The Electricity that Brightened the Lights
As we see from a pivotal Chapter 11, the Narrator undergoes a dramatic change in character and outlook on life. He goes from this docile, and 'always following instructions' kinda guy to an almost rebellious character. After undergoing a Lobotomy procedure and getting electrocuted several times, the narrator wakes up forgetting key details about who he is. He forgets his name, why he was in New York, and most of his upbringing. He is vaguely able to remember Dr. Bledsoe and Mr. Norton but again, no details. It's as if he was respawned in a video game, reborn in a way. The doctors gave him a new identity and he was set free.
The narrator leaves the hospital feeling alien in his own body. It's as if something was taking over his persona. Forgetting his childhood and parents is crucial because it invokes the memory of the veteran's words stating "You should be your own father". He takes this advice and now looks to form his own identity, not do what he is told to do. He gains confidence and frees himself from the constricting ties of other people. This moment is monumental in his development and symbolizes a spiritual liberation much like Bigger Thomas' "murder".
However, what I would like to argue is, was this change inevitable? Sure the lobotomy sped the process up, but without the procedure would he remain the way he was at the beginning of the novel? Prior to this incident, we were given examples of his rebellious nature forming. He began to question the things he was told and was much more careful about his actions and was much more reactive to what was being done to him. For example, his goal to kill Bledsoe came far before his brain surgery. Somebody who he idolized, let him down and he was able to realize that fact without the help of a doctor. Did the Narrator need a lobotomy to develop? Or was he already on the enlightened path...
Comment down below.
The narrator leaves the hospital feeling alien in his own body. It's as if something was taking over his persona. Forgetting his childhood and parents is crucial because it invokes the memory of the veteran's words stating "You should be your own father". He takes this advice and now looks to form his own identity, not do what he is told to do. He gains confidence and frees himself from the constricting ties of other people. This moment is monumental in his development and symbolizes a spiritual liberation much like Bigger Thomas' "murder".
However, what I would like to argue is, was this change inevitable? Sure the lobotomy sped the process up, but without the procedure would he remain the way he was at the beginning of the novel? Prior to this incident, we were given examples of his rebellious nature forming. He began to question the things he was told and was much more careful about his actions and was much more reactive to what was being done to him. For example, his goal to kill Bledsoe came far before his brain surgery. Somebody who he idolized, let him down and he was able to realize that fact without the help of a doctor. Did the Narrator need a lobotomy to develop? Or was he already on the enlightened path...
Comment down below.
Interesting question. I feel like this change in the narrator's conscience was inevitable, but the lobotomy was certainly a step in the direction that we, the reader, have been dying to see. I found this pivotal scene to be quite ironic, as the lobotomy was intended to suppress the narrator's thoughts, but essentially did the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI think that whatever the doctors did to the narrator freed up his mind from whatever cautions he took around white people. It seems to have made him self-aware of his actions around them in the past, which amuses him. Since the novel is written from the present narrator's perspective and recollecting the past, it looks like he is almost making fun of himself for all the fear he felt when sucking up to white people. I think that the surgery made him become what he is in the prologue and if he never got it, he would be very different.
ReplyDeleteI think there are many critical moments in the book where the narrator takes one more step on this "enlightened" path. And, this lobotomy that was performed was one of these important moments. As you stated, it really made him more aware of his surrounding and more rebellious against this unfair society. But I don't think he went from complete obedience to a totally new changed not recognizable man from the operation. As you stated, there are other moments in the book where he started climbing his stairs to become the changed man he is now. I think this is also one of these steps. While it doesn't completely shape who he is today, it was a step in that direction.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comparison between the lobotomy and the murder. I believe that in both cases, the event did not change the core of the person's character. like you said, the lobotomy made him forget, and that was key. Without the conditionings of the things he's been told, the narrator was able to be himself, who he was all along. It was like removing a pair of rose-colored glasses, or whatever color glasses it would be in this case. The potential was always in them.
ReplyDeleteCool idea, good post. I think forgetting some things helped the narrator significantly on his transformation. His main problem in chapter 1 for example, was that he didn't ask any questions about whether his situation was right. He just accepted it as "the way it is" as a result of conditioning. Forgetting his conditioning is critical to being able to question his situation more deeply.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up an interesting question. I think that his experience with the electricity actually took the narrator off of the path he was originally going. Yes, he was developing self-awareness and critical thinking beforehand, but I think he was going to just end up as a basically normal person, if slightly more rebellious. The electrocution however was a traumatic experience which psychologically changed who he is as a person. His original path probably would have led to him being member of the Brotherhood and staying as such for a long period of time. His current path however is turning him into the character from the prologue, which is similar to the character of the vet. Someone who was locked in an insane asylum after having a traumatic experience, in his case the war.
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