Chapter 16 Summary

The narrator is picked up by Brother Jack and some others to attend the rally in Harlem at which he is supposed to speak. When the men arrive at a large building, they wait in a dressing room for the audience to fill in. Some of the men are studying their speeches, and the narrator recognizes that they are in an arena where a famous boxer lost his sight in the ring. The narrator recalls being told the story by his father and begins feeling nervous about the speech he is to make. The narrator feels out of place and begins thinking about his double identity. The narrator realizes he needs to keep his past in the past, but that this other self looks on at him and reminds him of his cynical grandfather. The narrator continues thinking about the other self that...