Category: Invisible Man

Invisible Man, a novel written by Ralph Ellison, proclaims the social issues brought upon African Americans and their struggle with personal individuality, racial standards, and the invisibility of black identity in the narrator’s life. The novel begins with the narrator’s description of him living in the basement of a building, free of charge, that was limited for rent to whites only. This area was his secret place, “a place forgotten about and shut off during the nineteenth century” (5). He was also stealing his source of electricity from the Monopolated Light and Power Company enabling him to illuminate his space with 1,369 lightbulbs. Light is essential to the narrator because it “confirms [his] reality and gives birth to [his] form (6). His living condition is a reminder to him of his complications with his social invisibility of trying to be an established black man in a white empowered society. His proclamation of “being invisible, simply because people refuse to see [him]” (3) is not due to him living underground away from the rest of the world, but because as a black man, he bestows very little to no importance. He explains that his invisibility is the result of other people refusing to see him, and he has lived his life without knowing who he is to himself. History has a way of boomeranging itself as it seems to be progressing, yet it comes back and unknowingly hits you. An example is the existence of institutionalized racism reigning heavy in this novel as well as in American society. This form of racism is identified by the attitudes and racial bias of people because of systematic laws being evident providing racially characterized disadvantages to the Black community and other minorities. Although the physical act of slavery was lawfully put to an end in 1865, the mental effects of it have never fully been eradicated for we have truly been free when we discover who we are. This idea is proven today by the unlawful incarcerations, denial to property and residence, and mistreatment from those who still do not consider the black community to be people because of their skin color.

The narrator speaks of his grandfather as “a quiet old man” and the “meekest of men” (16). He remembers his grandfather’s words as they were more alarming than his death was. It appears the grandfather only experienced physical death as his words became attached inside of the narrator’s mind as a representation of his grandfather’s spirit continuing to linger on. Upon the grandfather being on his deathbed, he stated some words of advice to the narrator’s father saying “Son, I want you to keep up the good fight. Our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days. Live with your head in the lion’s mouth. Overcome ‘em with yeses, undermine ‘em with grins, and agree ‘em to death and destruction” (16). This statement was to encourage the narrator’s father and family to conform to the surface, but always resist underneath. He advised them to appear to be obedient and servile when, yet they should be revolting right in the faces of the white men.

I sought out irony in the words of the narrator as he said “He was seen as a man of desirable conduct and when being praised for his conduct, [he] felt a guilt that in some way [he] was doing something that was really against the wishes of the white folk” (17). The narrator believes that his expected role as a black man should have been to portray his anger and rage towards the white people. He bestowed a sense of guilt that he was doing the white people an injustice as he was conveying an inauthentic persona, when historically the white community was doing an injustice to him because of their treatment due to his racial identity. The narrator finds that the role he pretends to play restricts him from being free spirited as he states, “the nature of our society is such that we are prevented from knowing who we are” (156). Although he was not motivated to act any differently towards them, he felt they should have been given the response they were expecting but were not looking to receive…a fight for justice and equality.

At the narrator’s high school graduation, he gives a speech on how humility was the essence of progress. Due to the speech being so well received, he was invited to deliver a speech at a gathering of the town’s most prominent white citizens. Before the narrator delivers his speech, he is herded into a group of his schoolmates and told to fight in battle royal. The setting of the event was sophisticatedly described as the “room was large with high ceilings and the chairs were arranged in neat rows…revealing a gleaming space on the polished floor” (17). But the bizarre nature of what took place was a representation of the blinded black versus black chaos for the amusement of the white people. The group of men are given a reward of fake gold coins, otherwise known as brass tokens, that are pitched onto an electrified rug. They must jostle, like bloodthirsty animals, to pick up the coins while the white men are entertained by their suffering of being electrocuted symbolizing that the “power” the narrator stole from the light and power company has now come back to shock him proving the white man’s superiority. The young black men are made to look at a young white woman dancing “a slow sensuous movement” (19) who displays an American flag tattoo upon which amounts to liberty, freedom, and justice. These are the values that this novel suggest are out of reach of the black man just as the white woman is dancing before them. After the narrator delivers his speech, he receives a briefcase and a scholarship to an all-black institution. That same night, he dreams that the letter inside of the briefcase says “To Whom It May Concern, Keep This Nigger-Boy Running” which haunts him just as his grandfather’s advice did. The narrator’s dream prompts him to believe he must embody two identities: his authentic character that must be concealed if he desires to advance and a replicated identity of his grandfather as a meek, compliant man that white society calls for him to be.

