Brother Jack is an experienced politician and the leader of the Brotherhood. When the narrator first meets Brother Jack he is cool and collected, able to marshal reams of history and theory with ease. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Brother Jack is more interested in his own power than in any scientific theory of history. Brother Jack uses the Brotherhood’s theory to justify his own commands, and ultimately admits to the narrator that he intends to tell the people what to think. His single eye becomes a metaphor for his partial blindness.
Brother Jack Quotes in Invisible Man
The Invisible Man quotes below are all either spoken by Brother Jack or refer to Brother Jack. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 22
Quotes
Our job is not to ask them what they think but to tell them!
Chapter 25
Quotes
I looked at Ras on his horse and at their handful of guns and recognized the absurdity of the whole night and of the simple yet confoundingly complex arrangement of hope and desire, fear and hate, that had brought me here still running, and knowing now who I was and where I was and knowing too that I had no longer to run for or from the Jacks and the Emersons and the Bledsoes and Nortons, but only from their confusion, impatience, and refusal to recognize the beautiful absurdity of their American identity and mine.
Related Characters:
The Narrator (speaker), Dr. Bledsoe, Mr. Norton, Brother Jack, Ras the Exhorter, Young Emerson
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Invisible Man LitChart as a printable PDF.

Brother Jack Character Timeline in Invisible Man
The timeline below shows where the character Brother Jack appears in Invisible Man. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 13
Just as the narrator thinks he’s escaped detection, the voice of Brother Jack pierces him from behind, complimenting the narrator on his powers of persuasion. Brother Jack calls...
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At a cafeteria, the narrator examines Brother Jack , a small white man with a bouncy step. He feels that something about Brother...
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Brother Jack offers the narrator a job with his organization, telling him that they need a good...
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The narrator leaves Brother Jack , unsure what to make of him. He is not sure if Jack’s offer is...
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Chapter 14
...short of money, and he realizes that he cannot realistically turn down the job that Brother Jack has offered him. The narrator looks at the telephone number, realizing that he hadn’t even...
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Feeling indebted to Mary, the narrator decides to call Brother Jack ’s number. He tells Mary that he has to take care of some business, and...
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Brother Jack seems unsurprised by the narrator’s phone call, and tells the narrator to meet him as...
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Brother Jack and his group enter the building, and the narrator has the sense that he’s been...
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Emma serves a drink to the narrator and to Brother Jack . Jack tells Emma that the narrator simply rose up out of a crowd, and...
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The narrator is asked to join a “business” meeting in the library. Brother Jack explains about the Brotherhood, telling the narrator that the organization’s goal is to work for...
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An unnamed man with a pipe interrupts Brother Jack ’s passionate words, asking him to speak more “concretely” and “scientifically.” Brother Jack tells him...
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Brother Jack inquires about the narrator’s living situation, and the narrator explains his lodgings with Mary. Jack...
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...room to socialize. The narrator is introduced to everyone by his new Brotherhood name. As Brother Jack and the narrator go from group to group, the narrator vows to himself that he...
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...to sing a spiritual, telling the narrator that he likes the way black people sing. Brother Jack loudly protests that the narrator does not sing. The drunken man keeps pressing, and eventually...
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Chapter 15
...He needs to settle his account with Mary and buy himself new clothes before calling Brother Jack .
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Chapter 16
In the evening, Brother Jack and some others pick up the narrator in a taxi and drive to Harlem. The...
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Brother Jack asks if the narrator has looked over the Brotherhood material, and instructs him to listen...
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...the narrator looks down the alley and sees three mounted policemen. He decides to let Brother Jack know about their presence.
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...didn’t trust old Master.” He thinks the same thing about both the roaring crowd and Brother Jack . As the noise rises, Brother Jack ushers the speakers out onto the stage.
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As the narrator’s speech begins to climax, Brother Jack comes to his side and gives him a small warning not to “end your usefulness...
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...the reception is not so positive. The man with the pipe calls the speech “unsatisfactory.” Brother Jack becomes very angry, and the two men argue over the correct way to lead the...
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Brother Jack , visibly upset, asks the other members of the backroom committee what they thought of...
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...He will receive lessons in political theory from Brother Hambro. The narrator is upset, but Brother Jack reassures him, telling him that such a period of “indoctrination” was inevitable.
