Brother Jack Diction Analysis

The diction and syntax changes from chapter 15 and 22, emphasizing the narrator’s change of belief on the Brotherhood and how to best help his fellow black men. The narrator emphasizes “brother” to make the audience and the committee feels closer together. “’That’s an indefensible lie,’ Brother Jack said . . . Jack looked at me, a new interest behind his eyes.” (Ch 20) “Brother Jack” lost the title of brother in the narrator’s mind, symbolizing the narrator losing trust and respect in Brother Jack.
The narrator emphasizes the diction that shows the unpleasantness of his life and the contempt people have for the subject. The emphasis on these words are even italicized to farther empress his disdain. This can be from a singular word, “the great tactician of personal responsibility” (Ch 22), or entire phrases, such as the advertisement for the dancing Sambo doll. The emphasis on the despised words emphasizes the conflicting views the Brotherhood have on people who think for themselves and the narrator’s view on the Brotherhood.
Clifton

Even before the story reaches Clifton’s death, the narrator asks “What had that to do with responsibility, with building Brotherhood?” (Ch 19). At the pivotal moment of the narrator’s life, when he questions the Brotherhood, he tends to yell questions. “Don’t you know it’s hot out here in the sun? So what if you wait for what little I can tell you? Can I say in twenty minutes what was building twenty-one years and ended in twenty seconds? What are you waiting for, when all I can tell you is his name?” (Ch 21). Questions are associated with uncertainty and doubt, a motif in Invisible Man, which seems to be especially prominent in chapters 21 and 22, when the narrator changes his fate and learns the truth about the Brotherhood. The narrator asks questions and gets answers, despite the unpleasant answers