WAEC Literature in English 2022 Theory — Question 5

Model answer

Points to develop: i. Relation to theme; ii. Character identification; iii. Meeting Kimbro; iv. The narrator's mistake on the job and his removal from the department; v. Apparent second chance. The novel Invisible Man relates the effects of racial prejudice on black Americans. From the title of the novel, the blacks are invisible because they are stereotyped and discriminated against. The narrator's experiences in the novel convey the treatment of the blacks in the white-dominated United States of the first half of the 20th Century. The narrator is a black college dropout from The Deep South. He is bitter because he is treated as a non-being and so decided to live underground and become invisible. After his expulsion from the college, the narrator travels up north and after a tedious search, he finally finds a job at Liberty Paints. Kimbro is the head of the shipping department at Liberty Paints. He is the narrator's first boss at Liberty Paints. Mr. Kimbro is bad-tempered. The narrator presents himself for a job at Liberty Paints and is assigned to work under Kimbro. The narrator overhears telephone conversation in which Kimbro is 'swearing violently'. The narrator is made uneasy by Kimbro's 'nasty mood'. He is made to 'go right to work' and is taught what to do by Kimbro. Being a novice at the paints company, the narrator knows little about the job. He is left on his own as Kimbro leaves to attend a meeting. The narrator mistakes a component of paint and spoils the batch that he is mixing. As a result of the mistake, Mr. Kimbro gets angry. Mr. Kimbro seeks the narrator's immediate removal. Kimbro seems to relent and guides the narrator afresh. The narrator applies his intuition, and Kimbro approves. The narrator is surprised that his service can be dispensed with so dismissively.