# data[].attributes.body
" ... the cold Father symbol, his hands outstretched in the breathtaking gesture of lifting a veil that flutters in hard, metalic folds above the face of a kneeling slave..."

The entire time that I.M. is at the college, Bledsoe has the veil over I.M.'s eyes to make sure that he continues to act as the subservient student he is supposed to be.

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"You see," he said turning to Mr. Norton, " he has eyes and ears and a good distended African nose, but he fails to understand the simple facts of life."

This is one of the first situations where someone tells I.M. how invisible he is in relation to the world yet I.M. continues to be blind to this fact because all he sees are his goals of success in the white man's world.

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"Men were jumping around Supercargo with both feet now and I felt such excitment that I wanted to join them"

I.M. blends into this mob mentality because he knows he won't experience any repercussions if he joins them and internally he is secretly harboring anger and resentment for white men.

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" ' What are you going to with me?' I said. She handed me clean underclothing and a pair of white overalls.
'No questions,' she said. 'Just dress as quickly as possible.' "

IM is withheld from his medical information. As a patient you have a right to know about and to consent to all procedures and medications you take, this lack of mutual understanding indicates that IM is not seen as a person at all, rather an experiment with no consequences.

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"Why, the dumbest black bastard in the cotton patch knows that the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie!"

IM and his explanation of events regarding Mr. Norton go unseen and unacknowledged by Dr.Bledsoe. Bledsoe finds any excuse to fault IM.

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" 'You'll never return. You can't return now,' he said. 'Don't you see? I'm terribly sorry and yet I'm glad that I gave into the impulse to speak to you... There is no point in blinding yourself to the truth. Don't blind yourself..."

He is invisible to the world nd refuses to acknowledge that others are using him as a tool for their own gain.

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"'He believes in that great false wisdom taught slaves and pragmatists alike, that white is right. I can tell you his destiny. He'll do your bidding, and for that his blindness is his chief asset.'"

Everyone who I.M. encounters believes that they have the power to control his life even without knowing who he is.

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" For one thing, they seldom know where their personalities end and yours begins; they usually think in terms of "we" while I have always tended to think in terms of "me"

I.M. blends into the situations and personalities of everyone around him but he does this to ultimately further his position in society.

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"And you, man," the Exhorter said," a reg'lar little black devil! A godahm sly mongoose! Where you think you from, going with the white folks?"

Even I.M. does not realize that the brotherhood is against him no matter how many times they bring him down for doing good and inspiring the people.

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"I looked at Mr. Norton and stood up, thinking that now was a good time to leave; but he was listening to Trueblood so intensely he didn't see me, and I sat down again, cursing the farmer silently."

By the time IM says this, he had asserted multiple times that the pair should be leaving the cabin. However, Norton refuses to even acknowledge him both times. This solidifies the idea that Norton was solely exploiting IM as a chauffeur; and otherwise, his opinion about what was best did not matter.

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"The machine will produce the results of a prefrontal lobotomy without the negative effects of the knife"

These people want him to be their lab rat and since he is a black man they don't care what a lobotomy will do to him since they don't see him as a human being.

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"Here in this room my defenses were negated, stripped away, checked at the door as the weapons, the knives and razors and owlhead pistols of the country boys were checked on Saturday night at the Golden Day."

IM has walked into a union meeting full of white members. They do not acknowledge his being and instead assume his intentions on being apart of the union. They speak of him as if he is not there, Im is unseen and dismissed of his presence, making him invisible.

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"Already he's learned to repress not only his emotions, but his humanity. He's invisible, a walking personification of the negative, the most perfect achievement of your dreams"

Everything that I.M. does reflects the will of other people on his life. At this point even though his goal is to become wealthy and well-known he has never done anything that was truly individualistic.

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"You bastard," I said under my breath. "You no-good bastard! You get a hundred-dollar bill!"

Even though I.M. was the one who has been working for Norton all day, he is invisible to him because Mr. Norton feels the need to erase crimes similar to the ones he's committed and is therefore blind to the rest of reality.

