“The only ones I even pretend to please are big white folk, and even those I control more than they control me. This is a power set-up, son, and I’m at the controls” (p. 140). “These white folks have newspapers, magazines, radios, spokesmen to get their ideas across. If they want to tell the world a lie, they can tell it so well that it becomes the truth; and if I tell them that you’re lying, they’ll tell the world even if you prove you’re telling the truth. Because it’s the kind of lie they want to hear…” (p. 141). “I don’t even insist that it was worth it, but now I’m here and I mean to stay — after you win the game, you take the prize and you keep it, protect it; there’s nothing else to do” (p. 141). Consider the words of Ellison’s fictional character, Dr. Hebert Bledsoe, president of the historically Black college attended by the protagonist. Select one or more of the quotations (above), and address one or more of the following questions: Is there such a thing as world wisdom, or street smarts? Does Bledsoe possess an insight into the workings of the world that has allowed him to succeed? How accurate do you think his view of the world is? How cynical is it? What implications are there with respect to the power of the media? Are Bledsoe’s views still relevant in today’s world?
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