The Common Language

“The intellectual is called on the carpet.  What do you mean when you say…?  Don’t conceal something?  You talk a language which is suspect.”

                                                                                                Marcuse 192

Well, you had better speak more slowly so we can understand.  We mean to do right by you, but you’ve got to know your place at all times.  All right, now, go on with your speech.”

                                                                                               

                                                                                                Ellison 31

            Marcuse asserts that language as a whole has become what he calls a “common language.”  That language has been, “pressed into the straitjacket of common usage, but also enjoined not to ask and seek solutions beyond those that are already there” (Marcuse 178).  Like everything is in a capitalist society, it must be considered and weighed for its value.  All confusion that arises from “symbols, metaphors, and images” must be eliminated to bring the speech into common language.  And then it can be neatly packaged and sold off as commodity.  Marcuse sees his (our) society as driven by consumerism/capitalism, everything has a monetary value attached to it and if one cannot be readily defined then the system will adept to absorb it.  The example of Mother Teresa and how one can relate a religious figure to the idea of selling a product.  This is where language as a whole breaks down into the common language there can be nothing above the common and it must fit the mold established by the society speaking it.

The narrator of the Invisible Man, after many degrading experiences, gives a speech to the same people who had abused him and others like him not a moment before.  The people of his race who, “depend upon bettering their condition in a foreign land, or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the southern white man” speaks to the degree of not only his physical subjugation but his linguistic subjugation.  There is no hint of protest against the trials that came before the speech, he takes no action whether to flee from the scene or to resist in some fashion after the fact (though that would have likely resulted in his death).  Ellison is playing with the same idea of language construction that Marcuse is arguing, the speech is given with constant interruptions by the audience to have any word “of three or more syllables” repeated because it was not the common language.  This is the poetry that Marcuse argues the committee claims to love but that in order to be properly understood the “symbols, metaphors, and images” must be brought into ordinary language.  When Ellison’s narrator misspeaks and replaces social responsibility with social equality the audience is quick to question the mistake because where one falls in line with preconceived conventions the other speaks of protest, unrest, and change.  There is no possible use of equality for the established common language of the listening audience, the committee of language they have established is one of submission and degradation and the narrator can only function within that framework.  For Marcuse there is no discourse within this arrangement of committee all of the symbols must mean something and they must mean the right thing in the proper order.  “Tolerance is deceptive,” there is no meaning but the meaning of the common.  The narrator experience the hijacking of language and his dependence upon the listeners of his speech for his “success” later in life, specifically to his ability to attend a prestigious university.  Marcuse and Ellison point to the control of language as a way to control the individual, if language can be reduced to the common then the control of people can be just as simple.

Final Paper Proposal

Marcuse, Herbert. One-Dimensional Man. Beacon, 1991.

I will use Marcuse’s idea of art reflecting reason generally to apply to Moby-Dick as a rational form of expression of evolution.

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003.

I will take the majority of material from Moby-Dick.  I will look at specific passages on the description of the whale’s tail, the comparison between the right whale and the sperm whale, the purpose of blubber,

Weiner, Jonathan. The Beak of the Finch. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.

The Beak of the Finch is a book about going back at a present time and observing the process of evolution in the Finches that Darwin first observed.  I will use this to look at their interpretation of how Darwin came to the conclusion of evolution.

Young, David. The Discovery of Evolution. Cambridge:University Press, 2007.

The Discovery of Evolution does a strong job of describing the theories of evolution and the context leading up to its discovery.  I will use this piece to provide context information on Linnaeus, and Lyell especially and then further information on Darwin.

2. My argument for the final project will be that Moby-Dick should be considered a relevant early work in the field of evolution.  I will argue that Melville influenced by the same scientists as Darwin created a prophetic piece leading up to On the Origin of Species.  I will do this through analyzing the way in which  Melville describes the form and function of whales and the attempts to classify them. This is an appropriate way to approach the relevance of evolution as it mirrors the way in which evolution was first realized by Darwin. 

