Analysis of Todd Clifton's Funeral Speech in Invisible Man Essay Example

At Brother Todd Clifton’s funeral, the Invisible Man presents a eulogy focused on the police brutality that caused his death. The Invisible Man uses verbal irony in his eulogy speech to encourage the black community of Harlem to fight against police brutality  despite being desensitized to it. This is first seen when the Invisible Man claims that the shooting of Todd Clifton was “perfectly natural” (457). The Invisible Man, a person who faced prejudice growing up in the South and spoke out about racial inequalities, clearly does not believe that black men are destined to be killed by police. He instead uses this ironic phrasing to address the fact that the funeral audience, black people from Harlem, ignore police brutality because they believe that it is the permanent reality Harlem. The Invisible Man believes that if the audience understands that police brutality isn’t natural, they will fight against the violent police officers. His point is reiterated when the Invisible Man mocks the audience by declaring that they are using the shooting of Brother Clifton as a means to appease their “thirst for drama ” (456) and will forget it within the next few days. He claims that because police brutality is so common in Harlem, it is treated as one of many stories to gossip about and not taken seriously. By implying to the audience that police brutality is not a small thing to gossip about, the Invisible Man brings awareness to the fact that the death of Todd Clifton and many others should not be forgotten and should be avenged. The Invisible Man also refers to Brother Clifton’s death “as simple… and as short (456).” The Invisible Man asserts that the audience believes that police shootings are so common that the details aren’t even worth talking about. He states that the story of police shootings are the same every time: A white officer kills a black man. He claims that the audience doesn’t even need to hear any details because it wouldn’t matter to them. The lack of details inspires the audience to acknowledge how frequent the acts of police brutality are and that they should be addressed in society more often. The Invisible Man further emphasizes the fact that the black community in Harlem treats police shootings as a fictitious story, just like “a comic-book killing, on a comic-book street in a comic-book town on a comic-book day in a comic-book world ” (457- 458). The Invisible Man compares comic books which display characters as good versus evil instead of their real personalities with police shooting which display the “character” involved as white versus black instead of their real personalities. By treating police brutality as story, the audience thinks of those shooting as a common and insignificant event instead of the fact that members of their own community are being killed.  The Invisible Man’s strong use of irony influences the black community to fight against the police officers and take revenge for the police brutality throughout Harlem. The Invisible Man ends his speech by unironically telling the audience to attack police officers in revenge for Brother Clifton and other victim’s deaths. The audience obliges.