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Chapter 17
Four months later, Brother Jack calls up the narrator and takes him on a ride. The narrator is curious where...
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Since the speech, the narrator has seen Brother Jack very infrequently. The narrator has been submerged in lessons from Brother Hambro, working harder than...
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Brother Jack asks the narrator how his lessons have gone. Jack tells him to master the Brotherhood’s...
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Brother Jack informs the narrator that he is to become the chief spokesman of the Harlem district...
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Brother Jack decides to show the narrator the offices of the Harlem chapter of the Brotherhood, telling...
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The next day, the narrator arrives on time to his first meeting in the offices. Brother Jack is there as well, and notes that everyone is present except for Brother Tod Clifton....
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...tall, dark, and handsome man enters the meeting, and he is identified as Tod Clifton. Brother Jack asks why he is late, and Clifton replies that he had to see the doctor....
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...his name. The Brotherhood members tell him that Ras opposes cooperation between blacks and whites. Brother Jack warns Clifton that the Brotherhood is strictly against violence.
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Brother Jack departs, and the narrator examines the Brotherhood members at his disposal. He can’t quite place...
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Chapter 18
...to the Brotherhood’s downtown headquarters, where the mood is serious. In a meeting moderated by Brother Jack , Brother Wrestrum accuses the narrator of using his prominent position in the Brotherhood for...
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The narrator dismisses Wrestrum’s accusations as lies and calls Wrestrum a scoundrel. Brother Jack tells the narrator not to lose his temper, and then instructs him to leave the...
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However, Brother Jack tells the narrator that his name has only been cleared with regard to the interview....
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Chapter 19
...the narrator that she is interested in the Brotherhood’s “spiritual values” and the narrator remembers Brother Jack ’s words about wealthy people who donate to the Brotherhood to assuage their guilt.
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...done lecturing on the “Woman Question.” However, what follows is unexpected: Tod Clifton has disappeared. Brother Jack asks if the narrator knows anything about his disappearance. The narrator answers that he does...
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Chapter 21
...quickly becomes the refrain of a passionate speech he gives celebrating Clifton. He thinks that Brother Jack wouldn’t approve of the speech’s political content, but that he has no choice but to...
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Chapter 22
Brother Jack asks the narrator how the funeral went. The narrator is surprised to learn that Brother...
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Brother Jack and the committee pounce on the narrator’s choice of words, criticizing his use of “personal...
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...to explain the reasoning behind organizing the funeral, but the committee doesn’t want to listen. Brother Jack tells him that the funeral was wrong because Clifton had betrayed the organization by deciding...
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Ultimately, Brother Jack informs the narrator that he was not “hired to think.” Jack says that the narrator’s...
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Brother Jack tells the narrator that the committee has decided against demonstrations such as the funeral, telling...
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After hearing the narrator’s report, Brother Jack finally says that the committee’s job is not to ask people what they think, but...
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Brother Jack is infuriated. He leaps to his feet and grips the table. Convulsed by his anger,...
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Accordingly, Brother Jack asks if the eye makes the narrator feel uncomfortable. Jack is proud of the eye,...
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Brother Jack puts his glass eye back in. He then asks for the time, and remarks that...
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Chapter 23
...box to be counted. The narrator feels that he has simply exchanged Mr. Norton for Brother Jack without making any progress whatsoever.
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...through a woman. Knowing that a party is coming up soon at the Chthonian for Brother Jack ’s birthday, the narrator thinks about seducing Emma to gain more information. The narrator confirms...
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Chapter 24
At the Chthonian, Brother Jack ’s birthday is celebrated. The narrator tries to approach Emma, but something in her demeanor...
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Chapter 25
...no more men will be born in such an inhumane building. The narrator wonders what Brother Jack would think of a man like Dupre.
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The narrator begins to look for Brother Jack , convinced that finding him is the only way to destroy the Brotherhood. As he...
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...is the same as the slip that gave him his Brotherhood name. He realizes that Brother Jack was the author of the anonymous note. The narrator begins to scream and accidentally extinguishes...
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...has a vision of himself as a prisoner of all his past enemies, including Ras, Brother Jack , Mr. Norton, and Dr. Bledsoe. The narrator tells his captors that he is done...
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Epilogue
...the avant-garde or in the past, but that he’ll leave those decisions to men like Brother Jack .
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