Emerson Jr. and the Invisible Man Connection
It is fairly clear that the Emerson’s son, tasked with interviewing the Invisible Man after being presented with the letter from Bledsoe, feels a type of connection with and sympathy for him. I think that this is rooted in the fact that both of them are at the mercy of the men in power above them, and that both of them are people who have been fighting discrimination in one way or another. While the Invisible Man has clearly been placed in an unfortunate situation by both Bledsoe and Emerson Sr., and the younger Emerson pities him for it, the younger Emerson is also living under the command and power of his father. So, while he pities the Invisible Man, there is also a strange connection between the two of them, and in an odd way they can relate to each other, although one of them is white and the other is black.
In addition, the references to Emerson Jr.’s club hangout spot hint that his is a gay character, one who would (during this time period) have faced discrimination of its own sort. The Invisible Man, however, may or may not have picked up on this, and goes with his instincts of not opening up with or connecting to a white man. Ironically, the two of them may have shared more in common than he could have imagined.
I agree with the interpretation of Emerson Jr. I think his character serves to represent someone who can’t live up to the ideal of his father as the narrator cannot live up to the ideal of Bledsoe. Emerson is meant to represent the company of the 50’s. As we get farther into the book, we see the narrator going through different kinds of life. We see him in high school, college, in Harlem, on Wall Street, at a paint factory. He is seeing all of these facets of life and Emerson Jr. is one part of that. He tries to fit in with his father’s world but he doesn’t which is why I believe he takes pity on the boy.