The Reoccurring Blues Music And The Blindness Of The Book...

The reoccurring blues music plays a significant role in the blindness of the book. In the song â€Å"Nobody Knows the Trouble I ve Seen† by Louis Armstrong, Louis sings â€Å"Sometimes I m up, sometimes I m down, ohh, yes Lord Sometimes I m almost to the ground, oh yes, Lord Nobody knows the trouble I ve seen†. The narrator claims â€Å"Perhaps I like Louis Armstrong because he s made poetry out of being invisible† (Ellison, 10). This statement by the narrator is ironic because the narrator is literally being told that society is blinded to the problems African Americans are facing every day, but he is too blinded himself to realize it. The blues singers have been aware of this problem and are attempting to create reform through their music. The narrator does not even begin to realize his own blindness until he is kicked out of school and goes to work in New York. When the narrator realizes Bledsoe has betrayed him with the Keep him running letters, his blindfold steadily begins to be removed and he begins to understand the complexity of the society in which he lives (Ellison, 147). Emerson, who revealed the content of the letters of â€Å"recommendation†, tells the narrator that â€Å"There is no point in blinding yourself to the truth. Don’t blind yourself† (Ellison, 146). Throughout his life, the narrator has been simply living as an invisible man, refusing to face the problems he deals with on a daily basis. He is unable to see that he has constantly been at a disadvantage and been a