Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution
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The turning point of the story is when Tod Clifton is shot and killed by a white police officer. The Narrator witnessed his death and created Clifton’s funeral without talking to the Brotherhood. They were displeased with the Narrator’ actions because they believed that it made the Brotherhood seem that they supported traitors and illegal business. Also, they were angry that the Narrator was thinking independently instead using the Brotherhood’s ideologies. After Clifton’s funeral, race riots occur in Harlem. People are running around setting buildings on fire and killing one another. Ras the Exhorter found the Narrator and proposed that he should be lynched. In order to escape from Ras, the Narrator went into hiding underground. The Narrator spends time in a manhole to contemplate the decisions he had made, who he is, and what it means to live life. After time of living underground, he finally decides to emerge to the outside world again.
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