I think that this is a relevant in considering Moby-Dick as it is a way to incorporate the numerous chapters dealing with the shape and description of whales.  A think that a good understanding of Moby-Dick requires the inclusion of these passages in the analysis and I think that considering them from an evolutionary perspective brings a greater understanding and a deeper way to appreciate the text.  I believe that it is very important to consider the scientific context of the understanding of species at the time, as I think was very relevant and important to Melville and should be to the reader too.

3.   I will incorporate Marcuse into the argument of evolution by examining what he says about art being equivalent to reason.  I think that this ties in well with the novel of Moby-Dick being looked at as a piece of rationality and reason as well as it is considered the first great American novel.  Yet I may acknowledge the fact that even though there is reason in Moby-Dick concerning the classification of species, that it hasn’t been historically considered an evolutionary text –meaning that society has not adopted the reason present.

4. My argument for my final project will relate to my last revision which was about evolution in Moby-Dick.  As I was working on my revision, I realized both that I am really fascinated by the topic and that there is a lot more to cover than I originally had in mind.  With that in mind, I think that I need to work on coming up with a clear focus and organization around that topic in order to improve for the final paper.  I think that what I need to do is focus more on the description and classification of whales rather than including religion into the argument.  I would like to still incorporate Linnaeus and Darwin and speak more to Lyell as well and the chapter on fossils.

Paper Proposals

Ideas:

1.       American society is preoccupied with hierarchy both in our need to escape it and master it through individuality and also how we are deferential to it in our love of the victorious or great individual.

a.       Vs. American society has rejected hierarchy and is not concerned with it, individualism is not a wish to be king but a wish to be separate.

b.      Why my reader should care:  This is a very essential question as to how Americans are motivated and perhaps the consequences of separating ourselves from a monarchy and a strict class system.

c.       Literature: The use of greatness as a theme in Moby Dick, and Starbuck and the crew’s deference to Ahab’s great madness vs. Ishmael’s disappearing into the universe. Octavia butler, individuality and self-sufficiency being a quirk of our hierarchal model. Ahab tries to escape the world’s hierarchy by asserting himself against the powers of the universe, but by trying to control it he is trying to become the ruler. The social systems within prisons on page 137 of Human Nature shows a contrast between what would be considered hierarchal and non-hierarchal behavior.  Marcuse believes we are not actually our own person because of the way our society functions to take in counter ideas, so none of us are really individuals but are very controlled by the government suggesting a new more total form of suppression.  At the same time the idea of the individual prevents us from banding together for a more total good for us all.

2.        Individualism is essential to how we see ourselves in America and this is reflected in our literature.

a.       Vs. Who we are as an individual is what makes us who we are but individualism is not an American phenomenon or reflected more often in our literature.

b.      Why my reader should care: Americans often like to see themselves as an individual working towards the American dream with only their own cunning and work responsible for their place in society.  We exhort the virtues of the frontiersmen, the self-sufficient man who takes on the world but are we really any different from other countries such as England from whom we received many of our ideas and identity?

c.       Literature:  Again I would mostly use Moby Dick and perhaps the Invisible man.  I would show how each character sees themselves as their own person and show how our narrator in Invisible man is constantly trying to assert himself as an individual even though he believes he represents all blacks. I would like to then perhaps compare the Unions of the US to those of England today or the counties class consciousness and see if I can find any distinctive differences between the two countries. P 136 in On Human Nature subjected people show more knowledge of family groups, which is counter to individualism, slaves in the antebellum south and today in ghettos.

3.        Is the idea of being an individual based off of our “hierarchal urge?”

a.       Why is this a good question?: The idea of being an individual asserts our need to be independent and uncontrolled by others but this very need exists because of hierarchy and the fear of being subjected to someone else’s will.  On the other hand being an individual rejects the hierarchal model by cutting off the group connections of class and status to who a person is and implying a person’s place in society is their own choice.

b.      Why my reader should care: I would say that most people think of themselves as individuals with their own opinions, likes and dislikes but is this singular thought based off our need to be able to dominate others and if so what does this mean for our belief in the great individual and self-reliance.  Would the hierarchical urge being a precursor to individualism mean that individualism is wrong and we should be more focused on the group or does it mean we should accept it and hierarchy with it as a natural impulse?

c.       Literature: Octavia Butler’s view of hierarchical urge causing need to assert ourselves as self-sufficient and individuals. P136-137 On human nature, shows men are more hierarchal than women brings up question of whether men are more individualistic than women which  if the individual is based off the hierarchal urge men would be more prone to than women.

