A good number of the candidates attempted this question. The question demands the candidates to assess the influence of the narrator’s grandfather’s advice on him and how it reflects in his actions in the novel. The candidates that attempted this question were unable to capture the exact advice given by the grandfather.

Candidates were expected to discuss:

• The theme of the plight of the black man in racist 20th-century America.
• The character identification of the narrator and his grandfather.
• The grandfather’s advice: the grandfather gives the advice on his death bed. He advises the protagonist to do the following: continue to fight, be brave; pretend to be humble; avoid confrontation, etc.
• Effect of the advice on the narrator: the grandfather’s advice haunts the narrator as a constant reminder of his identity in a racial society. The advice prepares the narrator to utilize his supposed invisibility to his advantage. It also advice triggers off the revolutionary instincts in the narrator’s mind and prepares the narrator for his experience of racism in the novel.
• Relevance to the plot: the advice exposes the evil of racism as it is passed down the generations. The advice ironically demonstrates that silence is the solution to racism and foreshadows the events narrated in the novel as they unfold.

Candidates’ efforts are commendable.