The beginning of chapter 11 opened up with the narrator being in the hospital.  He did not know where he was or how he had gotten there.  As the doctors shinned the light in his eyes, he loses consciousness.  When the narrator is finally able to wake up he appears to not remember anything.  All he is able to focus on is the sounds of machines humming in the background and is completely confused.  The doctors argue about whether or not they should keep shocking him, but the doctor in charge chooses to go on with the procedure.  Of course the narrator is stereotyped; even as a sick patient, when one of the doctors makes a comment that black people really do have rhythm.  Clearly as being black, the doctors viewed the narrator differently because of his race which made me angry.  Once the narrator was conscious, he was not able to answer or remember any of the things the doctors asked him.  Later on he is released and told that factory work is not for him.  The narrator needs an easier and quieter job since he was not meant for such work.  

            As I read chapter 11, I realized that this chapter was a huge significance to the book.  The narrator’s experience in the hospital symbolized a new start to his life.  It was as though he was reborn waking up from being unconscious and having amnesia and having no recollection of his life.  He was alone as he has been all of his life and had to face the doctors on his own.  I think once the narrator left the hospital after his stay, his life needed a complete new start.  As having lost his job, this is what I believe will turn the narrator into a new person.  He left the hospital feeling stronger and no longer afraid to face society. Or so it appeared on the outside?

            As the narrator walked down the streets upon leaving the hospital it was clear that he was still not well.  He was very frail and weak.  When he collapsed he was brought to Mary’s house.  As being a Black African American she offered to care for the narrator and gave him a place to stay.  I do not think a white woman would have been as kind because it was someone of a different race.  Mary took the narrator into her house and told him he could stay as long as he wanted to; however, he leaves shortly after once he regains his strength back.  I believe he did this because he did not want to open himself up to new people.

            Chapter 13 was very interesting to read because it focused on the narrator’s obsession with the past which is a huge part of this novel.   When he comes upon a street vendor selling baked yams, the narrator is reminded of the South.  He buys some and walks around feeling free, as if he can enjoy something without being stereotyped, until he comes upon a crowd gathered around an eviction.  He watches white men remove furniture from a black couples’s house and the narrator immediately identifies himself with the couple since they were struggling as he had too.  As feeling as though the narrator has all the power in the world, he delivers a speech in front of the crowd in which they help carry the couples’s furniture back into the house because he had such an effect on the crowd.

            While reading the chapters for this week, there were too many events that caught my attention during the reading to talk about.  These few events are what I found to be significant in the novel.  The narrator is experiencing many different encounters now that he feels stronger than how he was described in the earlier chapters.  His love for public speaking is what makes him join the Brotherhood in which the narrator agrees in serving as their spokesperson.  I think he believes he is doing a good thing; however, I feel that the white men are taking advantage of the narrator.