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Dr. Bledsoe's Villains In Invisible Man

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In Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, Dr. Bledsoe is one of the primary villains. Although Bledsoe quickly turns on the narrator, casting him out of his college, and also preventing employers from employing him. His villainy is not only for dramatic effect but helps Ellison with his message about inequality in society. Clearly, Dr. Bledsoe shows how power blinds racial lines, and how personal success does not always come from personal character. Dr. Bledsoe is the president in the pre-Civil Rights era of the south of an all black college, and is considered as the standard to which all individuals of color should aspire. His power, fame, and wealth are beyond belief for a black, as the narrator is awestruck at how Bledsoe is permitted to talk …show more content…

Bledsoe's ethical failings are unsuitable with his own successes. He is a standout amongst the most noticeable African-Americans in the south, a mentor to numerous aspiring young african americans, including the narrator. Rather than being a honorable community leader at heart, yet, Bledsoe tries to conceal the way that most blacks are battling with poverty and oppression, so that he and his school may keep on getting paid to "build upon the black condition". Not just is Dr. Bledsoe greedy forever, he is additionally unforgiving and cruel.The narrator then takes the donor into the deceitful area, at the donor's request no less, he is quickly dismissed from the school. However, Dr. Bledsoe goes ahead to further torment the narrator, as he sends him north with a gathered letter of suggestion for a job. Things being what they are, this letter is really a vindictive route for Bledsoe to attack the narrator for interrogating status as usual, as the letter informs employers to not hire the narrator no matter what. Dr. Bledsoe, in spite of being an African-American leader, misuses his power, manipulates his students, and does whatever he supposes is in his best interests. In Invisible Man, Ellison is attempting to push the concept that the African-American condition is harmed by villains like Dr. Bledsoe. Ellison implies that as a couple African-Americans picked up power, they acted in a comparative manner as white

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