Opening of Invisible Man rewrite- Daniel Hawkins

Well, I try to make fun out of everything that I do, so I decided to do the assignment where we rewrote the opening paragraph of Invisible Man with a little twist... I hope you like it :)

I am the most interesting man in the world. No, I am not a normal person that does ordinary things; nor am I one of your egotistical jerks. I am a man of class, of manners and indulgence, good taste and a sophisticated sense of style - and I might even be said to be "the chosen one". I am interesting, understand, simply because I'm not afraid to endure adventure. Like the bodiless heads you see in the ancient ruins of the Mayans, it is as though I have been surrounded by curious and perplexed tourists. When they approach me they see only my awesomeness, my stunning looks, or the hero of their wildest dreams - indeed, everything and anything except the real, normal me.

Stay thirsty my friends.

Tess Response

I find it very ironic that Tess encounters Alec on a tombstone when she is with her family. Hardy is foreshadowing Tess' outcome through this. Alec subsequently brings on the death of Tess Durbeyfield--literally and figuratively. Her murder results in her execution. Yet, Tess seemingly died earlier in the novel. She was never "whole" and "pure" after he incident with Alec. Tess simply morphed into a ghost of her former self after being taken advantage of. She became listless, distant, and incapable of true happiness. The meeting in the graveyard is Hardy's message of Tess dying via Alec's actions.

Though Hardy establishes Tess as a strong female protagonist, I feel that he also left her tragically flawed and actually weak. She was not able to forgive herself, and she was not able to recover from Angel's departure. It makes me ponder if Tess was really as strong and as independent as she was perceived. Tess almost walked into her grave due to her lack of mental strength and naturally distraught nature.

--Emily T

Tess Response

"She knew how to hit in a hair's-breadth that moment of evening when the light and the darkness are so evenly balanced that the constraint of day and the suspense of night neutralize each other, leaving absolute mental liberty."

This quote is discussing the exile Tess has placed upon herself after her fall from grace. Light and dark are archetypal for good and evil and because she is no longer innocent, but is still a moral person, she prefers to hide from the world in plain sight when the two meet and balance each other out. The light of day makes Tess feel like an outcast because it emphasizes how she no longer encompasses the light, but the darkness is too much for her because she has not fully embraced immorality. In essence, Tess is stuck between the two because society foolishly tells her that she can never go back to the light.

I think the use of darkness and light here adds depth to her character, and I also feel that it makes her more relatable. We all have this mixture of light and dark within us and we have to choose how we balance it. Will we let one side win, or will they be equal, as Tess feels is her situation?

-Elise P.