Fighting to Survive

Invisible Man is a compelling story that deals with racism and violence to black people in the south and New York. In chapter one the story grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. Right from the beginning the story is tense and interesting.
“But as we tried to leave we were stopped and ordered to get into the ring. There was nothing to do but what we were told. All ten of us climbed under the ropes and allowed ourselves to be blindfolded with broad bands of white cloth. One of the men seemed to feel a bit sympathetic and tried to cheer us up as we stood with our backs against the ropes. Some of us tried to grin.” (Invisible Man, Page 17)
Chapter one takes place in a hotel. The narrator goes to the hotel to give his speech to the white men that own the town. He is asked to join the entertainment. Little did he know that he was going to be the entertainment. He and some other black men were at a boxing ring watching heavy weight champs fight. Then when they were done the black men were told to fight each other all at the same time. The black men had no choice. They had to obey the white men. They were all blindfolded and they started fighting each other nearly to death. The narrator was the second to last one standing. He got knocked out by a bigger person. The reader can see that the racism already starts from here. The white men have all the power and they can tell the black men whatever they want because they have the authority. The black men didn’t even say anything back to the white men. They just did what they were told because they were scared of them. What happened in this quote is cruel. The white men acted as if they were in Roman times in a coliseum. They watched other men fight each other just for their amusement. Do you think that making the black men fight each other was racist or not?