Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man

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how to make the ordinary white
paint into "Optic White": Ten drops of a black formula must be mixed in to
the white paint, of which the surface is already brown. The narrator does
not understand this, and inquires about it, only to be insulted by Mr.
Kimbro. Mr. Kimbro, in no way what so ever, wants any of his workers to
think. He just wants them to obey. So the invisible man, although still
unable to comprehend this idiosyncrasy, does not persist. The white paint
may represent the white world, perhaps even America, as alluded to in the
company's advertisement. The black formula is what makes the white paint
into "Optic White", a much better, whiter, white. The formula, perhaps,
represents the behind the scenes blacks that worked for the whites so that
society persisted as it did in that time period. This idea will be touched
upon once again later on in this series of scenes.

The invisible man then falls victim to a bad set of circumstances. He
runs out of formula, ...

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