The narrator is working for Liberty Paints Plant in New York, a successful company that sabotages blackness to manufacture its bestselling final product, optic white. He realizes that he is amongst a company that depends on the concept of blackness as it is the composition of the work force and the basis of the paint because of its mixing of the “milky brown substance” (199) and “ten drops of another black chemical” (200) stirred vigorously until the paint becomes glossy white. The company’s strict production of just white paint symbolizes their racist views as they advertise to “Keep America pure with Liberty Paints” (196). Liberty Paint’s slogan, “If It’s Optic White, It’s the Right White” (218) reminds the narrator of a childhood jingle, “If you’re white, you’re right” (218). He sees how this slogan is evident in his work experience as people believe that the machinery behind the creation of the paint is all there is to it, seizing away the credit of the black man’s work. There is nothing that goes into the perfection of the paint, that the narrator has not put his black, hardworking hands on.

Blindness is an important theme in this novel as it is in the form of racial prejudice. In the beginning of the novel, when the narrator is blindfolded in the battle royal, the white men who are in attendance are blinded by their impression of black people. The men are viewed as savages who are fighting to survive in the ring symbolizing a black man’s fight to be successful in American society. The narrator addresses this predicament at a brotherhood rally saying, They think we’re blind–un-commonly blind. And I don’t wonder. Think about it, they’ve dispossessed us each of one eye from the day we’re born. So now we can only see in straight white lines. We’re a nation of one-eyed mice’ (343). His speech strives to inform society of the dispossession of black Americans. African Americans are blinded by the desires of the white men by being deceived into fighting one another when they should be countering the treatment, they are receiving from the white men themselves. Blindness in this novel is capturing the reason behind and incapacity to put inequality to an end. Discernment in Invisible Man is warped depicted by the lack of vision form the characters: the white men, the blacks, and the rest of society. This inability to see the racial prejudices is what leads to invisibility, but the narrator believes that realizing your invisibility is a vital part of identity for once you are aware of it, you can comprehend how you contribute to society and use your knowledge to your advantage. The narrator has honored his individuality and recognizes that he must not sacrifice himself to the white community in order to confidently arise from being underground.

Ralph Ellison’s novel titled Invisible Man is abundant in themes and symbols about the twentieth-century African American experience. It highlights the narrator’s downfall from his embrace of racism during his time in college to his dissatisfaction with the way he is being treated, but he comes to an understanding of his purpose as a so-called “invisible man.” Ellison’s novel describes the accounts of the narrator, who is an African American male, through his journey to his understanding of himself, alongside with themes and symbols to show what inspires the narrator to do what he does. An important symbol in the novel is the Sambo doll, which is a doll that depicts African American stereotypes. This symbol pertains to the theme of race and identity developed through the events of the novel.

As shown in chapter twenty, while the narrator is walking down a street, he hears the voice of Tom Clifton, he notices that Clifton is playing with a Sambo doll by making it sing and dance. The narrator feels betrayed because Clifton is selling a Sambo doll, which is an offensive doll that portrays stereotypes of African Americans because he is making money off these derogatory toys. These dolls represent the stereotype of an African American street performer, who dances and sing as entertainment for white people. The doll is controlled by Clifton, which symbolizes that the stereotypes put on African Americans are made by people on the outside and do not correctly depict someone’s identity. The stereotype made by the doll, in conjunction with the fact that it is controlled like a puppet, leads the reader to believe that the white people convey this degrading stereotype of African Americans to make them feel as if they do not belong.

Clifton accepted and profited off of the stereotype and it allowed the doll to represent racism and gave the doll value, because Clifton, an African American male, made light of racism for personal gain and money. The narrator criticizes Clifton and his actions by stating, “Yes, the dolls were obscene and his act a betrayal. But he was only a salesman, not the inventor, and it was necessary that we make it known that the meaning of his death was greater than the incident or the object that caused it.” (Ellison 346) Although Clifton made money from his actions and being racist, the narrator believed that it was not his fault and he was not the source of racism because it was the doing of the greater society that permitted this to occur. Clifton was ultimately a victim and only sold the dolls to make money to support himself.

This sense of individual gain and victimization is consistent with the hardships and opinions of the narrator on individual identity. When the narrator burns the doll for light while attempting to hide underground, the narrator shows that while external forces can manipulate and control a stereotype, an individual is strong enough to dismantle its hold on his identity. This act of rebellion is the enlightenment that can come from taking control of the tyrannical rules of society. The narrator states, “Clifton’s doll, but it burned so stubbornly that I reached inside the case for something else.” (Ellison 440) When the narrator finds it difficult to burn the doll, it represents the difficulty for an individual to get rid of stereotypes and prejudices. This supports the narrator’s opinion on how to achieve self-understanding or personal enlightenment. Ultimately the narrator can liberate himself from racism by taking the lead and destroying it by himself.

The Sambo doll is a powerful portrayal of America’s deeply embedded recognition and benefit of racism, and as well as the individual’s role and ability to overcome it. Clifton selling the dolls demonstrates how someone can be submissive to societal expectations that fundamentally serve no one, and his self- exploitation shows that values can be compromised for financial benefit. The demolition of the doll shows the individual’s absolute authority to overcome these societal expectations and is the perfect encapsulation of the themes of identity and individuality shown in the novel.

