Prologue Quiz — Invisible Man

Why does the narrator describe himself as "invisible" in the Prologue?

• He has a medical condition that makes him physically transparent to others
• He has chosen to live in hiding and avoid all contact with other people
• Other people refuse to see him as a full human being because of racial prejudice
• He is using a metaphor for his poverty and lack of material possessions

How many light bulbs has the narrator installed in his underground home?

• Exactly 1,000 bulbs to symbolize a new millennium of awareness
• Exactly 1,369 bulbs, all blazing continuously day and night
• Exactly 1,776 bulbs as a reference to American independence
• Exactly 1,500 bulbs arranged in a pattern across his ceiling

What happens during the narrator's encounter with the tall, blond man on the street?

• The blond man recognizes the narrator and they have a philosophical debate
• The narrator insults the blond man, who responds by calling the police
• The narrator bumps into him, is insulted, and attacks him nearly to death
• The blond man attacks the narrator first, and the narrator defends himself

Whose music does the narrator listen to during his hallucinatory experience?

• Duke Ellington's "Take the A Train" on a borrowed record player
• Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" on a radio broadcast from upstairs
• Louis Armstrong's "What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue" on his phonograph
• Bessie Smith's "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" on a gramophone

What does the narrator mean by describing his underground existence as "hibernation"?

• He is sleeping through the winter months and plans to emerge in spring
• He is withdrawing in covert preparation for future action, not in defeat
• He has permanently given up on society and plans to remain underground forever
• He is recovering from a serious physical illness that requires prolonged rest

What is the subject of the sermon the narrator hears during his hallucinatory vision?

• A warning about the dangers of living underground and in darkness
• A call-and-response sermon on "the Blackness of Blackness" full of paradoxes
• A traditional church sermon about redemption and the path to salvation
• A political speech about the civil rights movement and racial equality

What literary allusion does "Call me Jack-the-Bear" make in the Prologue?

• It references the trickster figure of Br'er Bear from African American folklore
• It echoes "Call me Ishmael" from Herman Melville's Moby Dick
• It alludes to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears from fairy tales
• It refers to Jack London's wilderness novels about survival and identity

What does the narrator's theft of electricity from Monopolated Light & Power symbolize?

• His criminal nature and tendency toward dishonesty and deception
• His practical resourcefulness in finding ways to survive underground cheaply
• His subversion of the institutional power structures that deny his existence
• His desire to waste the resources of the utility company out of pure spite

Which of these events actually occur in the Prologue of Invisible Man?

Which of these occur during the narrator's hallucinatory vision in the Prologue?

What does "ambivalence" mean as it relates to the old woman's feelings in the Prologue?

• A complete lack of any emotional response to a significant experience
• The state of having mixed or contradictory feelings about something
• An overwhelming sense of grief and sorrow that cannot be controlled
• A deliberate choice to suppress all emotions for the sake of survival

What does the narrator mean by calling his underground life "covert preparation"?

• A military operation planned in secret with other underground activists
• A hidden, secret process of readying himself for future action in the world
• An openly declared intention to return to public life after a fixed period
• A psychological therapy technique he learned from a doctor before going underground

In the Prologue, what does "paradox" describe about the "Blackness of Blackness" sermon?

• A simple, straightforward message delivered in plain and direct language
• A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless contain truth
• A historical reference to a specific event in African American history
• A type of musical rhythm common in call-and-response church traditions