Chapter 11

Quote: "Now a man sitting with his back to me, manipulating dials on a panel. I wanted to call yo him, but the Fifth Symphony racked me, and he seemed too serene and too far away.

  Context: TIM is getting an X-ray within the factory hospital. He sees a doctor but cannot call to him because he is too dizzy and his mind is full of Beethoven's Fifth.

Motif Analysis: The music motif is present in Chapter 11 where it clouds TIM's mind when he wakes up during the X-Ray. It shows how Tim's mind resorts to music when his mind is not in the right state. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 15

Quote:  "The knocking had gone beyond mere protest over heatlessness now, they had fallen into a ragged rumba rhythm." (Ellison 321). Context:  After TIM breaks the racist coin bank, the tenants are still beating on the pipe to get the heat turned on. Motif Analysis:  The motif of music is seen in this chapter through the rhythmic rumba of the banging. 
Read more

Chapter 20

Quote:  "A cluster of men and women hovered near the juke box at the rear."(Ellison 423) Context:  TIM has just walked into Barrelhouse's bar at the beginning of chapter twenty and notices the presence of music. TIM has just returned to Harlem after being downtown for the Brotherhood for a short while. Motif Analysis:  Music is shown through the jukebox playing. The jukebox represents TIM's culture because the first thing he hears back in Harlem is music.
Read more

Chapter 9

Quote:  "... heard him singing in a clear singing voice. It was a blues..."(Ellison 172) Context:  TIM is walking down the street in New York and is taking in all the live action which gives him encouragement to accomplish something today. Part of the action was a man pushing a cart who TIM describes as the one who was singing. Motif Analysis:  The motif of music is displayed by the man TIM hears singing. The blues that he's singing remind TIM of music he had heard in the South.
Read more