 

Bibliography

Greenhouse, Carol J. “Signs of Quality: Individualism and Hierarchy in American Culture.”

American Ethnologist , Vol. 19, No. 2 (May, 1992), pp. 233-254

Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological AssociationArticle Stable URL: https://sremote.pitt.edu:11017/stable/645035

This article speaks on America’s commitment to individualism and how it relates to conflict. I would like to use some of Greenhouse’s ideas about individuality including that Americans use individualism as part of their morality.

Dumont, Louis “Homo hierarchicus” Social Science Information1969 8: 69-87

http://ssi.sagepub.com/content/8/2/69.citation

The online version of this article can be found at:

https://sremote.pitt.edu/content/8/2/,DanaInfo=ssi.sagepub.com+69

Speaks on how individualism is a result of democracy and separates us from our ancestors and decedents. Idea of individualism being inescapable in American democracy.

Cooper, Peter J. "Modern America and the diminishing individual." USA Today[Magazine] July 2005: 70+. Academic OneFile. Web. 3 Apr. 2012.

Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA134163295&v=2.1&u=upitt_main&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w
https://sremote.pitt.edu/ps/,DanaInfo=go.galegroup.com+retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=upitt_main&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA134163295&&docId=GALE|A134163295&docType=GALE&role=
Talks about the diminishment of respect for the individual but this is not against my argument but shows peoples’ self-interest and lack of care for others.

Box, Richard C. "Marcuse Was Right." Administrative Theory & Praxis (M.E. Sharpe) 33, no. 2 (June 2011): 169-191. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 3, 2012). https://sremote.pitt.edu:11019/ehost/detail?sid=be1d7a9a-383f-4a62-af8f-93a9e798f212%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=126&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=60808401

“Paradoxically, although he was widely regarded as a collectivist threat to democracy, he was a passionate advocate of individual liberty and self-fulfillment who resisted domination and oppression no matter the source, whether capitalism or communism.” “The Organization Man. This person is dedicated to the goals of the organization and to group effort rather than individuality or independent judgment.” “society as a great salesroom, an enormous file, an incorporated brain, a new universe of management and manipulation”

The Concept of Fate: Ellison Influenced by Melville

            “Well, never mind.  I am a New Englander, like Emerson.  You must learn about him, for he was important to your people.  He had a hand in your destiny.  Yes, perhaps that is what I mean.  I had a feeling that your people were somehow connected with my destiny.  That what happened to you was connected with what would happen to me…”  (Ellison, 41)

            The concept of fate is heavily embedded in many works of literature, plays, movies, in addition to playing a major role in religion.  It is a concept that has been toyed with, debated, and manipulated as long as there has been human life.  Does fate happen to us?  Are our paths predestined?  Or is our fate self-manufactured, a product of our daily decisions?  Perhaps, in some ways, fate is a convenient excuse.  Through their respective works, authors Melville and Ellison use their works to describe fate and what they believe to be its connotations.  In Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, fate, or perhaps, Captain Ahab’s obsessive devotion to carrying out what he believes to be his fate, in the end brings himself and his crew to their untimely demise.  Throughout the novel, Ahab’s devotion to carrying out this destiny worries his entire crew, who know too well that they too will be caught up in his maddening desire to confront the white whale.  Even when questioned, Ahab remains loyal to what he believes to be his fate, ignoring logic and the obvious signs of his own impending doom.  While Captain Ahab believes his fate lies in the destruction of the white whale, Mr. Norton, a character from Ellison’s Invisible Man; a founding member of the narrator’s college, believes that his fate lies in the further expansion of the college he has helped found and the creation of more bright young African American scholars.  However, both of these characters are questioned on their fate and its merits.  And yet, despite this questioning, neither waver from their paths; a sign that perhaps Mr. Norton, much like Captain Ahab, will be, in one way or another, destroyed by his devotion to his fate.

