Prologue – The narrator tells us that he is invisible; it is due to the eyes of the people who see him. Fights with man who calls him a name; robs power from Monopolated Light & Power; lives in a white only building in a section of the basement forgotten since the 19th century (found escaping from Ras the Destroyer).
Pg 13. “Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.”
Chapter 1 – Narrator in the present goes back 20 years to inform the reader of his journey from visibility to invisibility. Pg. 16 – Grandfather tells son and children to become traitors & spies. Narrator gives a speech to the leading (white) men in the community. Pg. 19 – They are made to view a nude blonde; dancing; the boys have boxing trunks and can’t hide their erections. They are made to fight one another blindfolded; when the Narrator and one other boy are left, the boy will not stop fighting even when offered a way out; to get money from the boxing match, they must pick up metal coins from an electrified mat. He stays to give his graduation speech to them & is given a briefcase and a scholarship to the state Negro college: the white men say that it is important for him to lead his people to know their place.
Chapter 2 – Narrator attends college. Dr. Bledsoe, the college President, has asked the narrator to drive a white Boston trustee, Mr. Norton, around during his meetings. He makes the mistake of driving him off campus to a poor Black area. (His daughter has died and he has donated in her memory). Jim Trueblood tells the trustee, Mr. Norton, the story of how he has come to commit incest with his daughter. The grownups sleep together as do the children, so the close proximity and the cold push them together. The college tries to run the man off, while the white power structure tries to help him. The Boss tells the Sheriff to help him.
Chapter 3 – Mr. Norton feels the need for a stimulant, and so Narrator takes him to the Golden Day (and thus jumps from the frying pan into the fire). Narrator thinks he can run in and buy a pint and leave, but Halley, the bar owner, won’t sell unless Mr. Norton comes in. Crazy vets help narrator bring Mr. Norton into the bar. There is a fight between the crazy vets & Supercargo, the attendant, a riot of sorts. Mr. Norton gets his two drinks and gets into a conversation with an inmate, an ex-doctor, who lost his career; he was driven out of town by men because he saved a life. He felt his knowledge could bring him dignity, but it could not.
Chapter 4 – Pg. 101 – Description of Mr. Bledsoe, the President.
Norton is returned to his room; narrator sends for the doctor & goes to tell Dr. Bledsoe to come immediately to see Mr. Norton. Narrator is blamed; Norton tries to exonerate him from any blame.
Chapter 5 – Convocation / chapel is described: white trustees and black staff on stage. Mr. Barber gives an inspired speech & Narrator discovers that he is blind.
Chapter 6 – Dr. Bledsoe informs narrator that he does not understand what a Black man must do to control the white man. He explains that he, Dr. Bledsoe, is in control. He gives narrator two days to leave school. Also gives him letters of reference. Most powerful dialog which begins Narrator’s journey to disillusionment is found in this chapter in the words of Dr. Bledsoe. Bledsoe gives sealed letters to Narrator exhorting him NOT to open them. Narrator discovers that Doc is on the bus with him to D.C. (Narrator goes on to N.Y.). Bledsoe has struck again. Narrator sees Ras on the street on his way to Men’s House exhorting the public to rise up against the government (oppression, tyranny, power, etc.).
Chapter 8 – Slow colored people’s time, Pg. 163. Narrator begins the job search. He begins at Wall Street – Mr. Bates’ office. He is told to leave his name and address and he will hear from Mr. Bates by mail. He distributes the rest of the letters (other than Mr. Emerson’s) and gets no reply. He begins to call; impatient to hear. Writes Mr. Norton in Boston. Instead of delivering the Emerson letter, he writes to Mr. Emerson himself & receives a reply.
Chapter 9 – He visits Mr. Emerson and is interrupted by Mr. Emerson’s son. After convoluted attempts, the son shows Narrator the letter from Bledsoe to Emerson that says Narrator will never be allowed back at the school, and Emerson should help keep Narrator away from the school and push him away, literally, from a job and success. He is advised to go to Liberty Paints.
Chapter 10 – At Liberty Paints, Mr. MacDuffy interviews Narrator and sends him to Kimbro. A worker tells Narrator that about 6 colored boys are scabbing. They are firing union labor & hiring “colored college boys”. Kimbro has Narrator put 10 drops of dope in each bucket of paint (optic white) that the lab has somehow mishandled. He is told to go to the tank room to get more dope, but does not know which tank to select. It comes to two choices, so he makes a choice – the wrong choice. Kimbro sends him back to MacDuffy. MacDuffy sends Narrator to the basement of building 2 on a new assignment – Lucius Brockway. His job is to read gauges and report when they reach higher than “normal”. Narrator goes to get his lunch from his locker and runs into a union meeting in progress. Once he finally is able to leave, Brockway reacts violently to him being late and mentioning “union”. They fight; Narrator wins. Brockway lets the gauges get too hot & the boiler blows.
