Mutual Blindness

At the end of chapter three, the main character is called "invisible" for the first time. This happens at the Golden Day bar, after Mr.Norton is finally awake and is talking with a retired physician who was now a patient due to ulcers. The doctor is cynical about Mr.Norton's belief of destiny and the connection between the black race destiny and his own. He is also dissapointed at the main character's attitude, since he resembles a "walking personification of the negative" or a mechanical man, which is a white-made artifact. He calls the main character invisible because, even though he has the ability and capacity to listen and take information, he is restraining himself from understanding and analyzing it, merely to fit the white men's expectations. Finally, he stated that black people only meant numbers for Mr.Norton's great list of successes. The doctor's opinion deeply offended Mr.Norton, who rushed out the bar.

Ellison uses the doctor's character to portray the unconfortable effect the truth has on people. As the black,  physician dares to criticize and qualify both Mr.Norton and the main character as blind stumblers that have lost the sense of reality, tension is created. The perspective that white men have towards black men of being objects contradicts the black's perspective on white, since they see them as gods. The doctor's words have a tremendous impact on both characters, who feel deeply disturbed by the truth, and leave the bar.