The Impact of Tod Clifton
In class, we were discussing the meaning of Tod Clifton and his selling of the Sambo dolls. We talked about how these dolls were disturbing and exaggerated depictions of black men and the symbolism behind them in general. I would like to take this further and talk more about the meaning of Clifton's selling the dolls, but also the impact that Clifton made on the narrator during this chapter.
I think that Ellison used Clifton's selling of the dolls to mimic the way that he was treated by the Brotherhood, and by extension, society, as the "model black man". Looking even simply at the narrator's description of the doll's movement, ". . . and which some mysterious mechanism was causing to move up and down . . ." The narrator does not know that Clifton is the puppeteer, symbolizing how unaware the narrator was about the control that the Brotherhood has over him.
There must be a sort of power that Clifton felt, now becoming the puppeteer instead of the puppet. I wonder if after speaking with Ras, and realizing his lack of power, selling these dolls was the only way that Clifton was able to gain any type of autonomy or power of his own.
The impact of all of this on the narrator is something I think it is important to try and deconstruct. For instance, the disillusionment that the narrator experiences was very apparent in his reaction to finding Clifton with the dolls. "It was as though I had waded out into a shallow pool only to have the bottom drop out and the water closed over my head. I looked up. 'Not you . . .'"
After realizing that it is Clifton who is selling the dolls, the narrator describes being betrayed, and later talks about him as if he was his best friend. Clifton's existence before leaving the Brotherhood seemed entirely summed up by his 'good looks' and the 'power' he had within the organization (ie he worked very hard but most people only really saw him for his looks).
Clifton is someone that the narrator himself was completely in awe of. I think that the narrator seeing Clifton with the dolls, and his subsequent death, was the final straw/ moment of disillusionment for the narrator. He seems changed from this moment on. He is much more critical and independent, and his development mentally is really shown during his meeting with the Brotherhood about Clifton's death. He refuses to back down, saying that he had a "personal responsibility" to basically do right by Clifton and the people of Harlem.
It is also important to mention the theme of invisibility with this scene with Clifton. Not only is he literally invisible at first, ie the narrator does not know it is him, but the place that he has chosen in society also literally focuses the attention on his goods, not himself. His invisibility also is very purposeful and chosen. How else do you escape the grasp of an organization like the Brotherhood than to become a social pariah that the organization would be unable to touch?
I think that Ellison used Clifton's selling of the dolls to mimic the way that he was treated by the Brotherhood, and by extension, society, as the "model black man". Looking even simply at the narrator's description of the doll's movement, ". . . and which some mysterious mechanism was causing to move up and down . . ." The narrator does not know that Clifton is the puppeteer, symbolizing how unaware the narrator was about the control that the Brotherhood has over him.
There must be a sort of power that Clifton felt, now becoming the puppeteer instead of the puppet. I wonder if after speaking with Ras, and realizing his lack of power, selling these dolls was the only way that Clifton was able to gain any type of autonomy or power of his own.
The impact of all of this on the narrator is something I think it is important to try and deconstruct. For instance, the disillusionment that the narrator experiences was very apparent in his reaction to finding Clifton with the dolls. "It was as though I had waded out into a shallow pool only to have the bottom drop out and the water closed over my head. I looked up. 'Not you . . .'"
After realizing that it is Clifton who is selling the dolls, the narrator describes being betrayed, and later talks about him as if he was his best friend. Clifton's existence before leaving the Brotherhood seemed entirely summed up by his 'good looks' and the 'power' he had within the organization (ie he worked very hard but most people only really saw him for his looks).
Clifton is someone that the narrator himself was completely in awe of. I think that the narrator seeing Clifton with the dolls, and his subsequent death, was the final straw/ moment of disillusionment for the narrator. He seems changed from this moment on. He is much more critical and independent, and his development mentally is really shown during his meeting with the Brotherhood about Clifton's death. He refuses to back down, saying that he had a "personal responsibility" to basically do right by Clifton and the people of Harlem.
It is also important to mention the theme of invisibility with this scene with Clifton. Not only is he literally invisible at first, ie the narrator does not know it is him, but the place that he has chosen in society also literally focuses the attention on his goods, not himself. His invisibility also is very purposeful and chosen. How else do you escape the grasp of an organization like the Brotherhood than to become a social pariah that the organization would be unable to touch?
And the way Clifton is clearly trying to stay one step ahead of the law with his Sambo-doll hustle (his young partner serving as lookout), his "invisibility" as the salesman might be one more example of invisibility as a *strategy* or a necessity for survival. Clifton very much wants to remain "invisible" as he skulks away from the police officer. And add one more irony to the pile, when after he's shot, the Brotherhood, too, only looks at what he was selling. His whole "meaning" becomes bound up in the objects he sells, rather than himself. The narrator tries to restore that "self" to the historical record, not mentioning the dolls once at the funeral but repeating the simple mantra about Clifton being a MAN who is now DEAD.
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