Invisible Man - Analysis

The Sambo dolls represent the way that blacks have been controlled by others. They are held up by thin string and are able to be manipulated however the controller wants. When the narrator spits at this doll, he signifies his new defiance to not being in control of his own actions. He also picks up one of these dolls and takes it with him, putting him in control of the doll which means he is now in control of himself. The dolls are two faced and show the same smiling face to the audience as it does to its controller. Along with many other things, he places this doll inside his suitcase and at the end of t he novel, he burns this doll with the other belongings.



Todd Clifton also shows his that he will no longer be one of these dolls, amusing whites and doing their will. He shows this by leaving the brotherhood and in his death. When he is being followed by cops while carrying his box of Sambos, he "kicked the box thudding aside..."(436). He fights the authorities that are telling him what to do and ends up being murdered for it.