Senior Ruthvi Tadamakalla: Hi, my name is Ruthvi.

Sophomore Rishi Pidikiti: And my name is Rishi.

Tadakamalla: Welcome to “Off the page: Exploring concepts of individuality and invisibility.”

[Music]

Pidikiti: Today, we are going to discuss some of the pieces of literature we’ve read in class and examine how those themes affect us at school and in our daily lives.

[Music]

Tadakamalla: Let’s get started. Rishi, what have you been reading?

Pidikiti: So I’m in Honors English II, and I’ve just finished reading “The Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. It’s about a group of boys who get cast away on an island, and it explores the themes of savagery and the inherent evilness of man. And I think it’s really cool because this group of boys goes from a cohesive working group to dividing into two different groups, and those two different groups create more conflict. And I think it’s really cool to see how, without the bounds of civilization, people interact with each other and what their true intentions are. What about you, Ruthvi? What have you been reading?

Tadakamalla: I actually remember reading this book all the way back in my sophomore year English class, and it’s really cool to see how much I’ve been able to read since then. And now, in my AP Literature class, I recently finished reading “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison. So “Invisible Man” is a really cool story. It’s about the story of a black narrator who eventually feels invisible because society refuses to see him as a full and complex person. He begins with a lot of hope and ambition as he is educated in the segregated South, and he attends college initially. And he believes so much in the power of hard work, because that’s originally what leads him to go to college, but he quickly encounters a lot of racism, betrayal and manipulation. After getting kicked out of college, he joins the Brotherhood, which is a political organization in the North, as he travels from the South to the North. And throughout his journey, he encounters a lot of deceiving figures that teach him important lessons, which is what we’ll get into today.

[Music]

Pidikiti: So I’m going to jump in because that seems like a great book, honestly, and ask you a tough question: where do we see invisible students at school go unnoticed, just like your character in your book? Does this question connect to your book in any other ways?

Tadakamalla: Yeah, so I’m really glad you asked that question, because I definitely see a lot of my book tying into social dynamics at school, specifically when there are large groups of people, when someone’s really outspoken, or someone is hidden in the background because they can’t feel brave enough to say anything. I think that often makes people feel invisible. So, for the person who’s often really loud, that person might feel like they have to say something to impress everyone else. And that’s kind of similar to what my narrator’s like, because he’s often used as a mouthpiece for what the Brotherhood’s agenda, their political agenda, is, and for the quieter people, they feel kind of scared to speak up or say anything, because they’re not sure how their ideas are going to be taken by the rest of the group.

[Music]

Pidikti: So I think that’s a really cool concept you bring up. I think a lot of people don’t realize that people who do talk a lot can feel just as invisible as people who don’t. That’s a missed concept that many people fail to understand because they think, ‘Oh, that person’s talking, they must have an opinion, they must be pretty outspoken.’ But as we’ve seen through your book, they’re just used as mouthpieces to represent bigger ideas.

Tadakamalla: So yeah, that’s a really cool insight that you got there. And I’m wondering, do these motifs of invisibility and individuality shine through in your book as well?

[Music]

Pidikiti: Yeah, so I think individuality is an interesting concept in “The Lord of the Flies” just because each person kind of is their own individual, except especially in a setting where no one has the ability to live by themselves, and everyone needs to work cohesively with the group. I think that gets cut down a little bit. But in terms of invisibility, this is a way bigger theme in the book, because many characters feel invisible from the start. For example, Piggy, who is one of the smaller boys physically, often gets ignored or undermined because he is smaller and he doesn’t represent what they stand for in general, which is strong, no feelings, cold, and rock hard. So his ideas get ignored, and he persistently gets rejected because the other boys would tell him to shut up or just hit him at times. I think there are many characters in the book who are like this. Also, it’s because of an authoritarian rule like Jack, where many people feel invisible because they’re not able to speak up, or they’re fearful to speak up because of what Jack will say, or what Jack will do. For example, in Jack’s group, everyone just follows what he says and follows the example he sets, because everyone is scared to contradict his beliefs, opinions, etc. So yeah, to recap, I think these ideas are very persistent in both books. We can see how, in the “Invisible Man,” the character not being able to voice what he believes in leads to, eventually, an identity crisis, ultimately making him feel invisible. While in “The Lord of the Flies,” Jack’s authority and pull as a leader make a lot of boys reject their own ideology, beliefs, and values with the goal of matching those of Jack.

[Music]

Tadakamalla: Yeah, that’s really cool that you’ve said all that, and it’s definitely something I see in school, but I think it’s also something we can see in like, society in general. In countries that are under authoritarian regimes, it can kind of seem like people have to follow what their leadership is or what their rule is. So I think those themes are definitely reflected in the real world, so there’s definitely a lot that we can learn from these books.

[Music]

Pidikiti: Moving on, what lessons does the “Invisible Man” teach that we can use to fix bigger problems every day in our lives, like you just talked about, connecting it to the real world?

[Music]

Tadakamalla: I think the “Invisible Man” teaches a lot about what not to do, because of a lot of what the Invisible Man goes through. The narrator faces a lot of challenges, and I honestly don’t think he acted in the right way during a lot of those challenges; he kind of just is submissive. But I think in order to achieve justice, you really have to prioritize your individuality and recognize that silence often perpetuates injustice. People must be willing to speak up for what they believe in, instead of feeling fear for possible consequences of retaliation, because at the end of the day, being able to stand up for what you believe in is almost the most powerful tool that you can have, and I think that’s how you escape invisibility and really prioritize your individuality.

[Music]

Pidikiti: Yeah, a really important nuance to highlight there is that, although, like, I think we confuse speaking up versus just speaking because the Invisible Man is known, or the character in your book labeled the Invisible Man is known to have great speaking skills — he uses those in effective ways, but it’s just not for what he stands for, so I think it’s a really important thing to highlight, because people often misunderstand speaking with standing up for what you believe in.

[Music]

Tadakamalla: Well, we’re really, really glad that you tuned in to our podcast today, and we’re excited to explore some of these books that we’ve been reading in our classes. Specifically, we went over “The Lord of the Flies” and “Invisible Man.” So not only do we hope that you read these books, but we also hope that you ponder how themes of individuality and invisibility shine through in the books that you read. Thanks for listening!

[Outro Music]

(All Music From WeVideo Essentials Library)