Dr. Bledsoe is the president of the all-black college that the narrator attends in his youth. The narrator is extremely impressed with Dr. Bledsoe for reaching the top of the black community, and Bledsoe is known far and wide as a statesman and educator. Outwardly subservient to whites, Bledsoe prides himself on being the black man who can tell white men what to think. Ultimately, Bledsoe is more concerned with holding onto his small enclave of power than anything else.
Dr. Bledsoe Quotes in Invisible Man
The Invisible Man quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Bledsoe or refer to Dr. Bledsoe. 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 6
Quotes
The white folk tell everybody what to think—except men like me. I tell them; that’s my life, telling white folk how to think about the things I know about.
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:
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Dr. Bledsoe Character Timeline in Invisible Man
The timeline below shows where the character Dr. Bledsoe appears in Invisible Man. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...the Golden Day. They stop at Mr. Norton’s rooms and Mr. Norton asks for Dr. Bledsoe, the school president. The narrator tries to apologize to Mr. Norton, but Mr. Norton is...
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Walking to Dr. Bledsoe’s office, the narrator reflects that Bledsoe is everything he wishes to become: successful, well off,...
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Dr. Bledsoe rushes to Mr. Norton’s quarters with the narrator behind him. Dr. Bledsoe, after composing himself,...
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...I.” Filled with anxiety, the narrator returns to his dorm room, unable to understand Dr. Bledsoe’s un-humble words.
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...him and heads off to dinner. A small student appears and tells him that Dr. Bledsoe wishes to see him now in Rabb Hall, where Mr. Norton is staying.
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...narrator knocks and enters Mr. Norton’s room. Mr. Norton greets him, telling him that Dr. Bledsoe had to leave, and to see him in his office after chapel. Mr. Norton reassures...
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Chapter 5
Up on stage, Dr. Bledsoe is attending to the gathered millionaire donors. The narrator notices that Bledsoe is able to...
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...girl singing a cappella in the rafters. The black man on stage other than Dr. Bledsoe, later named as the Reverend Barbee, a fat and ugly man with black-lensed glasses, gets...
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...holding the audience in rapture. He recalls a tour of several states, during which Dr. Bledsoe was present as well. The Founder was still spreading his message of freedom and cooperation....
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...his deathbed on the train, and that with his last words the Founder told Dr. Bledsoe that he must “Lead them the rest of the way.”
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Barbee tells of the funeral and aftermath of the Founder’s passing. Dr. Bledsoe presided over the events, taking up the Founder’s mantle. The “sorrowful train” toured the Founder’s...
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...speech. As he wipes his eyes, he hears a commotion. Barbee has tripped over Dr. Bledsoe’s legs, and two white trustees give him his cane. The narrator realizes for the first...
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...service ends soon after, and the narrator realizes it is time to go see Dr. Bledsoe. He is sure Bledsoe will be unsympathetic after Barbee’s rousing sermon.
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Chapter 6
...chapel to their dorms, talking about Barbee’s speech. He enters the building that contains Dr. Bledsoe’s office, but panics and rushes back out into the night. He follows a group of...
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In Dr. Bledsoe’s office, Bledsoe begins softly. The narrator hopes that Mr. Norton has helped soften his punishment....
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Bledsoe criticizes the narrator for his stupidity, telling him that as the driver, he should have...
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Bledsoe asks the narrator about the ex-doctor, and the narrator repeats part of his story, including...
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Bledsoe tells the narrator that he has disgraced the college and the entire race. He says...
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At first Bledsoe seems enraged by the narrator’s show of disobedience, but he then becomes merely amused. He...
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Bledsoe continues, telling the narrator that he is “nobody,” and that white men like Mr. Norton...
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After this, Bledsoe calls the narrator a “fighter,” and that he likes his spirit. He tells the narrator...
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The narrator leaves Bledsoe’s office, barely able to walk after the news that he is to leave school. The...
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The next day, the narrator returns to Bledsoe’s office and tells him that he is already prepared to depart. He apologizes again, and...
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Chapter 7
...celebrity with his knowledge of New York. He is excited about his letters from Dr. Bledsoe, and imagines himself acting sophisticated in his business meetings.
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Chapter 8
...Bible. The Bible reminds the narrator of the home, and he thinks both of Dr. Bledsoe and his father’s attempt to establish family prayer.
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The narrator is proud of the letters from Dr. Bledsoe, and wishes he could show them to someone. He plans to look for a job...
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...that he is part of a plan that he doesn’t understand. He imagines that Dr. Bledsoe and Mr. Norton are somehow behind his lack of success in finding a job. The...
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Chapter 9
The narrator thinks about Dr. Bledsoe, noting that the students never know how he acts when he’s away from campus. He...
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When asked, the narrator tells young Emerson that his career goal is to become Dr. Bledsoe’s assistant. He asks the narrator how many letters of introduction he was given, to which...
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...way, young Emerson opens the letter of introduction and lets the narrator read it. Dr. Bledsoe’s letter instructs Mr. Emerson to mislead the narrator, allowing him to hope that he will...
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...everyone else seems to have one. At home, the narrator is filled with anger toward Bledsoe. He begins to laugh and plot his revenge, telling himself that this time he will...
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Chapter 11
...replies that he does not know him. The narrator jokes that Mr. Norton and Dr. Bledsoe are old friends of his. He is surprised by his new way of speaking to...
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Chapter 12
In the lobby, the narrator hears a man holding forth whom he mistakes for Dr. Bledsoe. Instinctively, he empties a spittoon over the man’s head. The narrator immediately realizes that the...
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Chapter 13
...are ashamed of their own culture, even the things that they like. He imagines Dr. Bledsoe’s shame if the narrator were to accuse him of being a “chitterling eater.” He resolves...
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Chapter 16
...course and deciding that he’s not really sure what it means. He then thinks of Bledsoe and Norton, and laughs that their efforts have made him even more important and dangerous...
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Chapter 25
...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 running. The captors castrate the narrator...
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