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Despite the fact that Mr. Norton does little to genuinely support the growth of Black students, his presence in the novel has a significant impact on the narrator. Mr. Norton, who lives in Boston, is a wealthy trustee of the narrator’s southern college, and he arrives on campus to partake in the Founder’s Day celebrations. Introduced as someone with significant power, the narrator takes his responsibility to chauffeur him around very seriously and concedes to his every whim. This dynamic calls attention to the narrator’s submissive nature in the earliest moments of the novel, allowing Ellison to comment on just how stifling the school’s teachings are. Even when he knows that Mr. Norton’s requests will lead to trouble, he refrains from taking control because he is in the presence of a white man. Mr. Norton’s seemingly unquenchable curiosity contributes to the novel’s inciting incident and ultimately puts the narrator on the path to expulsion. He actively engages in conversation with both Trueblood and the Veteran, figures whom the narrator finds embarrassing, and eagerly listens to what they have to say. This interest, however, seems to come from a place of fascination with the “other” rather than a real concern for the Black men he meets during his time with the narrator. Mr. Norton interprets their stories in a way that reaffirm his biased views on race, even going so far as to reward Trueblood with money for embodying negative stereotypes.
Perhaps the most important element of Mr. Norton’s character, however, is his belief that the success of Black students is inherently connected to his own destiny. This mantra is one that he emphasizes to the narrator, attempting to convince him that he cares deeply about racial progress. While Mr. Norton may believe that he is acting altruistically, his actions imply that he is inherently self-serving. The fact that he continually references himself when discussing the school, for example, suggests that he sees himself as someone equally significant as the school. Mr. Norton ultimately plays the role of the white savior by believing that it is his responsibility to help Black students succeed, and he boosts his own ego by engaging with people like the narrator. Another detail which reflects Mr. Norton’s selfish motivations emerges when he tells the narrator the story of his daughter’s death. Although he explains that he dedicates his work to her memory, the grandiose, almost obsessive way in which he describes her hints at the idea that he seeks to absolve himself of guilt. Mr. Norton may be able to convince himself that philanthropy puts him on a moral high ground, but his treatment of the narrator as an individual reveals that he is deeply shallow. From his inability to help him stay in school to failing to recognize him at the end of the novel, Mr. Norton seems uninterested in supporting the school’s students as people, viewing them instead as statistics.
