For Godness' Sake

After we increasingly mentioned Santa in our discussions, I decided to research the origins of St. Nicholas more closely. Interestingly enough, I found connections to Invisible Man in the early origins of Santa Claus. One source of inspiration for the modern symbol we know as Santa Claus is the Norse god Odin Just as Taylor mentioned in seminar earlier today, Odin only has one eye, drawing out the theme of blindness across the different characters.

In Invisible Man, Ellison turns Santa on his head. He isn’t given the same jolly spirit that I’m used to. The first thing that stands out is the morbid mention of Santa Claus that the narrator uses when he writes “You were raped by santa claus surprise” on Sybil in purplish lipstick. The character of Santa is one based mostly around morality. Santa judges children based on their behavior. He places himself in a position of judgement, aligning him with a godlike ascension over mankind’s understanding of right and wrong. For those who aren’t good, they’re given black coal, a material that stains the delicate velvet of the blood red stocking the children leave out for Christmas. This equates black with bad and white with good. However in Invisible Man, Ellison frequently shows how white is sometimes more corrupt than black. The paint factory uses the color optic white to mask true corruption and deterioration, but in Santa Mythology, his large white beard is used as a comforting, pure image. In truth, Santa’s large white beard, he’s rarely seen without it, acts more as a mask. This further solidifies Ellison’s view that white masks true darkness. Unfortunately, this skews the children's’ understanding of morality. The only thing holding the children back from behaving poorly is the promise of an expected reward. This is also similar to religion’s treatment of morality. Followers are rewarded as long as they behave well. This omnipotence aligns Santa more with God. Instead of being good for goodness’ sake, morality is rewarded and punished to keep humans in line. When the narrator writes “you were raped by Santa Claus” the narrator is further arguing the rape of morality in this world. The system of incentives for good behavior rapes children’s understanding of morality. They all strive to be good, but there’s a ceiling set in place so the system can work. There must always be children who receive coal, otherwise how would good morality be measured against evil? I also ask myself why did Sybil want to feel like she was being raped? The purplish lipstick is supposed to represent the beaten condition the narrator leaves her in, but in a way he’s doing her a favor not by actually going through with the act. I suppose the intent to rape was greater than the act of rape itself. I read somewhere that humans naturally gravitate towards punishment because they enjoy suffering, but I can’t find any example in this section that supports this. Sybil admits that she’s a nymphomaniac, someone who has sex without pleasure. This also connects to what I was saying earlier about the theme of gluttony in the novel. Sybil is a character who indulges in pleasurable acts, wants to be showered with gifts by Santa, but doesn’t care about the morality side of the actions. Sybil still wants to taste the dark side of morality.