While Roye thinks that Morrison aims to depict (usually black) girlhood, neglecting black boy/manhood or only depicting is as an influence in black girl/womanhood, The Bluest Eye is ripe with diverse and inquisitive explorations of what it means to be a black man. Characters like Cholly are prime examples of this. While Cholly’s actions (particularly towards the end of the novel when he rapes Pecola) are inexcusable, Morrison succeeds in creating a complete and complex human being. Her exploration of his feelings may not always be as obvious as it is with the feelings of characters like Claudia who do a lot more self-reflection, however, it is clear to see how incidents like his aunt’s death or his father’s rejection of him shaped the character we meet later on. For instance, the “coon-hunters” ’s intrusion on his intimate moment in the bushes is not something that the readers see Cholly reflect on very much after it happens, however, Morrison infuses this scene with so much emotion and power that it is almost impossible for readers to walk away without an approximation of what these feelings must be. Furthermore, I think that it would be a mistake to say that just because the male characters do not do as much self-reflection that their experiences are not also central to Morrison’s work. Without sounding too gender-essentialist, I do think it is a fair assertion to say that men are socialized to be less in-tune with their emotions, so it seemed natural to me that men like Cholly or Soaphead might not search too deeply into their feelings or might seek to rationalize their feelings by displacing their hurt and frustration onto the women around them. While, from Morrison’s writing and her own words, we can conclude that writing about the experiences of black women is a main goal of hers, I do think that taking a reductive view of the role of men and exploration of men’s experiences play in Morrison’s work leads one to miss out on messages about the complex and intersectional facets of oppression. Just as her work in A Mercy highlights the ways that race and sex overlap to intensify or lessen the effects of oppression, Morrison’s exploration of black manhood serves to show men as victims but also to illustrate how they can (and often do) simultaneously contribute to the oppression of the women around them.

As we approach the end of The Invisible Man, reading Blair’s Ellison, photography, and the origins of invisibility has shifted my perspective by pointing out new and important lenses through which to view Ellison and his work. Although it seems obvious after reading her essay, I never would have thought to look into Ellison’s past as a photographer to inform my reading of this novel. As she points out, this mode of vision is inexplicably linked to the theme of vision and visibility that repeats itself throughout the novel. What I found most interesting, however, was that Blair talks about photography both as a tool of empowerment that enables the stories of marginalized groups to be told while also positing that photography takes away agency on some level since the subject of the photographs cannot control exactly how they are portrayed. Some subjects push back against and reject the subjecthood and disempowerment element of being photographed. By posing with this camera, for instance, Ellison removes some layer of subjecthood and posit himself as a creator. However, it is interesting to think that, despite the fact that most people view photography as a very objective form of art with little room for the artist’s opinion or influence, a skilled photographer has a lot more control of the image than one might expect (as evidenced by Ellison’s photograph of the woman lying down in the Invisible Man folder). Subjects of photography may more accurately be seen as objects, as they can only control so much of their story once the photograph is taken. I think that Tod Clifton, while he is not the subject of a photo, captures this tension between objecthood and subjecthood that Blair discusses very clearly. As he sells Sambo dolls on the street, he is seen as a traitor by the narrator and the brotherhood, whereas the white audience on the street finds him funny and does not think twice about him since he does not challenge their underlying conceptions of blackness. The perception changes with different perspective and exposure. Furthermore, in the funeral scene, the narrator is able to completely change how the neighborhood views Tod by changing the context and the tone of what is happening. The facts of the case do not change, but the context and perspective of the narrator, who in this case is the author of Tod’s story and creates the lens through which we and many characters in the novel see Tod, decides how he is portrayed.

How does Morrison Think about blame in relation to incest destructive behaviors in the black communities .

Heller, Dana A. “Anatomies of Rape.” American Literary History 16.2 (2004): 329-49. Web.

Meili’s description of personal memory of rape has remained unchanged a  blank ,popular memory of the Central Park Jogger rape case has changed and evolved to become part of our cultural mythology of sexual trauma and healing. Sexual violence as become a dominant force in black society and as Morrison  shares with readers the impact of incest between black young girls exploring poor within people of color she has proven that incest only comes in the class of racial differences reinforcing and justifying white supremacy.

Gross, Meir. “INCESTUOUS RAPE: A Cause for Hysterical Seizures in Four Adolescent Girls.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 49.4 (1979): 704-08. Web.