About the author

Herbert George wells was English writer born in 21 September 1866, he writes on various novels, short stories on social issues, science fiction, history, satire, biography. In his science fiction, he took the ideas and fear fantasy that haunted the mind of his age and gave them symbolic expression as brilliantly conceived made credible by the quiet realism of its setting.

About the novel

This is an early science fiction novel written by hg wells in 1897. This novel is basically about how a scientist which develop a method to become invisible, by his invisibility he can use his power of welfare of society but by the greed of being invisible he started harming peoples. he instead of developing idea to become visible again he started behaving rudely with the people due to his ego of being invisible. and at the end his greed led him to tragic end.

Theme and setting of the novel

The main theme of this novel is that how greed can cause inadvertent consequences. This a novel about how a man with his research become invisible, he become so mad of being indivisible. he became so dangerous that he started hurting people, and not even thinking of becoming visible again. but at the end he got caught and by the people. If he uses his power wisely it can be more beneficial for him and the society also, but he chosen the wrong path. That’s why with the great power, there comes the responsibility also.

Summary of the novel

The story starts with a strange man which came to village name Eping and stayed inn named coach and horses. The man was indulged full of clothes from top to bottom. That inn is run by Mrs. Hall. The name of man was Griffin, even his was full covered with the bandages and googles. Griffin behaved very rudely with Mrs. Hall and very impatiently said to Mrs. Hall that informed him whenever his luggage came from railway station. Mrs Hall said okay sir there will be no problem. Next day Griffin told Mrs. Hall that he is an experimental investigator and he need his equipment’s to perform experiments. Next day a carrier Fearnside came with Griffin’s luggage in which scientific equipment are there and there also some handwritten notebooks also and some crates with liquid matter and there was label of poison was written on it. By seeing he was looking like a scientist, but the next Mrs. Hall heard some clashing sounds of bottle. Then he asked Griffin that what is happening. Then Griffin told Mrs. Hall that please don’t disturb me right now and if you want to you can add charges of it in the bill. Griffin stayed for months in the inn. He never goes to church, nor even talk to anyone in the village and he only came out of inn in night only. All villagers were started talking about the Griffin. He never showed his face to anyone and the bandages were always there on his face. Then one day a local doctor William cuss came to Griffin in that inn and then doctor saw that the hand of Griffin was missing from his sleeve, but the doctor feels that hand on his nose. By seeing all these things, the doctor ran away from there. Many days passed away Griffin was not paying his bills to Mrs. Hall. Then Mrs. Hall warns Griffin that pay the bills by Tomorrow or leave the room. But Griffin has no money then he left with only one way and that was theft. So, at that night Griffin tried to do robbery in Mr. And Mrs. Bunting house. After hearing some sound both came down and saw that no one was there. Then the next the day owner of inn Mrs. Hall asked Griffin that he has not paid the bill till now then Griffin gave the money to Mrs. Hall. Mrs. Hall has doubt on Griffin that he has no money till yesterday then from he got the money. Now all the villagers came and stand in front of Griffin and asked him what’s the matter then Griffin started removing the bandages and googles and his face becomes invisible. After seeing this some villagers ran away from there. Then the local police officer Boby Jaffers tried to arrest him but Griffin ran away from there. Now after ran outside of the village he seeks help from the man named Thomas Marvel. First marvel thought that it was his hallucination that someone was talking to him but is not visible to him, then Griffin through the stone at him and convinced him that in reality he was a man which is invisible. Marvel get shocked by seeing and then became ready to help Griffin. Marvel helped Griffin to bring back his equipment’s from the inn. In the inn Bunting and Dr. Cuss were investigating the books of Griffin they are trying to read but they cannot understand anything as the book was written in geek style. Marvel and Griffin successfully took off the luggage of Griffin from the inn. Whole village is now very much scared of terror of Griffin that no one came outside of their house till 2 hours. As Marvel helped Griffin to bring back his luggage but now, he thought that further he will not help Griffin anymore, but Griffin threatened him that you should help me otherwise I will kill you.

