The Brotherhood

The narrator of Invisible Man,  who still has not revealed his name, goes through many things while he is in New York. Everything starts to look better in his life, even though he has no job and does not recognize himself anymore; he is finding and accepting who he really is. However, things are not so great. He is offered to join a group called The Brotherhood.  I really hope those two words rang a bell in your head and reminded you, just like it reminded me, of George Orwell’s novel, 1984. Not only is the name similar, but the overall ideals and the secrecy that makes up this group are the same. I believe 1984’s Brotherhood and Invisible Man’s Brotherhood are very similar.

The first time the narrator hears about the Brotherhood is after he delivers a speech in which he defends an old couple whose house has been evicted. With his speech, he is able to make the people angry and start a riot. The police arrives so the narrator escapes. However a man follows him. The man starts talking to him and referring to the narrator as “brother”. He tells him he wants to talk to him about the Brotherhood but that they’ll have to go to a safe place. A very similar thing happens in 1984. The protagonist, Winston Smith, has been longing to get into the Brotherhood but can’t do anything about it because they are “invited to join”. He finally receives a secret message that tells him Mr. O’Brien, a suspected Brotherhood member, wants to see him.  Being part of either brotherhood is dangerous and thus the members are very meticulous in their way of acting.

Both of the brotherhoods try to fight against an unfair system. While Orwell’s brotherhood is a mysterious organization created to over throw the government directed by Big Brother, Ellison’s Brotherhood is set up to help the oppressed, black people and women. Until that point everything seems to be okay. 

Nonetheless, when the narrator accepts the job and goes to the party they are having, he hears people saying, “I thought he would be blacker”. This made me become a little suspicious. Then they tell him no one can know he is involved with the Brotherhood and that he should move out of Mary’s house without giving her an explanation. Finally he gets a paper with his new name and a new identity. This made it even more suspicious. That was the moment when I remembered that O’Brien, in Orwell’s Brotherhood, seemed to be a trustworthy person, who knew what was right and what had to be done, like brother Jack, but who turned out to be a spy who really worked for the government and turned in Winston Smith.

What if Ellison’s brotherhood turns out to be like Orwell’s brotherhood, which I am not even sure if it exists? What if Brother Jack is actually an extremist who is against black people and does something against the Narrator like O’Brien? After all, the narrator seems to attract bad things and both Brotherhoods are very similar.