When Brother Maceo fails to show up at he bar, Invisible Man leaves and walks toward the district. On the way, he notes that he "saw not a single sign of Brotherhood activity" (427). Invisible Man enters the Brotherhood building only to find it quiet and dark. Not even Brother Tarp, who resides in the Brotherhood building, can be found. Invisible Man decides it would be best to call a meeting in the morning and announce his return to everyone at the same time. During the night, after pouring over the district records, Invisible Man enters Brother Tarp’s room to find it completely vacant.

When Invisible Man wakes up in the morning, he is surprised to find "there were a good number of members in the hall" (428). They organize into teams to search for Brother Clifton. Invisible Man learns that the organization has shifted from focusing on local to national issues. Assuming the usual strategy meeting will be held, Invisible Man waits to be called. When he is not called he worriedly hurries to the headquarters, the location of the meetings. He is agitated when he discovers that they are having the meeting without him and have asked not to be disturbed. Suspecting they may be discussing something related to him, Invisible Man leaves and decides to purchase shoes. Leaving the shoe store he recalls *"the old boyhood pleasure of discarding winter shoes for sneakers and the neighborhood foot races that always followed, that light-footed speedy, floating sensation,...I thought, you’ve run you’re last foot race" (430).*

After leaving the shoe store, Invisible Man finds Brother Clifton in the center of a crowd selling *"a grinning doll of orange-and-black tissue paper with thin flat cardboard disks forming its head and feet and which some mysterious mechanism was causing to move up and down in a loose-jointed, shoulder-shaking, infuriatingly sensuous motion." The doll is "throwing itself about with the fierce defiance of someone performing a degrading act in public" (431).* Moments later, as a policeman approaches, Brother Clifton gathers the dolls and moves away with the large crowd following behind.

As Invisible Man moves on, he ponders over Clifton. What caused Clifton to choose *"to fall outside of history...only in the Brotherhood" thinks Invisible Man, "could we make ourselves known, could we avoid being empty Sambo dolls" (434).* Suddenly, Invisible Man sees Brother Clifton, who has been arrested by a cop. Brother Clifton knocks the cop over, and the cop responds by shooting and killing Brother Clifton. Invisible Man is quite upset that the cop will be *"Clifton’s historian, his judge, his witness, and his executioner" and Invisible Man "was only the brother in the watching crowd" (439).*

Invisible Man goes to the subway and, while waiting for the train, sees several men who were about his age. They cause him to question the Brotherhood and its beliefs. In the train, he sees a white and a black nun praying. This reminds him of a verse he once heard in the Golden Day. *"Bread and Wine, Bread and Wine, Your cross ain’t nearly so Heavy as mine..." (442).* Invisible Man continues to observe the boys and the two nuns until he leaves the subway. He feels as though he is carrying *"a heavy stone, the weight of a mountain" on his shoulders and his "new shoes hurt his feet" (443).* Invisible Man realizes that the Brotherhood has not accomplished anything great and he has *"been so fascinated by the motion that [he had] forgotten to measure what it was bringing forth." Invisible Man discovers he has "been asleep, dreaming" (444).*

Brother Clifton - In this chapter Invisible Man learns of Brothers Clifton’s disappearance, his selling of paper Sambo dolls and his death. These events have a profound effect on Invisible Man.

Chapter Twenty takes place in Harlem. Invisible Man returns to his old position, and as he goes back to Harlem he finds no signs of Brotherhood activities. Over time, he learns that Harlem has changed a great deal since he left.

"the old boyhood pleasure of discarding winter shoes for sneakers and the neighborhood foot races that always followed, that light-footed speedy, floating sensation,...I thought, you’ve run your last foot race" (430).
This statement is made by Invisible Man as he leaves the shoe store. Invisible Man has just returned to his old position in the Harlem District and already senses that the atmosphere is very different from when he left. He is leaving his work on the Women’s Movement behind and has a new challenge, to return spirit and activity to the Harlem District. Invisible Man has left many things behind and wants to stay in the Harlem District.

"a grinning doll of orange-and-black tissue paper with thin flat cardboard disks forming its head and feet and which some mysterious mechanism was causing to move up and down in a loose-jointed, shoulder-shaking, infuriatingly sensuous motion."
The doll is "throwing itself about with the fierce defiance of someone performing a degrading act in public" (431).
When Invisible Man sees Brother Clifton selling Sambo dolls on the street, he is both deeply offended and confused. The movement of the dolls is related them to the Battle Royal scene when several men, including Invisible Man, are rushing about on an electric rug trying to collect money. The dolls are a symbol degrading to African Americans, and Invisible Man cannot understand Brother Clifton’s reasons for selling them.

"to fall outside of history...only in the Brotherhood" thinks Invisible Man, "could we make ourselves known, could we avoid being empty Sambo dolls" (434).
Invisible Man believes that the only way for an African American to do something significant and be remembered is through the Brotherhood. He does not understand why Brother Clifton would choose to leave the Brotherhood and give up any chance of becoming anything other than an "empty Sambo doll."

"Clifton’s historian, his judge, his witness, and his executioner" and he "was only the brother in the watching crowd" (439).
After the death of Brother Clifton, Invisible Man is disturbed that the only record of Clifton’s life and death will be what the cop who killed him records. This is ironic and eventually aids in Invisible Man's decision to hold a large funeral for Brother Clifton.

"Bread and Wine,
Bread and Wine,
Your cross ain’t nearly so
Heavy as mine...." (442)
Invisible Man relates this song he heard in the Golden Day to the two nuns he sees on the subway. The two nuns, one black and one white, are praying quietly. Invisible Man believes that the black nun must have a heavier cross because the black man always has a heavier burden to carry.

"a heavy stone, the weight of a mountain" on his shoulders and his "new shoes hurt his feet" (443).
When Invisible Man gets off the subway, he realizes that his new position is not what it first seemed. He feels uncomfortable and he questions the Brotherhood. He is not sure of his feelings about the Brotherhood and what he is supposed to do; therefore, "his shoes hurt his feet."

"been so fascinated by the motion that [he had] forgotten to measure what it was bringing forth" Invisible Man discovers he had "been asleep, dreaming" (444).
At this point, Invisible Man realizes that he was so interested and amazed at the ideas and philosophy of the Brotherhood, that he never looked back to see the results. Now, when he does stop and look back, he sees things that he missed before. This raises several questions about the Brotherhood.

Other Chapters

Prologue| Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5| Chapter 6| Chapter 7| Chapter 8| Chapter 9| Chapter 10| Chapter 11| Chapter 12| Chapter 13| Chapter 14| Chapter 15| Chapter 16| Chapter 17| Chapter 18| Chapter 19| Chapter 20| Chapter 21| Chapter 22| Chapter 23| Chapter 24| Chapter 25| Epilogue