Then the next the Marvel stealthily from Griffin came to the town port stove and there in a pub he started eating the food then there he meets the sailor and start talking to him. Sailor asked Marvel that did you hear about that rumour of an invisible man, there is an article in the newspaper about the terror of an invisible man. As the Marvel ran away from the Griffin came inside the but Griffin also came behind running him and there was fight inside the pub in that fight gets hurt by the bullet and Griffin ran away from there. Now the next scene is in the house of Dr. Kemp. The doorbell of Dr. Kemp rings but the servant of Dr. Kemp told him that no one was there. Then suddenly Dr. Kemp saw the blood drops inside his bedroom and at the handle of the door. Then Griffin started talking with Dr. Kemp, but Dr. Kemp is not ready to believe that there is man inside in his room. Griffin introduced himself to Dr. Kemp and reminded him that we both studied together in a college in London. Now Kemp believed him and served him food and whiskey and Dr. Kemp told him that sleep in my room tonight. Next day Griffin told Kemp that years ago when he was researching on light and optics, he got the idea to invisible the alive tissue and he kept his research confidential because he is afraid that nobody steals his research. After researching on it for 3 years Griffin thought that to continue on his research, he needs some money, but nobody is ready to give money to him. Griffin told kemp that he stolen the money from his father, and he was not ashamed of what he has done because he was a foolish man who is not understanding my efforts. In starting Griffin done his experiments on the piece of fabric and then on the cat of the neighbour’s both became invisible. When Griffin doing his experiments the lot of noise came from the machines due to which his neighbour’s and his landlord become anxious of Griffin and his landlord also had some doubts on him. Griffin thought that by this experiment fabric and cat both became invisible and he thought that why not let it apply on his own body. And Griffin did his experiment on himself and became invisible and as he knew that landlord has some doubt on him, he destroyed all the machines. But after becoming invisible the Griffin realised that how hard this life has become. Now after becoming invisible he can’t eat anything neither wore anything as if he eat something the food is visible till it is digested the Griffin did some robbery and cover himself with some clothes and went to the village to continue his experiment and now he was sitting in front of Dr. Kemp and saying that how it will be if you and me both become invisible and terrorized. Griffin was thinking that kemp will support him, but Kemp warned him that you’re going on wrong way. Only then Kernel Adie came there and then kemp and kernel ran away from there and told everyone about the plan of Griffin in the local area. Then Griffin started killing everyone. Local area people found the dead body of two people and the villagers thought that it must have been done by the Griffin. Then Griffin attacked on kemp , kemp asked for the help from his neighbour’s but the neighbour’s denied to help him , Kemp escaped from Griffin and was running here and there but Griffin caught kemp and suddenly also the local people break upon the Griffin and the people beaten the Griffin till he did not died. After Griffin death his body reappears, and everyone was now able to saw him

Recommendation

Wells write a novel in a very nice manner and in an interesting way. The story itself is also quite funny, I thought and many of the scenes played in my mind as slapstick. The Invisible Man is the ultimate story of an insane anti-hero, before insane anti-heroes became popular. Griffin himself becomes more and more pathetic as the story progress and from the comical start Wells moves away to a darker, subtle satire of small minds in small towns can be just as dangerous as any psychopath.

References

1. sources- novel (“the invisible man”) by HG Wells,
2. Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells
3. www.quora.com – for getting general idea that how people like this book

Representation in media and industry is a constant topic of discussion these days. Being “seen” has taken on an entirely new meaning. Society has made a lot of strides as far as inclusion. Due to social media and cable television, the average person is exposed to a number of different types of people and cultures.

Historically, segments of society were more segregated, to the point where mainstream society is completely oblivious to the experience of other walks of life. In the book “The Invisible Man,” the term invisible is used to describe black society and culture, because of the lack of awareness of the black experience by well off whites.

In his novel, “Invisible Man,” Ralph Ellison conveys this idea of invisibility through the way it shapes the main character’s thoughts and actions. At different points during the book the main charcter is motivated by his “invisibility” to do what he can to be seen white people. This feeling of invisibility has a negative impact on his own self worth. He chooses to shape his image with the goal of the acceptance of white people. He eventually comes to the realization on his own that in order to be seen, one has to truly acknowledge who they are and be themselves.

In the novel, “Invisible City,” Julia Dahl uses the term invisible in a slightly different way. It’s similar in a sense because in both novels, it signifies not being seen by mainstream society. The main difference between the two is that in “Invisible City,” the people who are “invisible,” are invisible by choice. The Hasidic Jewish committee uses isolation and non-inclusion as a source of power. It actually makes them stronger as a community.

In “Invisible Man,” the author explains in the beginning why the main character is invisible. “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me” (page 3). He’s explaining that the world fails to look beyond the stereotypical perception of what black people are. Early on, he talks about impressing important white men, mainly his principal, through a speech he gives. The author is asked to recite his speech to a group of these white men. He’s actually excited to finally be seen by white people. Instead of just reading his speech, he is forced into a violence with other black men. Afterwards, they still request the main character to deliver his speech to a crowd that does not seem to care. He is awarded a scholarship when finished, causing him to feel visible again.

He unconsciously values the opinion of white people more than he values his own, simply because of the rush he gets from finally being seen. In “Invisible City,” the Hasidic Jewish community has such a strong sense of identity that they only value the opinions and views of those in the group. Both similar conditions, but drastically different responses to the condition. In “Invisible Man,” the author mentions advice his grandfather gave him. “Overcome ‘em with yeses, undermine ‘em with grins, agree ‘em to death and destruction, let ‘em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open” (16). The main character is told that it’s better for him to smile and do what the whit man says, rather than make them angry. The Hasidic community in “Invisible City,” doesn’t feel the same burden to appease the outside world, despite not being seen.