            It is hard to understand what Melville’s stance on fate is, among other things; his views on fate seem ambivalent.  On one hand, the reader comes to understand that captain Ahab feels truly compelled by fate, so much so that he has chosen to abandon all life on land, including a wife and child.  “Aye, I widowed that poor girl when I married her, Starbuck; and then the madness, the frenzy, the boiling blood and the smoking brow, with which for a thousand lowers old Ahab has furiously foamingly, chased his prey…”  (Melville 591)  It is hard to imagine someone abandoning their entire life on land for the pursuit of a whale if they weren’t utterly compelled by some sort of malevolent outside force.  However, Starbuck makes a simple argument in return, why not simply turn back around and go home to our wives and families?  After all, Starbuck argues, it is extremely simple.  “Away!  Let us away!—this instant let me alter the course!”  In the end, is Ahab not captain of the ship, and therefore able to alter his destiny by giving up this wild chase and returning home after forty long years at sea?  Ahab seemingly has a choice, and has the power to change his own fate.  However, despite feeling clear sorrow and regret about the way Ahab has lived his life, he continues on.  His rational is unwavering; he has no choice but to continue on, despite how much he wishes that he could turn back, believing yet again that his destiny lies within the hands of a higher power. “What is it, what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what cozening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor commands me.”  (Melville 592)  It is as if Ahab’s faith in destiny, and belief and adherence to the path which has been determined for him by some higher power, rather than destiny itself, is what compels him forward rather than destiny itself.  From the very beginning of the novel, Ahab makes it is his purpose and destiny to kill Moby Dick—a destiny that goes unfulfilled, as Ahab and the rest of the crew are killed by the white whale.  If not for Ahab’s obsessive pursuit and his belief that God himself was compelling him to do it, then the whole crew may have survived.  It appears that Melville may be suggesting that it was Ahab’s blinding devotion to fate that damned the Pequod, and in the end, that ruined his life.

            In Ellison’s Invisible Man we are presented with a seemingly much more benevolent character, Mr. Norton.  Mr. Norton is one of the original founders of the University in which the nameless narrator of the novel attends.  However, similar to Ahab, Mr. Norton steadfastly believes in the idea that his fate is closely intertwined with those of the students of the University.  So much so that he claims that his entire fate lies within each and every one of his students, how they are his legacy and his triumph, including the narrator.  “…you are involved in my life quite intimately, even though you’ve never seen me before.  You are bound to a great dream and to a beautiful monument…whatever you become, and even if you fail, you are my fate.”  (Ellison, 43-44)  Much like Ahab’s fate is fixed on the destruction of Moby Dick, so is Mr. Norton’s fate tied to the fate of his school and its students.  However, it appears that Mr. Norton’s belief and fate, and what it drives him to do, are seemingly much more benevolent than Captain Ahab’s intentions.  Despite this, there is another character, a vet who treats Mr. Norton after his series of fainting spells, who questions Mr. Norton’s intentions much like Starbuck questioned Ahab’s.  Upon Norton telling the vet that he believes that the school is part of his destiny, he replies, “You cannot see or hear or smell the truth of what you see—and you, looking for destiny!  It’s classic!...To you he is a mark on the scorecard of your achievement, a thing and not a man; a child, or even less—a black amorphous thing.” (Ellison, 95)  The vet tears down Mr. Norton’s beliefs and notion of fate and destiny lying with the school.  Instead, the vet claims that the narrator, and others like him who attend the school aren’t his destiny, but rather like a type of trophy he wishes to win in order to make his supposed “destiny” seem valid.  However, by doing so, he neglects to see the students, the school, and the narrator as what they are—and instead assigns them another meaning by calling them his fate.  By doing so, he sets himself up for the possibilities of great glory and terrible disappointment. 