Meir Gross uses the connection between daughter-father relationships and the use of  drugs and alcoholic to engage in sexual misconducts as it relates to the abuse and trauma to one’s  own child .The need to mentally remove the act of incestouos rape is place to the forefront , as mothers blame themselves which leads to a stage of depression and anxiety as it relates to incentuous behaviors .Morrison is one black author one can say who as treated the topic of incest with much caution .

PIPES, CANDICE. “Failed Mothers and the Black Girl-Child Victim of Incestuous Rape in The Bluest Eye and Push.” Toni Morrison on Mothers and Motherhood, edited by Lee Baxter and Martha Satz, Demeter Press, Bradford, ON, 2017, pp. 183–200. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1rfzz5n.14.

Maya Angelou exaggerates on the impact incest rape amongst black girls and the challenges they face within the black communities. She expand on the fact that being a victim of rape it’s sympathetic as the safety of these young black women are no longer secure .Like Morrison Angelou revisits the notion of black girls the seductive daughter, to expose the brutality of child sexual abuse and the horrific reality of the black girl-child’s body in pain.

Morrow, K. Brent, and Gwendolyn T. Sorell. “Factors Affecting Self-Esteem, Depression, and Negative Behaviors in Sexually Abused Female Adolescents.” Journal of Marriage and Family, vol. 51, no. 3, 1989, pp. 677–686. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/352167.

Marrow Bent through this analysis states that incestious behaviors may mark in as duration of severity whereas the abusers develop self blame and mothers or overlooked while the disruption of their family is at shame.Morrison’s book paints a  a unaccountable depression as black during the time pre war depression period deals with racism and sexual behaviors which the story gives a glimpse of such reality .

Roye, Susmita. “TONI MORRISON’S DISRUPTED GIRLS AND THEIR DISTURBED GIRLHOODS: ‘The Bluest Eye’ and ‘A Mercy.’” Callaloo, vol. 35, no. 1, 2012, pp. 212–227., www.jstor.org/stable/41412505.

Susmita  Roye like Morrison emphasis on the attention and the need to be more sympathetic and racist disorders sharing the lights on these youngs girls missing out on their girlhood and struggling for their survival while Pecola was victimized and abuse by her father she faces a traumatic discomfort while being pregnant as she is castigated and in her own  unhappiness .

Vickory, Laurie. “Telling Incest: Narratives of Dangerous Remembering from Stein to Sapphire (review).” MFS Modern Fiction Studies 49.4 (2003): 878-80. Web.

This article focuses on powers of language as it relates to various incest from the late 19th century with the underline story from “ Telling Incest “.Sielke argues the culture of telling Invites us to rethink father-daughter incest as a sequence of narrative transaction as trauma invites us to rethink women’s narratives as mirrors of nature.This relates to my argument as the article shifts not just from the point of incest but also the literal understanding of child molestation and family incest.

The Million dollar caption:file:///Users/MM/Downloads/GARRELTS_HONY_05-15-2015%20(1).pdf

Summary: This essay had a lot of resources that i can use for humans of New York. The essay talked about the social impact of photos and videos being taken of strangers. The article makes references to August Sanders which is also a part of my research and what I aim for. And analyzed a good point, “showing people things they don’t want to think about.” Was a quote that inspired me to keep on reading this article and help observe more the true meaning the photos or humans of Human of New York.

Humans of New York and the Cavalier Consumption of Others, by Vinson Cunningham

Summary: I choose to write about this piece in my essay because it describes specifics roles of characters in todays society. One being the boy in the Brooklyn streets. The young boy was named vidal. We learned he in lived in housing towers. I will not get into much detail here. I want to bring out Humans of New York brings forth race in a way so people dont feel pity but rather inspired to help out. When i read this i was not feeling sorry but a sense of wanting to be involved to better my community. Humans of New York portrays race, gender in different ways then Rankine did. I will not get into how here but this was just an example of many to come.

Adams, Bella. “Black Lives/White Backgrounds: Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric and Critical Race Theory.” Comparative American Studies An International Journal 15.1-2 (2017): 54-71. Web.

Summary: this ties back to Rankine. This is another source i will have but it ties back to my source above. We are talking about “Black lives matter” and it goes far into the Trayvon Martin case. They talk about “American positioning”. The article is so well written, one of my favorite phrases is what you do not see. That struck me as an important thing in Rankine book. Because there is a veil between races more specifically the whites and blacks. Rankines takes on a different take than Humans of New York that it refers back to Hurstons.