The narrator in “Invisible Man” continues seeking visibility during his college years. He receives advice from the University President, a black man named Dr. Bledsoe, on how to deal with white men. Bledsoe says, “That’s my life, telling white folk how to think about the things I know about. It’s a nasty deal and I don’t always like it myself…But I’ve made my place in it and I’ll have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am” (140-141). The constant need to be seen and acknowledged by the outside world inevitably leads to self-hate.

The narrator’s feelings toward invisibility eventually start to shift and evolve. As a result of his life’s journey he understands that his opinion of himself and his people are more important than anyone else’s. After seeing an older black couple get evicted, the narrator gives a fiery speech to a crowd. He shifts the value he places on being seen by white men toward being seen by his people. Much like the Orthodox Jewish community in Dahl’s “Invisible City,” the narrarator leans into the power dynamics of group identity. He joins a group called The Brohterhood, that speaks out for black rights in America. He believes these speeches are his key to gaining new visibility.

In all actuality the narrator is not any more visible than before. The Brotherhood is just using him as a spokesman, without actually valuing his ideas. Additionally, The Brotherhood members critique the narrator when he attempts to speak outside of The Brotherhood’s ideas. He again finds himself feeling invisible.

One day the narrator decides to take on the identity of a man named Rinehart. The new Rinehart persona isn’t submissive to anyone and makes his own decisions in life. It’s a noticeable contradiction between his original sensibilities and his new personality. The narrerater comes to the conclusion that the burning desire to be seen is not helpful to him as a person.

Toward the end of the novel, Ellison explains that sometimes invisibility can be an advantage. In “Invisible City,” the invisibility of the community makes even the local government and police force careful about getting involved in their business. The narrator in “Invisible Man,” also expresses how being invisible allows him to go about his business without anyone noticing him. He goes into hiding after riots break out in Harlem, and in doing so finds a freedom he has never felt before. Being able to express himself freely without worrying about acceptance from anyone is liberating to the point where he does not feel the same need to be seen.

Ellison uses the main character to illustrate identity issues facing many blacks in America through his use of the term “invisible.” Due to the way blacks in America have been treated historically, there’s a need to want to be seen as more than what others may think of you. Your self worth becomes tied into the recognition of other cultures, and consumed with proving yourself. Dahl uses the term invisible similarly, but the characters take pride in their isolation. They don’t feel the need to assimilate to mainstream culture the way many in the black community do. It’s likely due to the vastly different experiences of both groups. Ellison sheds light on the historical context that led to this type of mindset.

The Invisible Man book report

The title of this piece of literature is The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I believe the title means that the main character is truly invisible or the acts he commits may look like it was done by an unseeable entity. The genres of this story consist of social commentary, African American literature, and Bildungsroman. Now Bildungsroman is a unique type of genre in literature as the main focus of it is on how the protagonist in the story grows as a person, psychologically and morally. This is important in this story as the protagonist may deal with struggles and has to learn from it. The setting of story takes place in New York City on the Harlem side and a black college to the south, the time period is the 1930’s so racial tension is high, especially against African Americans.

Exposition

The Invisible Man kicks off with our protagonist who is an unnamed African American man who resides in Harlem New York City. Due to the time period in which he lives in he resides in hew feels as if he doesn’t exist or even matter to society as like he’s just an invisible man, as his cries for help may not be answered or heard. The protagonist begins to have terrible flashbacks to a couple of years in the past when he was a high school student and he came across a white superintendent who offered a chance for the protagonist to get up and make a speech, but the superintendent instead of a speech he decided to humiliate the protagonist and how he was going to be humiliated is by him being blindfolded and told to fight against nine friends. After all of that wrongful humiliation by the superintendent, the protagonist gave off a speech to others in which after the humiliation he felt terrible and like an invisible figure to people in society. These acts would ignite what would later happen and explain to why the protagonist feels invisible to society and the racial disparity as why did the white superintendent has done this and gotten away with it and opens up on how harsh African Americans were treated and many people turned a blind eye.

Conflict

The protagonist begins to make a move and begins to act to the values and social norms of the social group he’s associated with and also the expectations others may have of other people because of their social group or by the way they look. Our protagonists struggle and think through his thoughts on how he struggles to be able to accept his role that is imposed by society just because he happens to be a black man. The protagonist deals with hardship as for many black Americans they struggle on how to be seen as normal people and not automatically classify them like this and also think of racially motivated attacks. Our unnamed protagonist takes a lot of time to really understand how and why the concept of his identity and also struggles with who he really is as he is taking an inside look on his inner identity in which most of society won’t notice nor care. The great struggle is on how people in society may perceive someone just off of the bases of their appearance thus making many social norms and creating standards and it shows the difficulty of being different and many are not accepting of it.

