Symbols
Sambo Dolls:
The sambo dolls represented the stereotype of slaves, they humiliate themselves in order to entertainment the whites. These dolls were controlled by somebody else; they don’t have their own mind or the control of their identity. This represents Clifton as well as the narrator, they were always directed by the brotherhood in the speech that they gave and their behavior as well. Their emotions were contained, the sambo dolls showed the happy, fake side that African Americans had to appear to others in order to satisfy the white population. The author used this to give a brief illustration of the suffering and the manipulations they had to pass in order to be present in society.
Coin Bank:
The coin bank, like the sambo dolls, serve a similar purpose. Each represented a degrading black stereotype and the damaging power of prejudice. The coin bank shows a grinning slave who eats coins, which represents the trivial slave being obedient and always wanting the rewards of the white masters. This symbol follows him throughout because even after he smashes the bank, different characters return it to him the paper in which the smashed pieces were in. The quick way the bank swallows the coins, is mirrored later on with the black children scrambling to collect the coins on the electrified carpet.
How does Ellison employ symbolism?:
Each symbol in the novel provides a different perspective on the novel which enhances the dominant themes of invisibility and identity. Ellison provides both dreams and reality merged into one novel to create a surrealistic experience between the realities of black life and the myth of the American Dream.
