Throughout the book, we see The Invisible Man encounter people who tell him how foolish he is because he doesn’t realize who is really running the show. According to his grandfather, who is the first person in the book who shows us the double worlds and how to manipulate it, tells The Invisible Man that he needs to “overcome them with yeses”. The message he gives him is to fight, but to fight by having them think that you’re actually on their side.
Bledsoe shows The Invisible Man this message when he tells The Invisible Man that the white folks think they’re in charge and that they believe him to be a naive man but in fact Bledsoe is the one who’s “in control”. He says “I say ‘Yes, suh’ as loudly as any burrhead when it’s convenient, but I’m still the king down here.” Bledsoe along with The Invisible Man’s grandfather is showing a picture of someone who follows the rules, and says yes, is reliable, but deep down is actually against the other. They’re fighting silently and by the books to be on top and not catch attention.
As the story develops, The Invisible Man falls into different settings by chance or because someone else made him do it. Bledsoe sends him off to New York, it isn’t because The Invisible Man wants to go work, it’s for Bledsoe’s own sake to not get in trouble or even to just not deal with The Invisible Man’s drama. He starts to work with The Brotherhood, not because he chose to work with them but because they decided he was a fit. When he spoke out and made a speech, it made an impact on Brother Jack and Brother Jack made the decision to recruit him and make him the speaker for The Brotherhood. The Invisible Man is constantly taken advantage of and used by others when convenient.
The Invisible Man finally comprehends what people have been saying about using the agreements and yeses to your advantage when people begin to mistake him for Rinehart. By simply wearing sunglasses, he would no longer be the Invisible Man but Rinehart, someone who was known around town, a reverend, someone who had women giving him money, referred to as daddy, and carried weapons. The Invisible Man had no prior knowledge of Rinehart before being confused as him but realized that being Rinehart was something he needed to do in life.
The Invisible Man gets the idea to work along with The Brotherhood and make them think he is the outstanding brother they want him to be, the one who doesn’t ask questions, the one who goes to the meetings and does what he is told. After having the talk with Hambro and learning he isn’t being told everything the Brotherhood is up to and that his people will be sacrificed. By following the rules, saying the yeses, he’ll be smarter than them and making them destroy themselves from within and he could help his people. Being like Rinehart and playing the church figure while still running the crime scene allowed him to be and do as he pleased.
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