Rising Action

As the protagonist struggles with problems of fitting in with society but he’s really just glanced over and no one really cares or acknowledges his existence. At the college in which the protagonist attended, Dr. Bledsoe expels the narrator(the protagonist) from the college. After all of the ruckus from the expulsion, the protagonist gets into a little brawl with his black supervisor at the Liberty Paints plant, and from the fight, he later arrives at the hospital. During his experience at the hospital, he forms a formidable bond with Mary as during this time of him meeting a great ally. The protagonist has a sense of rebirth and Mary decides to teach the protagonist a great sense of responsibility. Shortly after Mary offers the protagonist to join the Brotherhood as she believes he has learned greatly and changed for the better as if he’s a brand new man as he would fight for racial equality.

Climax

After joining the Brotherhood the protagonist finally felt like he truly belonged in something like he truly matters in the world after so long. The protagonist, later on, witnesses Clifton’s murder which the blood was on the hands on the white police that committed the terrible act racially. The protagonist later struggles to get in touch with the brotherhood, so he decides to prepare and plan Clifton’s funeral on his command and rallies the African American community to put their anger and frustration towards the state of race relations. Brotherhood shortly after the protagonist’s act of independence and freedom he is kicked out of the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood didn’t appreciate his acts and thus he was out now it’s uncertain but chaos is coming.

Falling Action

Shortly after the protagonist is kicked out of the Brotherhood the anger from the oppression of African Americans and the wrongful murder of Clifton, riots in Harlem break out. During this time the people who are relenting their anger that has been piling up until it reached the breaking point and there is much hate surrounding communities and tons of distraught. The narrator meets a rather foul and quite awful man named Ras, who later calls for the narrator to be lynched. This causes the narrator the run and hide for his life as Ras and the police would lynch him if they catch him. The narrator now needs to keep his head low and be wary as he’s currently being hunted down. Through his attempt to stay alive he falls into a manhole and lives underground for a while until it’s safe to come out just like hibernation.

Resolution

As the story is winding down the protagonist decided to leave the manhole and rejoin society and to not hide anymore as he has before. The protagonist would now show who he really is as he displays he’s a complex individual instead of being brought down and forgotten by the labels people may call him or see him as. The protagonist has truly grown as an individual as he’s not some loner and some worthless human being-like how people may apply labels like that to him but no he’s truly a complex character and he’s more than just an African American facing racial discrimination, but instead, he may succeed and show others or may inspire many hopeless African Americans that were just like him so many years ago.

Main Character

The main character in this story is left unnamed and is referred to as the protagonist or narrator. I believe this character is the protagonist as the story is told from his point of view and tells you his experience. As he considers himself invisible or nonexistent because the general public never sees who he really is other than the stereotypical roles and stereotypes. Racial problems also come into play. Although when he was very young he was very naive and stirred up some trouble, he would later change and gain responsibility and join the Brotherhood finally ignoring his blindness and later honoring his complexity and he doesn’t even sacrifice his social responsibility. This is a perfect example of a great character and a character that is like a real person as he goes to struggles and is sometimes in danger or sadness.

Antagonist

The antagonist is Ras The Exhorter is what I believe to be the bad guy of the story because he is the one who started and encouraged the riots in Harlem. Ras also loves to get the public agitated. Ras represents a black nationalist movement in order to fulfill his wish for a violent overthrow of white supremacy although white supremacy is bad it’s that there are better ways to go about it. Ras would also oppose the Brotherhood and didn’t like the protagonist that much and he shows that by being violent towards the narrator and wants to lynch him as well. The protagonist must overcome this character to stay safe and live to see another day.

Favorite character

Mary is a character that I’m very fond of as she gives off such a grandma vibe as she helped out the protagonist by offering him a place to stay and of course food and a place to rest. Mary is really kind and she was doing all of that free of charge. Mary is also the one who tell the protagonist more about his black identity and how he can become someone greater and urges the protagonist on to join the fight with other African Americans on racial issues and the fight for equality. Mary is important for the story as she is the one who really sets off the protagonist to show who he really is and to actually be complex.

Theme

The theme of the story was such a huge problem back in the day but yet the problem still somewhat remains today. The theme of The Invisible Man is racism as an obstacle to individual identity. Racism is a huge theme in this story as to how the protagonist begins the story. The protagonist happens to be black while living in a racist America which was normal and accepted in their days but not anymore. The narrator finds two unique sets of black communities such as the Brotherhood and Liberty paints which both of communities support a certain way in which an African American is supposed to act. This shows is that because of their skin color they are supposed to fall under certain categories, some people may be ok with that but others aren’t as those categories may not fit the person who they really are. The protagonist goes through this struggle as he’s been a part of both of the communities and eventually got kicked out. At the end of the novel, the protagonist later becomes a complex individual as he tore off the chains that society placed on how he was supposed to act or be like he didn’t want to be the same as 20 others he wanted to find himself and see who he really is.