“CONCLUSION: Testimonial Publics—#BlackLivesMatter and Claudia Rankine’s Citizen.” Tainted Witness: Why We Doubt What Women Say About Their Lives, by LEIGH GILMORE, Columbia University Press, New York, 2017, pp. 157–170. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/gilm17714.10.

Cain, William. “Darkness Visible: Ralph Ellison’s Life and Work.” Society 45.4 (2008): 376-81. Web.

This article placed Ralph Ellison as having a sort of writer’s block in finishing his second novel. The novel was highly anticipated after his success in Invisible Man but with the pressures and the results of fame, this article argues that becoming closer to white artists and highly known white figures, he lost his touch and could not finish his novel.

Lamm, Kimberly. “Visuality and Black Masculinity in Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man’ and Romare Bearden’s Photomontages.” Callaloo, vol. 26, no. 3, 2003, pp. 813–835. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3300728.

This article is rich in content and really uses specific readings to construct the ideas behind Invisible man and how representation was used to visually construct blackness. Lamm goes over some of the main parts I would like to discuss and the art forms that have been reconstructed in galleries.

Kuryla, P. Soc (2013) 50: 10. https://doi-org.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/10.1007/s12115-012-9612-2

This article emphasizes the argument of not finishing Ellison’s highly anticipated second novel. Many factors were contributed even a speculation of disintegrity and blaming of a fire that wasn’t as crucial when first asked about it. Ellison sometime after his success in Invisible Man was labeled as a “protester” and people were expecting his writing to reflect this protesting and continuing the fight for equality.  Very interestingly enough, his invisibility was now associated with only one type of visibility. Ellison was an artist, not only an activist or a musician. He had many interests beyond literacy and he enphasised being

Millichap, Joseph. “Fiction, Photography, and the Cultural Construction of Racial Identity in Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man.’” South Atlantic Review, vol. 76, no. 4, 2011, pp. 129–142. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43738922.

This article is helpful because of the information on Ralph Ellison’s personal life as well as his interest in photograph. Millichap links Ellison’s personal interests in photography and argues that that is what this book is, photographs. By doing close readings and using different articles, Millichap shows what pictures Ellison used to explain his life and the road to consciousness.

Rampersad, Arnold. Ralph Ellison: a Biography. Vintage Books, 2007.

This is a biography on Ralph Ellison and reinforces his interests in art. It goes over many of his influences . This book also gives a new perspective on the invisible man’s grandfather. His grandfather is a sort of haunting/ghost like figure and although for the story to develop and for IM to gain consciousness his grandfather is needed and sets the tone of the book, it can also be seen as a reminder of Ralph Ellison the author not producing a second book, & can also be seen as his personal struggle in wanting to perfect and make art through literature.

Rowell, Charles H., and Kerry James Marshall. “An Interview with Kerry James Marshall.” Callaloo, vol. 21, no. 1, 1998, pp. 263–272. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3300033.

Along with the article by Walling, the theme of civil protest and including a representation of blackness is a subtle artistic way is important to Marshall as he says in his interview. Having this interview and his explanations as to why he used so much black and what is the meaning to your reaction gives a new meaning to invisible man and the art it creates.

Sargent, Antwaun. “’Invisible Man’ Inspires Conceptual Art About Blackness.” Vice, VICE, 21 June 2017, www.vice.com/en_us/article/ev4wwm/invisible-man-inspires-conceptual-art-blackness.

This article really ties Invisible Man and its impact on today’s society and generation since it was published in 2017 about a Gallery. Using everyday items you find out while out in public such as transit seats to show invisibility and blackness. Martos uses Invisible Man’s feelings of being there but others choosing not to see them. This article also is a link to Rankine’s Citizen which also is a modern book on blackness and experiences.

“Silence Is Golden.” The Studio Museum in Harlem, 4 Jan. 2019, studiomuseum.org/collection-item/silence-golden.

Since my focus is on art, this painting gives a better understanding of the interview with Kerry James Marshall and what his intentions were in recreating Invisible Man.

Walling, William. “‘Art’ and ‘Protest’: Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man Twenty Years After.” Phylon (1960-), vol. 34, no. 2, 1973, pp. 120–134. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/273820.

This article establishes protesting as a form of art and expression. Specifically Walling uses Invisible Man and Ralph Ellison’s vision of art and ties it with passive resistance. He gives us a reason for the civil art form of protesting and explains why in order to not only be successful but keep the fight going its important to form this type of protest. Walling also gives us unique details and visions and beliefs of Ellison. Besides art specifically, Walling talks about musical art forms such as jazz and blues which is also a major part in Invisible Man.