Ras the Exhorter
Chapter 17 was a really interesting chapter to me. Ras the exhorter’s speaking to Clifton was something that stuck with me. He was trying to rile him up with his words. But, ironically the words that were used were isults. At first he started off as nice togetherness using “we.” But then he began saying things like “you got band hair! You got thick lips! They say you stink!” By doing this he seemed to be singling Clifton out. And perhaps this is why Clifton got so angry. I wonder why he chose to word his speech in this way? Perhaps he was trying to emphasize Clifton’s aloneness in joining the all white brotherhood. It was also interesting that the invisible man was recounting this because he has had bad experiences with black men of authority in the past and perhaps that is why he is giving up on the black race in general and “selling out.”