Opinion

The Invisible Man is a good book but there is a little problem, it’s not really a book that may captivate people so that they’ll read it consistently but as I kept on reading more and more did I enjoy the book more, and its great on how the book has a great message that I believe everyone should acknowledge or even incorporate the theme of the story in their own life. The story was surprisingly entertaining at times. This isn’t a book that I would consider an instant read as this style of story may only appeal to certain types of people but yes I would recommend it.

Vocabulary

With pieces of literature, they include sometimes difficult vocabulary as to tell the reader/ explain to the reader in greater context on whatś happening in the story. I have five vocabulary words in which I didn’t fully understand yet but then I took a closer look at them.Constituency,flamboyant,inauthentic,maverick,and servile. Those 5 words got me somewhat confused as I was reading the story, but when I found their meaning it felt like a puzzle truly coming together.

Works cited

1. SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/invisibleman/characters/.
2. SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/invisibleman/characters/.
3. SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/invisibleman/themes/.
4. SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/invisibleman/facts/.
5. Gallegos, Isaiah. “Exposition Presentation of Invisible Man By Ralph Ellison.” Prezi.com, 4 Nov. 2017, prezi.com/puuilpyonpci/exposition-presentation-of-invisible-man-by-ralph-ellison/.
6. Shmoop Editorial Team. “Invisible Man Booker’s Seven Basic Plots Analysis.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008, www.shmoop.com/invisible-man-ellison/rags-to-riches-plot.html.

 The significance that the grandfather’s deathbed speech had on the narrator is unclear. The narrator himself seems confused by the speech and tries to ignore it for most of his life, but once he starts seeing the world and the people in it as they truly are, he uses the speech to give his own life new meaning. I think that the grandfather believed he had betrayed his people by always wanting to please people. In becoming amiable, the narrator loses himself, but he later figures out what he believes in and, using the strategy of smiling betrayal, decides to go along with the brotherhood’s plans, while also trying to undermine them. He pretended to want one thing while working for another thing, which quite possibly contributed to maintaining his invisibility.

Oratory, or skill in public speaking, is used to inspire and motivate people. It gives the audience a common understanding and spurs them into action. The narrator uses his education, which he sometimes deems worthless, to reach out to both races and try to bring them together for a common purpose. In using his educated mannerisms, he sometimes feels disconnected from his people but knows that his speeches are the best way to be heard. Speakers have to be specific in their use of language because if they aren’t careful their speeches can be turned into a means of destruction and violence like that of the narrator’s speech on dispossession, which led to a fight with people from the government and his speech at Clifton’s funeral leading the masses to riot.

The entire novel is based on a fight between blacks and whites. Their basis is racial injustices and the idea of white superiority. The races are engaged in a battle of both physical and psychological warfare. The whole concept of invisibility stems from the segregation of blacks and whites, in which both races lived entirely separate lives and gave rise to feelings of oppression and degradation, which created constant conflict between the two races.

I believe that there is little possibility of friendship or cooperation between the races when based solely upon the narrator’s relationships with these white benefactors. Every white man he encountered was using him for their gain or saw him as less than a person. Brother Jack used him for his political standing and further his reputation among the people for multiple causes. The white men he passed on the streets and those that he worked with in the paint factory didn’t treat him as an equal and seemingly regarded him with contempt. This isn’t based on all whites, but the majority of them were only concerned with themselves and what he could do for them. In today’s day and age, integration between races has proved that cooperation and friendship can exist.

Brother Clifton was the first of the three to strike out against social norms, Brother Tarp was a slave and gave a link of the chain to the narrator, and the narrator was kicked out of school, but they all ended up with the brotherhood. In many ways, Brother Clifton and Tarp prove to be better friends and more trustworthy people than the white “benefactors” because the discrimination of black people is different in the eyes of a white person.

The way Ellison’s language manages to make the Brotherhood’s thoughts and actions seem as though they are coming from a higher power resembles that of the nation’s government. Like that of the brotherhood, no one knows what happens in the government, we only know what they have allowed to make public. I believe Ellison is attempting to state that people as a whole should be more cautious and learn all of the facts of a situation before jumping into something. The narrator utilizes the Founder, the Brotherhood, Ras the Exhorter, and others to represent the powerful social forces that worked with or in opposition to African Americans. Ellison conveys the failures of these people through the narrator. For example, Ras the Exhorter was against the Brotherhood and his way of undermining them was foolish to the narrator. The narrator is also used in the shortcomings of the Brotherhood because when he found out that the group wasn’t what he thought it was, he felt that they had failed him and that he had failed himself.

Tod Clifton might have left the Brotherhood because he found that he no longer agreed with their tactics or tendencies. Clifton didn’t approve of what the Brotherhood was doing, so the demeaning Sambo dolls, which represented an insult to African Americans, were meant to show the public that not everything you see turns out to be what you expect

. I think that what the narrator means by Clifton falling out of history is that he thought the Brotherhood would make extraordinary changes and do meaningful things that would affect society, but Clifton would no longer be a part of it. I think that by focusing on the “invisible man” and not narrowing it down to one specific race, Ellison shows that he believes that everyone deserves second chances and has the potential to do great things.

