The Vet's Advice

The vet's conversation with the invisible man in chapter seven is the first instance in which the invisible man recieves good advice. The vet suggests that the invisible man does not need to reject his personal beliefs and values to succeed as a black man in white society, and that he should do what he knows is right.
After the vet catches the invisible man in a little lie about his reason for moving to New York, he becomes disappointed with the invisible man and tells him to snap out of his foolish obedience to the backwards college society. The vet says, "Come out of the fog, young man. And remember you don't have to be a complete fool in order to succeed. Play the game, but don't believe in it - that much you owe yourself... Play the game, but play it your own way - part of the time at least. Play the game, but raise the ante, my boy. Learn how it operates, learn how you operate" (153-154).The vet means to say that the invisible man does not need to buy into the distorted southern society of black obedience to succeed as a black man in the U.S. The vet tells the invisible man to "come out of the fog" or snap out of his phony belief in this society and "play the game" on his own terms, without believing in it. Both the vet and the invisible man percieve the injustice of this society, however, the invisible man has tried to believe that he can only succeed by promoting his own inferiority to whites, whereas the vet has tried to succeed in this society without distorting his view of his own self-worth in comparison to whites.

The vet's advice is valid because he is more successful than the invisible man. The invisible man subscribed to the society of black obedience, and eventually his obedience to Mr. Norton's itinerary for their drive lead to the invisible man's expulsion from the university. The vet on the other hand, became a doctor by "playing the game on his own terms," but his unique attitude made him a target for whites. He was whipped by men in his town and later put in a mental ward. The vet's punishment, however, is a testament to his success because it shows that the white men in his town were made uneasy by his achievement. As he says, "I was forced to the utmost degradation because I possessed skilled hands and the belief that my knowledge could bring me dignity - not wealth, only dignity" (93). It seems that the vet's idea of success is dignity, and by believing in his own value as a black man he experienced tremendous success. It follows that the invisible man needs to learn to value himself in order experience success.