Invisible man

The invisible man justifies his early actions by accepting that "there was nothing else to do but what we were told- (21). Almost every action the protagonist takes during that opening scene is expressed following the word told', an early insight to the way he conducts his life. He is able to ignore the significance of the early violence by simply accepting it as a routine part of life. .
             The protagonist is quick to mention that for most of his life he chose "to deny the violence of [his] days by ignoring it- (5). The invisible man ignores the violence during the dramatic intense scene when he brings Mr. Norton to the Golden Day, a low-class bar full of psychiatric patients who cause a violent uprising. The violence itself has no effect on his evaluation of his actions. He begins to realize that he must think for himself only after he is expelled for poor decision-making; he ignores the fact that he almost got Mr. Norton killed during the bar fight when considering his actions. .
             A few months after his expulsion, the narrator witnesses the eviction of an elderly black couple from a building in Harlem, and violence begins to play a role in his progression toward individualism. While looking at their possessions strewn haphazardly on the sidewalk, he recognizes that he and they share a culture and that they are being robbed of that culture and history. This knowledge alone, however, is not enough to draw him to action. It is not until he perceives that a violent struggle is about to ensue that he runs forward and presents a spontaneous speech in an attempt to avert the violence. .
             While his speech shows maturity and the presence of mind not to be swayed by a mob, both advancements toward his individuality, the speech itself contains "all the shock-absorbing phrases that [he] had learned all [his] life- (275). In his attempt to stop the violence, he only expressed what he had been taught by others rather than what he knew himself.