reference to the dim-witted character Brer Bear, of the Brer Rabbit stories, who ends up tricked by Brer Rabbit at the end of tale.
I especially like this comparison because it is the narrator who's constantly being outwitted for the entirety of the novel. Looking back on it, the narrator sees how blind he was to his invisibility and how he was moved from place to place by the Brer Rabbits of his world who have a more realistic world view than he does in the beginning of the novel (ex. Brother Jack)
**A Side Note: Brer is a variation on the word 'brother' and Brer Rabbit is sometimes, even in this book, referred to as Jack the Rabbit. Put it together and you get Brother Jack...**
While the narrator could be calling himself Jack the Bear to depict himself as one who was mentally slow in realizing his position in society, it could also be a reference to Jack/John the Conqueror who was an almost mythical character who was supposedly unseen by the white world and would come help African Americans escape from slavery by using his magical powers. Perhaps by looking at the narrator in this light, it means that after he finishes his time underground, he plans to come up and help his people escape from their limited mindsets/segregation/etc.
Still more, Jack the Bear could be a reference to a Harlem bass-player/pianist/drug addict/gambler known as John Wilson (someone who sounds a lot like Rinehart to me). Jack the Bear is also the name of one of Duke Ellington's songs and while this may seem irrelevant, Ellison was quite influenced by the jazz of his time.
What do you guys think? Is the narrator one interpretation of Jack the Bear, all of these things, or none?
I definitely see how Jack-the-Bear could be a reference to each of the things you mentioned, but I particularly like the possibility that it's an allusion to Brer Bear. Going off the idea that it represents the previously ignorant and easily tricked versions of him, perhaps the Jack part refers to a particular part of his illusionment when he believed in the Brotherhood. Also, I'd like to add another: Jack-the-Bear really made me think of Jack-in-the-Box. He lies temporarily dormant in a rather small space, biding his time and building up to pop out.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of the Ellington song "Jack the Bear." It seems safe to say that you've unearthed an allusion here--I'd be amazed if Ellison, who modeled his whole New York literary persona on the kind of worldly and sophisticated artist Ellington represented, was unaware of this song. And the allusion happens in the same prologue where he gives an extended listen to a Louis Armstrong record--it's the most "jazz-inflected" chapter in the book. Good eye!
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