https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw Made with the help of a typing monkey en-us 2020-02-25 00:49:16 UTC 2020-02-25 04:22:07 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449877634 Dr. Bledsoe tells the narrator that the old slave's shackle is a "symbol of our progress". Considering the fear instilled in the narrator and the explicit mal treatment of black characters at the hands of white men, there is a large emphasis placed on the progress that still needs to be done, rather than the progress that has been made thus far. I think that for Dr. Bledsoe, the shackles represent a time of captivity, pain, and inferiority. By keeping them in his office, the shackles act almost as a reminder for him to never accept that form of treatment again. He values his power as President of the college, and in his mind he has control over the white trustees---but from the narrator's perspective, the reader is able to see that this is not the case (i.e. his meekness in the Church). He keeps the shackles as a vow to himself that he is the one with authority, and he does not care if he hurts other black men along the way as long as he protects himself. I think this plays into why he turns on the narrator; in his mind he believes it is better to be in control and to tear his own people down than to face the power of white men like during times of slavery. ]]> 2020-02-25 02:04:01 UTC https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449877634 20fdoell1 https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449880156 The old slave shackle serves as an individual reminder to Dr. Bledsoe about when he was heavily restricted by society. Dr. Bledsoe describes how he needed to conform and lie to white society to gain power and make them content. He also makes it clear that now that he has power as president, he will do anything even go against his own race to keep that power. In this way Dr. Bledsoe is maintaining the oppression white society has on black people. Rather than using his power to benefit his race, he uses his power to run a college which encourages people of color to be meek and compliant to white society's needs. He teaches suppression and limitation rather than liberation and the formation of individual opinion. The shackle reminds Dr. Bledsoe of the lengths he went through to get to his position of power. He does not want to return to his past state and therefore punishes the narrator despite his innocence. Maybe in some way the shackle serves to remind Dr. Bledsoe that he is still limited by white society (despite his gains of power) and must live up to white expectations. ]]> 2020-02-25 02:11:51 UTC https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449880156 https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449880357 I think the shackle reminds Bledsoe of the power that he worked for. He calls it a "symbol of our progress," which makes me think that he uses it to remind himself that he will not give up this power he has gained for anything. He seems proud of the shackle, which is strange because you would think that a black man wouldn't want to keep a reminder of slavery in his desk. I think the fact that he keeps the shackle shows Bledsoe's determination. He actually seems to have some form of power over whites through lying, like he tells the narrator. The "mask" is Bledsoe's tool.]]> 2020-02-25 02:12:24 UTC https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449880357 20edobson https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449900325 Dr. Bledsoe says that the shackles represents the progress of the black race, but I think that the shackles act more as a reminder for Dr. Bledsoe to never let go of his authority. Throughout this chapter, Dr. Bledsoe talks a lot about how he wouldn't give up his power and authority for the betterment of his race, and he says that he has earned this prize, and he will fight to keep it. Because of this, I think that the shackles represent his desire to forever stay in power and never again become inferior to the white race. He says that no matter what others think, at the college he has the ultimate authority, even over the white people which demonstrates how Dr. Bledsoe has broken those shackles for himself. I think that those shackles may also represent the position he puts his students in, specifically the narrator in this chapter. Dr. Bledsoe could have allowed the narrator to get by because his actions were due to Mr. Norton's instructions, but instead, he ties the narrator down, preventing him from furthering his education, almost like he s putting him in shackles. It seems as though Dr. Bledsoe wants all of the power, and he is unwilling to share it with anyone, so those shackles are a symbol of what he has been able to break threw, as well as what he is using to stay on top. ]]> 2020-02-25 03:11:42 UTC https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449900325 20calexander1 https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449916054 I think Dr. Bledsoe’s old slave shackle depicts how lasting and traumatizing the effects of slavery were, because even after it ended, Dr. Bledsoe still holds onto this part of him from the past. Dr. Bledsoe’s experiences from slavery cause him to solely look out for himself in order to be successful, even if it means complying to the race who oppressed him and putting down his own people. Although Dr. Bledsoe sees it as a “symbol of our progress”, it ironically also illustrates how black people are still greatly oppressed from their treatment by white people, shown in how Dr. Bledsoe still has to be humble and compliant around white people. He is essentially still stuck in what happened to him in the past, and because he still has to act the way white people expect him to, Dr. Bledsoe will do anything to hold onto the limited power he has.]]> 2020-02-25 04:10:05 UTC https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449916054 20rlomer1 https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449917359 Dr. Bledsoe's slave shackle at face represents the history of the university as well as of southern blacks. On a deeper level, it represents how Bledsoe is still chained to the white man, and in turn, so is every other black student at the university. Bledsoe admits whole-heartedly to this, saying how he acts exactly as the whites want him to because that is how he can get by in life. It also suggests that Bledsoe's character is not as pure as the reader might have once thought, suggesting that he too is willing to chain others of his race to the bottom so that he can rise to the top. The fact that he uses this object when he makes his decision final regarding the expulsion of the narrator serves as an example of this. In order to maintain both the image of the university as well as his own image, Bledsoe gets rid of a man within his own race (the narrator), potentially ruining the narrator's chances at having a good life.]]> 2020-02-25 04:16:20 UTC https://padlet.com/20jabaci1/1a2hrnkgdzyw/wish/449917359