            The parallels between the two are seemingly clear enough as to justify that Ellison was perhaps influenced by Melville on the notion of fate.  Both characters assign higher meaning to worldly things and call them fate.  Captain Ahab’s fate lies within the destruction of the great whale, whereas Mr. Norton’s fate resides within the school he founded and the students—however, by doing this, by assigning a type of higher meaning to a white whale and a school both characters commit a fatal flaw.  By calling something their fate and simply following through with what their “fate” chooses to do, they neglect are blinded.  Ahab fails to see that he has choice, and an entire crew to care for, and Mr. Norton seemingly neglects the fact that the students are all individuals and the campus is more than eager, well cared for students.  They neglect to see their options, their choices, or see people as people or things as simply what they are.  Despite questioning, both go on believing, no matter how ill-advised it may seem.  Although we do not yet know the fate of Mr. Norton, if we are to believed that Ellison was influenced by Melville, we can surmise that like Ahab, Mr. Norton’s blind devotion to fate will bring him pain, and perhaps ruin in one form or another.  Regardless of their differing intentions, both characters possess the same fatal flaw, and will face the same consquences.

Paper Proposal: Shakespeare and the Absence of Ishmael's Identity

1. Proposed Sources:

Christofides, R.M. “Iago and equivocation: the seduction and damnation of Othello”. Early Modern Literary Studies 15.1 (2010). Print.

I am not as familiar with Othello as I am with Hamlet, so I am not certain if I am going to be able to introduce Iago into this discussion on Ishmael. That being said, I find this passage intriguing and it makes me very interested in incorporating these ideas into my paper: “To interpret Iago as a devil in turn implies a God who does not intervene in the play. Rather, Iago is more than that: a fiend whose fiendishness remains unproven in a play where divinity is invoked but does not appear on-stage to assert its existence or the existence of its opposite”.

Dumm, Thomas. “Who Is Ishmael?” The Massachusetts Review 46.3 (2005): 398-414. Print.

Dunn’s article is extremely interesting and I will be using it when reflecting on how the Ishmael on the Pequod is different than the Ishmael telling the story of Moby-Dick (which will be the foundation of my paper).

Gierasch, Walter. “Hamlet's Polonius”. College English , Vol. 2, No. 7 (Apr., 1941), pp. 699-702. Print.

Gierasch’s article focuses on a straightforward interpretation of Polonius that is arguably more sympathetic (or at least more well rounded) than other assessments of the character, which will be useful when comparing him to Ishmael.

Warhfat, Sidney. “The Mystery of Hamlet”. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 30.3 (1963): 193-208. Print.

I will use Warhat’s article when addressing the characterization of Hamlet. Because the thrust of this paper will focus on the unclear identity of Ishmael, this article will be helpful when discussing how the ambiguity of Hamlet is similar to Ishmael’s.

Young, John. “Ishmael's Development as Narrator: Melville's Synthesizing Process”. College Literature , Vol. 9, No. 2 (Spring, 1982), pp. 97-111. Print.

Young’s article specifically addresses Ishmael’s narrative style in great detail. This will be useful to my paper because the way in which Ishmael narrates Moby-Dick is directly linked to the representation of his identity.

2. For my final paper I plan on discussing the absence of Ishmael’s identity in Moby-Dick. In doing so I will be connecting the character of Ishmael to Shakespeare’s Polonius, Hamlet, and Iago. By making these comparisons I will argue that Ishmael’s lack of identity is actually an integral part of the success of the novel. Comparing Ishmael to characters in Shakespeare is a reasonable way to generate this argument because Melville’s use of quotes from Shakespeare in the extracts of Moby-Dick provides an explicit connection between the novel and the Bard.

My reader should care about this argument because in terms of the stylistic traditions of American literature, Ishmael is an unconventional protagonist. Therefore the ambiguous nature of his identity may lead to the story having less of an impact on some readers. However, after assessing the character in terms of the concepts I will be discussing in my paper, it should become clear that the uncertainty of Ishmael’s character is not as blurred as it may appear on a first reading, and that it is an intentional choice used by Melville to highlight the themes of self-awareness and free will in Moby-Dick.

                                     

3. I will be using Wilson in this paper. Specifically, I will introduce some of his thoughts on behavior, the human mind, and personality that he discusses in “Development”. Passages that strike my interest for this paper are when Wilson states, “the imagery of the developmental landscape must be altered subtly as increasing amounts of learning and culture come to prevail on the downward slopes” and later “the human mind is not a tabula rasa, a clean slate…It is more accurately described as an autonomous decision-making instrument…that approached certain kinds of choices and not others in the first place, then innately leans towards one option as opposed to others…” (67). I will be utilizing these concepts to draw conclusions about how Ishmael's experiences on the Pequod affect his identity.

