When the narrator gets his long awaited job at Liberty Paints, we truly begin to see how things are in the North, as opposed to the South where the narrator had lived all his life. Through the symbol of Liberty Paints, Ellison shows how racism had the power to cover up and possibly destroy one's identity. The Liberty Paints plant serves as a complex model of American society with regard to races. Like American society, it is based on the ideals of liberty for all, yet racism is prominent within it.
When entering the plant the narrator sees a massive electric sign with the words "Keep America Pure with Liberty Paints". However, "Optic White" is seemingly the only paint produced there, or is the only paint mentioned in the novel. This reflects on the white man's dominance in American society. In addition, Lucius Brockway, the man in charge of the underground section of the plant where the paint base is made, informs the narrator that the main quality of the paint is its' ability to cover up any tint or stain. He emphasizes this when he says:
When entering the plant the narrator sees a massive electric sign with the words "Keep America Pure with Liberty Paints". However, "Optic White" is seemingly the only paint produced there, or is the only paint mentioned in the novel. This reflects on the white man's dominance in American society. In addition, Lucius Brockway, the man in charge of the underground section of the plant where the paint base is made, informs the narrator that the main quality of the paint is its' ability to cover up any tint or stain. He emphasizes this when he says:
"Our white is so white you can paint a chunka coal and you'd have to crack it open with a sledge hammer to prove it wasn't white clear through"
Here Ellison refers to the white man's intentions of covering up black identity and how blacks were treated as stains in the white purity of America. Symbolism is also seen through the way the paint is made. By mixing drops of a dead black substance in with the white paint, the final product emerges even whiter and purer than before, with no trace of its black components. Again, Ellison refers to how white culture tends to overshadow and oppress the black identity. The portrayal of the Liberty Paints Plant is one of the many symbols Ellison uses to show the propensity of American Society to outcast blacks, and make them invisible.
I agree that there is heavy symbolism at Liberty Paints. I think that the author makes a point to emphasize said symbolism because at times it's so in your face that the novel regresses to the dream-like state of the battle royal. For example, the logo of the catchphrase virtually says to 'keep America white.' Liberty Paints is where the narrator began to question the authority of white people, which symbolizes his critical consciousness developing under this regime of 'keeping America white.'
ReplyDeleteThe quote with the coal makes it almost too obvious that what they're doing is "whitewashing" and silencing the blacks. However, the narrator doesn't seem to understand this throughout his entire time there. I think that the use of paint and not a different medium was a conscious decision by the author because once paint dries, it's very hard to remove like how racism and white ideas are hard to remove. The whole factory is riddled with ironies like how the name is "Liberty" and the phrases that they use. This further emphasizes the lack of understanding of the narrator.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this interpretation of Liberty Paints and all it stands for, and I also think that it is relevant even today. There are many forms of pop culture that the white world of America have taken from the black community and tried to make it theirs. This is cultural appropriation, as most people are aware, and is very relevant to America today. For example, slang is often derived from African American vernacular which many non-African American people try to imitate (usually incorrectly) to seem cooler.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that as well and it reminds me of how when I was younger, I thought Michael Jackson was actually white, but then I found out that he was Black. I think that Liberty Paints is sort of like that. It could be said that it is good paint, but they don't want the world to know that the real reason that their paint is so good is because of an African-American person. In addition, it is interesting that they use black ink or stain or what not in order to make the optic white. Therefore, the symbolism is that without black people, white people wouldn't be where they are at the present time.
ReplyDeleteapt comparisons about white purity in america. I wonder what Brockway thinks about the racism and symbolism. I'm honestly confused about brockway. Based on his understanding of engineering and true power at the company i'm surprised he isn't more critical of the white symbolism. I suppose it's another prominent black character navigating oppression. I think the narrator is seeing all these alternative role models and trying to develop his own path
ReplyDeleteThis scenes at Liberty Paint are some of my favorite in the whole entire novel. Usually authors try and somewhat hide the metaphors they place in their works. The authors want their readers to dive a little deeper and think about the story a little bit. But in this scene the metaphor is so blatant. Ellison literally talks about colors of paint and the only colors mentioned are white and black. White, the color of the actual paint and black, the color that is added into the paint and that can be hidden by the "optic white". The scene does a fantastic job of representing society and is a very well-placed metaphor.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the implication of the paint color, there's also the part where they say that the main buyer of their paint is the government. This could be Ellison saying that the government is content with just covering up America's history of discrimination. Going along with this, they say that the white paint is used on many of the national statues and sites. This is especially pointing towards discrimination because no matter what the monument is it'll still be painted white. This is reading a bit too much into it, but the fact that all of the monuments are painted the pure, "optic" white shows a discriminatory perspective in which white people are the only people who have influenced these statues. What do you think the significance of the main customer of Liberty Paints being the government is?
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