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Invisible Man Bledsoe Character Analysis Essay

595 Words3 Pages

Bledsoe is a character that is constantly fighting for power, and struggling to hold onto it once he has it. He tricks people, manipulates everyone he knows, and threatens people to get his way. His power struggle is one of the ways Ellison reveals the meaning of Invisible Man as a whole: to see is to win. Bledsoe can be described as a master of masks because he knows precisely how to manipulate and fool people into seeing the version of him that they want to see. The pretends to play into the “good slave” stereotype when he is around the white trustees, being the kind, respectful, and obedient black man they want to see. He scolds the narrator for showing Mr. Nelson the things that he did because Bledsoe has been trying to hide that from him. He knows what the trustee wants to see, and he’s trying to create that illusion for him to satisfy his own goals. For his students, he is educated, caring, and makes them feel as if he truly cares about their education. All of this is a lie. Bledsoe cares about Bledsoe, and that’s it. He proves this time and time again by manipulating his colleagues and his students. He doesn’t’ care about any of them, he only cares about his own personal gain. He likes to be in control, and he doesn’t care who …show more content…

Bledsoe pretended to be whatever other people wanted him to be, and it got him considerably far in life. He is a cold, arguably heartless character that quite literally disposed of any problems he ran into by exiling people from his campus, or around his campus. This is just one example Ellison uses to show how the ultimate way to win is be able to read people and control them. Bledsoe is one of the characters with the most “sight”, because he is able to see what people expect and temporarily reinvent himself to fit that. He takes advantage of other character’s blindness, and it ultimately helps him attain and keep

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