4. I will be revising my “Very like a whale” paper, and will be making several specific changes. Instead of discussing the broad theme of the influence of theatre in general on Melville, I will be concentrating on Shakespeare’s influence on the character of Ishmael. I am doing this because (as you mentioned) I was trying to address too many topics in that revision, and the more concentrated my final project is, the stronger it will be. While I will be keeping a large portion of my thoughts on comparing Ishmael to Polonius and Hamlet, I will be omitting the argument concerning Ahab being similar to Richard III and Macbeth, as that is not significant to my new thesis. I will also be putting less emphasis on the quote “Very like a whale” and instead using it more as a source of inspiration (like you suggested), as this paper topic has grown past the strict connection between that specific quote and Melville’s work. Essentially, I will be expanding my statements on Ishmael’s character and editing out anything that is not directly related to that subject (i.e. Melville’s use of stage directions and the chapters set up like staged scenes). As of now, I plan on including some aspects of my thoughts on the use of “the Fates”, but only in the way they influence the nature of Ishmael’s identity.

Paper Proposal: Identity, Invisibility, and Aggression in Invisible Man

1.
Daves, Delmer, dir. Dark Passage. Perf.
Humphrey Bogart, and Lauren Bacall. Warner Bros. Pictures, 1947. DVD.

Taking into consideration the themes of
identity in Invisible Man, I believe that reading the novel in the
context of the film will be an interesting look at identity and invisibility,
real, or perceived in the novel. Using the medium of film to analyze literature
will be a unique and interesting exploration of identity in Ellison’s
protagonist, both before and after his “invisibility”.

Duncan, Garrett Albert. "Identity and Race in the United States."
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Ed. Colin A.
Palmer. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 1087-1092. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 3 Apr. 2012.

I plan to use this article as a base definition and source of African
American Identity in the United States, so as to more fluidly discuss my views
in relation to the novel.

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York: Random House, Inc., 1995.

Invisible Man will be the main text
of analysis in the paper. Using secondary texts, I will attempt to examine
identity and invisibility, in conjunction with aggression (see below), and what
that means for the narrative and also what the reader can glean from this
reading of the novel.

Knowles, Caroline. “Race, Identities and Lives”. The
Sociological Review, 47: 110–135. 1999.

I plan to use Knowles analysis of race
identity in conjunction with Duncan’s identity definition in order to explore
the theme of identity in Ellison’s novel.

Wilson, E. O. On Human Nature. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
2004.

I plan to use a close reading of Wilson’s
chapter on aggression to color my observations and arguments on identity and
what role one’s level or type of aggression has to do with one’s identity.

2.
I plan to explore the nature of aggression throughout
Ellison’s novel in relation to the protagonist’s views about his identity. That
is to say, how does the protagonist’s view about his identity affect his type
or level of aggression? How do his thoughts and feelings toward people, both
African American and Caucasian affect his aggression and his identity? How is
this connected to his view of himself as invisible and how has his self-imposed
label of “invisible” affected his identity and aggression. In addition, other
character’s (most notably Dr. Bledsoe) types of aggression will be mentioned
and lightly analyzed as a point of reference and comparison to the protagonist’s.
Because Ellison titles his book Invisible Man, it is important to
analyze just how his character exhibits this title qualifier. It is necessary
to endeavor to understand how the themes of invisibility and identity
intertwine to form a complicated character and how aggression plays a part in
the story.

3.
“Aggression does not resemble a fluid that
continuously builds pressure against the walls of its containers, nor is it
like a set of active ingredients poured into an empty vessel. It is more
accurately compared to a preexisting mix of chemicals ready to be transformed
by specific catalysts that are added, heated, and stirred at some later time” (Wilson
106).

There is a notion of confusion and
frustration associated with the struggles of identification or
misidentification that run deep in Ellison’s novel. This confusion and
frustration leads to unpredictable reactions. I will use the above passage of
Wilson supported by other such passages to connect aggression to the process of
finding one’s identity. As Wilson propounds here, aggression cannot be
predicted, but rather, once aggravated, can explode in many different ways.

