Why is Tod Clifton so Attractive?
Reading the description of Brother Tod Clifton that the narrator gives on page 363 of Invisible Man is certainly a bit jarring. No other character is described in nearly as much detail, nor as positively. To show just how unusual this description is, here is the narrator’s description of Brother Jack upon first meeting him, “A short insignificant-looking bushy-eyebrowed man with a quiet smile on his face stood beside me, looking not at all like a policemen” (287). That is the whole description. One single sentence that leaves the actual character’s features vague and undefined. Now, here is a section of the description of Brother Clifton, “I saw the broad taut span of his knuckles across the dark grain of the wood, the muscular, sweatered arms, the curving line of the chest rising to the easy pulsing of his throat, to the square, smooth chin, and saw a small X-shaped patch of adhesive upon the subtly blended, velvet-over-stone, granite-over-bone, Afro-Anglo-Saxon contour of his cheek” (363). Obviously, there is a big difference between these two descriptions. Why is the description of Clifton so in-depth?
Perhaps Clifton is described so attractively to show the strength the narrator hopes the Brotherhood will afford him. The description of the “Afro-Anglo-Saxon contour of [Clifton’s] cheek” especially stands out (363). The narrator is examining Clifton’s attractiveness and strength through the context of whiteness. The Brotherhood, being a white institution (regardless of how much it attempts to separate itself from race), is only capable of providing him with strength in this domain. It isn’t true beauty, merely ideals from an outside perspective being forced upon Clifton, so he becomes disillusioned with the Brotherhood, leaving it and losing the power that it seemed to give him.
However, the narrator still fails to see the artificiality of the strength that the Brotherhood provides. When he sees Clifton peddling racist Sambo dolls after returning to Harlem he thinks, “But he [Clifton] knew that only in the Brotherhood could we make ourselves known, could we avoid being empty Sambo dolls” (434). The man who the narrator saw as so strong upon his introduction is reduced to merely a street vendor, selling racist dolls and running from the law. The description of Clifton upon his introduction is not an accurate description, it is instead the narrator imposing his hopes of the Brotherhood making him a powerful black man upon a person whom he sees as similar to him (the narrator even considers him a “possible rival” at first) (363).
In the end, it is through Clifton’s death that the narrator realizes that the Brotherhood never brought Clifton strength at all. The Brotherhood was using Clifton (and also the narrator himself) as a puppet to do its bidding and control the black population. The narrator’s initial ideas are completely wrong, the Brotherhood is not keeping them from being “empty Sambo dolls” but instead making them its personal dolls (434).
This is a really interesting post! I initially took the narrator's description of Clifton as very literal and genuine but its main purpose seems to be to show that the Brotherhood was, in a way, blinding the narrator to concrete situations regarding issues (such as race) that they were supposedly bringing to light. The Brotherhood does give its members prominence and power, yet it manipulates them like dolls in order to do so.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting that you highlight that Clifton gets such a detailed description probably in part because of his whiteness. No other character gets the attention that Clifton does, and we see that when the narrator calls Clifton his best friend as well. The Brotherhood doesn't seem to be able to separate race as much as it tries, as you said.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't totally related to what you said lol, but this comment actually made me consider other characters that the narrator meets along his journey and how much we understand them, not just through initial descriptions, but in general. I think it's interesting to note that ALL of the characters who I feel we learn a decent amount about, that we get to hear a story from, is a black person (e.g. Trueblood, Bledsoe, the vet, Brother Tarp, etc.). It's definitely interesting how Ellison kind of makes black characters in the novel much more visible than white characters. I wonder if that is from him intentionally making black characters visible as a statement in the novel, or simply because the narrator is black, so the black perspective is more visible to him. What do you think?
DeleteI think this is a very interesting post. I saw Tod Clifton, in some ways, as the narrator's perfect version of himself, at least while they were in the brotherhood together, and I think that the description of being super cool and admirable really helps to give the reader this image.
ReplyDeleteHmm, seeing Clifton as a "perfect version" of the narrator definitely becomes interesting once you get to Clifton leaving the brotherhood and selling Sambo dolls. (I realize that you specifically specified "while they were in the brotherhood together" but I think it's interesting to examine the metaphor beyond that point also.) Perhaps the form of perfection that the narrator was chasing was one that was always doomed for failure? Was it the brotherhood's goal to drag Clifton down to that level and would the narrator have faced a similar fate?
DeleteWow, this is such an interesting take on the novel. I never would have thought to focus on/analyze the descriptions of the characters, but when you lay it out so clearly it seems so obvious that in describing Clifton (from the perspective of the narrator) Ellison simultaneously conveys a message. I especially like how you've interpreted Clifton's "attractiveness" as a result of the strength the narrator hopes the Brotherhood will afford him. The narrator seems some of himself in Clifton (or vice versa), and thus describes him in such detail. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting that you chose to focus on this passage, and I really like your analyzation of it. I remember noting this scene as I read it, but unable to decipher a true meaning. I think it's important to ask these questions, and I think (to a certain extent) this is part of our society today too. An example I was thinking of is how beauty standards are largely centered around western, white features, even today, and I think it's important to think about why.
ReplyDeleteI find your interpretation of the narrator's description very interesting. it makes it easy to see how the narrator is disillusioned by the brotherhood and has a long way to go in terms of critical consciousness at that point in the story. I think Ellison was definitely aware of the irony behind the narrator's enragement at Clifton selling Sambo dolls (puppets to manipulated by primarily white customers) when his time with the brotherhood is similar to being a puppet as well.
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