CULTURE: THE DICTATOR
Culture is a powerful force that
rules over society. Depending on the type of society, culture may rule as a
dictator that hinders the development of one’s identity or aids as caring
leader who helps one define themselves. There are two sides to the story about
culture, but everyone has their own story on how culture has affected them. In
the case of the protagonist in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison the culture of
the times he was living in not only hindered, but destroyed the creation of his
identity by not allowing him to develop freely and identify himself. Bigger,
the protagonist in Native Son by Ralph Ellison, is also a victim.
Even after the African Americans
were freed from slavery they still remained as slaves. The attitudes, customs,
and beliefs that made up the culture during those times were dominated by the
whites. Because of the history of the past with African Americans with their
forefathers, white society automatically subjected African Americans to
prejudice, discrimination and racism. Blacks were viewed as black inhuman
beasts, “black ape” (Wright, 426), unworthy nobodies. Culture in those days
said that if you were black you were just that, a color not a person. This made
it especially difficult for blacks to survive in this kind of society. But
there was a key to survival. “’Live with your heads in the lion’s mouth. I want
you to overcome ‘em with yeses, undermine ‘em with grins, agree ’em to death
and destruction, let ’em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open.”(Ellison,
16) That was the advice the protagonist’s grandfather gave on his death bed.
But this advice was the code that all blacks lived by whether they knew it or
not. In order to be accepted you had to do what the whites told you to do and
agree to everything they said. By doing so this required one to put on a mask
that showed what others wanted to see. But if you put on a mask you are not
being true to who you really are. And after having on a mask for so long you
begin to lose a portion of yourself, because you spend so much time being
someone that you are not therefore hindering your identity.
Faced with restrictions and lack of
opportunities as a result of the culture at the time, African Americans could
not grow as individuals. They were limited to the options they had when it came
to jobs, schooling, and where they wanted to live. Even if they were successful,
African Americans could not be the best that they could be or be who they truly
were behind the mask. White society tolerated and in some cases encouraged
advancement of African Americans, but they never wanted them to be on the same
level as them. This is evident in the conversation carried out by Bigger and
his friend Gus. They saw an airplane and Bigger talks about how he could fly a
plane if he had the chance. Gus replied,” If you wasn’t black and if you had
some money and if they’d let you go to the aviation school you could fly a
plane.”(Wright, 20). This may come across as a simple answer, but the meaning
behind this statement is much greater. African
Americans did not have a choice when it came to being who they wanted to be.
There places in society were already picked out for them and society defined
them by their color. With these circumstances there is no room for growth.
Discovering who you are was virtually pointless if you were black because the
fact was you did not matter.
Oppression, limitations, and discrimination
of blacks was instilled into the culture of American during the nineteen
twenties and nineteen thirties. As a result African Americans were not given the
opportunity to freely be who they were or have a chance to discover their
identity. White society, which highly influenced the culture during this time
period, took this right away from African Americans. Bigger in Native Son and
the protagonist in Invisible Man exemplify how cultures hinders one’s identity.
Not only does this pertain to them, but this is true for the other African
Americans living around this time period. These two characters represent the struggles
that were faced by African Americans then and now. The struggle to be equal, the
struggle to be treated equally, and in some cases the suppression of one’s true
identity to gain acceptance continues.