Chapter 11 – Narrator is in the hospital; they decide on a prefrontal lobotomy using a machine, not a knife. Pg. 236-237. He finds himself feeling “remoteness” and beyond anger to “bewilderment”. They release him and promise that if he signs a release form, they will send him a compensation check.
Chapter 12 – After leaving the subway, he faints. Mary Rambo aids him and takes him home to care for him. He returns to men’s house & is alienated due to his dress and feelings that he has let them down. He dumps a spittoon on minister’s head. He gets his belongings; returns to Mary’s. He stays with Mary until after his compensation expires. She says he is going through hard times; he says that he has lost his sense of direction. Pg.258-59
Chapter 13 – Narrator comes across white men evicting an old black woman from a building and setting her on the sidewalk in her chair. The old folks try to get back in the house to pray and she is struck. The crowd storms the white men who pull a gun. When the crowd surges forward, Narrator comes forward urging them to be calm. After the speech, the crowd still manages to overcome the Marshalls and they begin replacing the old couple’s furniture. Narrator goes to the roof to get away from the police.
Narrator meets a young man (Brother Jack), who in the end is known as a socialist and an organizer. He says the old people are unimportant. “Men grow old and types of men grow old. All they have is their religion…They’ll be cast aside.”
Because Narrator is able to give that speech, he has become different, stronger, and smarter than the old folks & people like them who are living dead.
Chapter 14 – Narrator calls Brother Jack. He meets Emma, a rich woman, who supports the movement. He is given $300 to begin & $60/week salary.
Chapter 15 – Narrator leaves Mary; gives her $100. He breaks her piggy bank beating on a pipe (someone else is beating on the pipe; he joins in). He buys a suit and moves into a whole apartment. He also has a lot of trouble getting rid of the broken bank. No one will allow him to put his garbage in their can; they call him southern colored who is hurting them by his arrival.
Chapter 16 – Narrator speaks before a large audience in an auditorium. He speaks of the plight of the Negro, the dispossessed, the down-trodden.
Chapter 17 – The Movement invades Harlem; fight with Ras the Exhorter – speech between Clifton and Narrator and Ras, each has his side/viewpoint. Pg. 370
Chapter 18 – Narrator gets a letter regarding “Not going too fast or the white man will bring you down.” Brother Restrum brings charges of dictatorship against Narrator. Narrator leaves the movement (p.407) directly by going downtown to lecture on the Woman’s Movement, sent by Jack.
Chapter 19 – The chapter begins with Narrator speaking to a women’s group and then having an affair with an attendee, whose husband is out of town. Bro. Tod Clifton has disappeared so Narrator is being asked to go back to his former Harlem post and confront and parry the machinations of Ras the Exhorter.
Chapter 20 – Narrator finds Clifton selling black Sambo dolls and putting on a marionette show to hawk his wares. A cop and Clifton fight and Clifton is shot and killed. Narrator wonders; thinking why a man would deliberately disappear from the mainstream and peddle an obscenity. Narrator feels guilt and feels that their work had meant very little.
Chapter 21 – Clifton’s funeral. Eulogy pg. 454.
Chapter 22 – Bro. Tobbitt accuses Narrator of acting individually. Narrator indicates that the executive committee was not available for him to consult. Bro. Jack indicates that Narrator was out of line to authorize a hero’s funeral for a traitor. At the end of the day Tobbitt & Jack call Narrator undisciplined and take great exception to Narrator telling them that the people say the movement betrayed them. Finally, Jack tells Narrator to see Hambro for further indoctrination and the committee leaves Narrator alone.
Chapter 23 – Ras announces that he has become Ras the Destroyer. Narrator is confronted by Ras; he defends himself against charges that the movement has abandoned the people. Ras’ men chase Narrator; he confronts them in a crowd. A woman mistakes him for Reinhart, a well-dressed dandy. This gives Narrator the idea of camouflaging himself in plain sight by imitating Reinhart’s clothing and mannerisms. Hambro indicates that he and his people are being sacrificed for the greater good. He decides to become a “yes” man.
Chapter 24 – Narrator begins to make up reports to the committee telling them what they want to hear. He takes Sybil, the wife of a donor, home. She imagines he rapes her (she is very drunk); he is called to come to Harlem because there is a riot in progress. He finally gets her to go home in a taxi while he proceeds to Harlem.
Chapter 25 – Narrator is grazed by a bullet to the head by police and bleeds profusely. He is helped by Scofield and Dupre as they rob stores during the riot. A mob burns the tenement building they live in aided by Scofield, Dupre, and Narrator. Ras captures Narrator. He wants to spear and hang Narrator as a lesson to betrayers. Narrator spears Ras and runs. Eventually he is chased and falls into a manhole. In a dark coal pit, he burns his diploma to see his surroundings. He feels that he can no longer return to any of his past life and acquaintances, so he remains underground.
Epilogue – He is an invisible man. He is in a hole and sees the hole he was in. He sees Mr. Norton but Norton does not recognize him. He conquers all except the mind. Thus, he decides that he must come out now and emerge.