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" 'This is your new identity,' Brother Jack, said. 'Open it.' Inside I found a name written on a slip of paper. 'That is your new name... Start thinking of yourself by that name from this moment.'"

IM is taking on a new identity, making his true self invisible. His role in The Brotherhood indicates his lack of rank as he is always in the dark about the true intentions of The Brotherhood. He as a Black American is invisible to the organization, him as his new alias a useful tool.

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"Finkism is born into some guys. It's born into some guys, just like a good eye for color is born into other guys. That's right, that's the honest scientific truth! A fink don't even have to have heard of a union before..."

Even before these men have met him they make assumptions about his character and motives because they don't see him as a person, but as an enemy.

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"I heard the high thin laugh again. "You're nobody, son. You don't exist--can't you see that? The white folk tell everybody what to think--except men like me.'"

Bledsoe is dismissing IM as a person who's wants should be taken into consideration. IM is unable to defend himself because no one cares about his outcome.

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"'And when I tell you, what will you know that you didn't know already, except, perhaps, his name?"

Although this quote doesn't refer to IM, it conveys the theme of invisibility by insinuating that all these people did not know Clifton at all--all they knew was that he was a black man; someone they could use for their own manipulation. They saw what happened to him, not him.

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"'You see, he's sorry we missed it.'"
"'So now,' ... 'the great tactician asks what's wrong.'"
"'So again our great tactician has relieved himself.'"

When Brother Jack says these quotes, he's essentially explaining to the rest of the Brotherhood what IM says, repeating his statements. By doing this, he acts extremely condescending, and tries to assert the idea that IM's personality and identity is rooted in the Brotherhood--which Jack controls.

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"Brother, and were not hired to think. Had you forgotten that? If so, listen to me: You were not hired to think'"

This quote shows how I.M is invisible to the Brotherhood as they don't even see him for who he is, but are rather only seeing him as an object for them to manipulate and take advantage of. The Brotherhood doesn't want I.M to be a real person, but instead wants him to be an outlet to voice their ideals.

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"'I thought, sacrifice...yes, and blindness; he doesn't see me. He doesn't even see me..."

When IM says this, he's realized that Brother Jack has a fake eye. The rest of the passage is slightly humorous as IM rambles, as he asserts that Jack doesn't see him as a human--he sees him as something that can be sacrificed for the Brotherhood. He won't listen to him. He sees him as part of a machine. Consequently, IM says that he can't see him metaphorically, and literally. He literally cannot see him. It's ironic.

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"'We furnish all ideas... Only the correct ideas for the correct occasion.'"
'And suppose you misjudge the occasion?'
'Should that ever happen, you keep quiet.'
'Even thought I am correct?'
'You say nothing unless it is passed by the committee. Otherwise I suggest you keep saying the last thing you were told'
'And when my people demand that I speak?'
'The committee will have an answer'"

When Brother Jack invalidates the opinion and voice of I.M it shows how, to the Brotherhood, I.M doesn't even exist and is only visible under the control of the Brotherhood.

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" 'HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE FREE OF ILLUSION...' And now I answered, "Painful and empty,"

Now that I.M. can see the truth of the men who have been controlling him his whole life and is forced to act as an individual he feels empty because there is no one left that he can model his personality after.

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"And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone's way but my own. I have also been called one thing and then another and then another while no one really wished to hear what I call myself. So after years of trying to adopt the opinions of others I finally rebelled. I am invisible man."

I.M realizes that his invisibility stemmed from playing a "yes-man" and conforming to the ideas of everyone elses while not taking a second to account for his own thoughts and feelings. Due to his obedience, I.M lost his own self as he became an outlet for the ideas of everyone but his own. Now, I.M embraces his invisibility in a sense that he refuses to let anyone see him and hold that power over him again.

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"Weren't we part of them as well as apart from them and subject to die when they died?"

Even now that I.M. has reckognized his invisibility he feels linked to white men.