Trueblood's Artifact Revealed In Black And Blue

Appeasement
“We Wear the Mask” and “Black and Blue” exemplify the theme of African Americans putting on a facade to avoid prosecution from whites, which constantly recurs throughout Invisible Man. This novel is an artifact published in 1952 and it provides pivotal knowledge about the time period it took place, the 1930’s. This artifact was superbly written and also extremely difficult to understand through just solely reading, but many texts were also created during this time period that assist in understanding the novel. “We Wear the Mask” delves into a theme presented in Invisible Man, which is pleasing the privileged white class by “[wearing] the mask that grins and lies” (Dunbar 1). This metaphorical mask symbolizes when African Americans

After reading and re-reading I cannot figure out whether or not Trueblood’s story was true. I do not know if he was just telling the story to benefit himself or if the story with Matty Lou actually occurred. The answer was unclear until the presentation about Trueblood. In class we had an inconclusive discussion about the credibility of his story, and it was left to our own interpretation about whether Trueblood’s story was true. After re-reading and doing research I have come to the conclusion that Trueblood’s story about impregnating his daughter was true. I believe Trueblood’s story was true, but he soon realized he could use this story to his advantage and exaggerated it. After receiving his eviction notice from Tuskegee University, Trueblood realizes he can manipulate the wealthier white class to benefit himself. There has always been a constant wage gap between white and black folks, which Trueblood must have been aware of. “By 1933, African Americans found it all but impossible to find jobs of any kind in agriculture or industry” as a result of the great depression (Trotter 1). Trueblood knew about this wage gap and while his family was in dire need of money he knew he could use his story to get money. Trueblood then told his story exaggerated it and many people gave him money for it. It is shown how Trueblood is a master of manipulation, when Invisible discusses how “Trueblood

Throughout the year we continuously analyzed Invisible Man and were given many texts to help us understand Invisible Man even more. Texts that we were recently given were “Sonny’s Blues” and “Still I Rise”. These texts helped me gain a deeper understanding of the artifact in this unit, Invisible Man. “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin discusses a similar theme that is also presented Invisible Man. The theme of needing music in one’s life. This theme has appeared in many texts and especially in the artifact. Sonny desired to be a musician in his life, and that goal is what represented full life for him. Music is what Sonny wanted to do with his life and that is the goal he strived to achieve. Sonny believes that if someone is not doing what they want what is the point of living, he declares this when proclaiming “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for” (Baldwin 11). Invisible also needed music in his life. He loved listening to music and he did not only listen to it on the surface level. Invisible “not only entered the music but descended, like Dante into its depths”, he experienced this music and it greatly impacted his life (Ellison 9). “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou presents the theme of overcoming adversity. Maya Angelou endured a lot of hate in her life, but she constantly declared “like dust, I’ll rise” (Angelou 1). Invisible had