4.
Discussing identity in Invisible Man is
obvious, but important in our understanding of the novel as a whole. I hope
that by exploring the theme along with aggression and alongside the film Dark Passage, I can bring a fresh
reading to the theme of identity and invisibility in Ellison’s narrative. Even
more, I hope to distinguish between identity and invisibility: are these one in
the same? Are they mutually exclusive? I believe that looking at the book in
this way can lead to an interesting discussion concerning human nature.

Final Project Proposal

Butler, Octavia E. Lilith's Brood. New York: Aspect/Warner, 2000. Print.

"Jinn." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers Harrap, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 26 March 2012

This site gives a lot of background of the Jinn and how humans are said to have treated them within their existence. It also is a valuable source of information relating it to a broader form of mythology within the Arab context.

            “Jinn – Crystalinks.” Crystalinks Home Page. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://www.crystalinks.com/jinn.html>.

This citation describes the presence of the Qur’an in relation to human/jinn similarities. This helps with the comparison of what Jodahs means to humans and the Oankali both because of these faith based ideas.

            “Judas Iscariot” CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA:. Web. 01. Apr. 2012. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08539a.htm.

If Judahs is a character representing faith, then it is necessary to divuldge the meaning of his namesake, Judas Iscariot, within its biblical context.

            “Mattaqun OnLine – Jinn: According to Quran and Sunnah.” Islam, Mattaqun OnLine Home. Web. 01 Apr. 2012. <http://mattaqun.com/jinn.html>.

Here I found a large number of references within specific parts of the Qur’an that show the Jinn folklore, which I believe will help with furthering my exploration into the idea of a faith based dimension of Jodahs’ presence.

            “Yavari, Neguin. “Jinn.” Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender. Ed. Fedwa MaltiDouglas. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 809-811. Web.

This focuses on the sexual relations and gender interpretations of the Jinn. Also, there is a quote presenting the difference between humans and Jinn and their use of representative mediums and how that relates to the similarities (and differences) between humans and Jinn.

2. Jodahs’  is a highly faith-based character which is a reflection of the evolution of constructs into a human state, and furthermore the failure of correcting the “human condition”.

            2a. By discussing the similarities between Jodahs and the Jinn folklore, we can discuss the connections that makes with the Qur’an and it’s view of the Jinn. After seeing the connections here, I then would like to connect the faith argument with the links of Jodahs’ name to Judas Iscariot within the Biblical context and what that means of him as a human born ooloi construct and as the correction of the “human condition”.

            2b. The benefit of considering this argument is the context of Jodahs’ character and a better understanding of the ending of the novel. By seeing Jodahs as a figure of faith we see him in a much more human light because the ooloi have no use for faith. Also, by connecting Jodahs to Judas it brings the novel full circle to Lilith who was the novel’s initial “Judas”. It also influences the view point of the idea that Judahs is the intended solution to the “human contradiction” as a whole.

3. Because Butler is so influenced by Herman Melville, it is hard to overlook the similarities of their naming processes. “Call me Ishmael.”(Melville, 1): one of the most famous lines within literary work. This too is an influential name within Biblical terms. Because Ishmael’s name is significant within the terms of Moby Dick and Butler is so influenced by Melville, the names and Biblical implications of such within Lilith’s Brood must also be of significance.

4. While revising my earlier essay I am going to remove some of the discussion of the Roman material of the Jinn folklore and focus more on the Arabic folklore. The Arabic folklore has the connection with the Qur’an where the Roman folklore is extraneous and doesn’t further the religious argument. I also plan on cutting down on some of the discussion of the similarities between Jinn and Jodahs (such as the discussion of sexual relations) in order to focus more on the implications of his name and what the religious aspects of his character does for the overall understanding of his part in the novel. The paragraphs involving the aesthetic evolution of the construct children will stay because it is helpful in the discussion as Jodahs as a final evolution into a human character and why that connects him to his failure as a solution to the “human contradiction”. While the sections on sexual relationships are interesting and humorous they simply need to serve the purpose of showing the relationship between the Jinn and Jodahs to prove its relevance to the conversation.