Ellison establishes an atmosphere of paranoia in his novel because the narrator is afraid of becoming invisible, but at the same time wishes to go unnoticed by certain groups of people. In various instances, the narrator becomes anxious at the thought of someone from his past recognizing him or someone from his present noticing him. This style of writing is particularly appropriate to Ellison’s subject matter because at this time, living in fear wasn’t uncommon. This is because people of color never knew what was going to happen to them or how people would react to their presence.

These various scenes in the novel are all similar to songs in the ways that they are very descriptive and recount individual encounters. The description of the college campus is more laidback and centered around the characteristics of the world, while the chapel scene carries with it a sense of vulnerability and anxiousness. Ellison used his musical background to keep the intensity of the current story and used “music” in the scenes to heighten their significance as a result of their differences. Every scene is unique, which brings about their melodic qualities.

This book is still alive because racism isn’t dead. If African Americans weren’t still dealing with racism in our general public, this novel would just be utilized as a historical work. In any case, when you remove the Invisible Man from the setting of mere racism, more individuals would have the ability to identify with these accounts. The novel speaks to African American experiences and sheds light on the various social and racial injustices. The author wrote this book in a way that kept the reader guessing and engaged, while also allowing them to learn and see how people can relate to the scenes in a variety of ways and situations. I do not know how true this novel was to the lives of black Americans because I have no personal experience with these situations, however, I do believe that what was written is most likely very accurate.

I believe that Ellison wrote this novel with the idea of reaching a broader audience, one in which a white reader could read it without becoming defensive and could feel empathetic towards the struggles of a black man in white America. I think Ellison tried to make the language of the narrator seem “whiter” because he did seem to stick out in encounters with other black people. Given that the author was writing a book on what wasn’t working for blacks in America, one of those challenges being whites, I think he did an excellent job of effectively getting his message across. I feel like the novel’s meaning was rather universal and not meant to cater to one specific race of people, but rather to point out what was going wrong in society.

Identity is the contention between self-perception and the projection of others

Rising above conflicts of race and the various ways mankind has categorized people

Exposition: The novel begins with a nameless man, who feels as though he is not a part of anything meaningful or doesn’t belong because he is invisible by society’s standards. He recounts the lessons learned in his school days to clue the reader into how he became the way he is. He notes that after undergoing humiliating and gruesome acts at the hands of white people, he was able to deliver a speech, but it left him feeling even more miserable and invisible.

Rising Action: The narrator gets expelled from college based on something he had no control over and strikes out on his own to find work in New York. Once there, he finds himself in the basement of Liberty Paints Plant and gets caught in the explosion of the boiler room. He wakes up with little memory and leaves the factory, feeling disconnected from his mind and himself.

Climax: The climax of the novel comes when the narrator witnesses Tod Clifton’s racially motivated murder at the hands of white police officers. Much to the dismay of the Brotherhood, the narrator takes it upon himself to make the funeral arrangements and gets many people to show up and share in his pain. The Brotherhood berates him for this act of independence and he finally sees what the Brotherhood is actually about.

Falling Action: The falling action of the novel is when the riots break out in the streets of Harlem. The riots were a way of releasing the repressed animosity that had accumulated from Clifton’s funeral. The narrator encounters Ras the Exhorter, who orders the capture and hanging of the invisible man. Now on the run from Ras and the police, the narrator descends into a manhole and continues to live below the surface of society.

Resolution: While underground, the narrator grows from his knowledge and develops insight that is both significant and liberating. He decides to record his thoughts and lessons and realizes that it’s time for him to emerge from the underground and rejoin the world. He is now able to recognize that his identity comes from within and outside of himself and that he needs to find a balance between the two. He continues to call himself an invisible man but has found a more empowering method of seeing and dealing with his intangibility, one that will permit him to act and survive in a racist society.  The novel begins in a small town located in the American South during the 1930s, then moves to a nearby Negro College. After the narrator’s untimely expulsion from college, he moves to New York City’s Harlem, where he finds work and lives, first in a boarding room, then in his apartment. Toward the end of the novel, the narrator lives underground in a sewage vent. The first and final chapters occur in the present and frame the past occurrences that make up the body of the novel.

One significant minor character is Mary, a motherly woman, who rents a room out to the narrator when he is at his lowest. She encouraged him to use his voice and didn’t force her own opinions onto him. She didn’t use him for her gain and treated him like a friend.

Brother Tod Clifton was also a significant minor character. He was a young black youth leader of the Brotherhood, who was fighting for racial equality in a white society. The narrator and Brother Clifton share similar ideals, and the narrator is disappointed when Clifton leaves the Brotherhood but later understands why he did it. Brother Clifton left the Brotherhood because he and his cause were being overlooked and he decided that he wanted to spread awareness of the fact that what you expect isn’t always what you get.

Another significant minor character was Ras the Exhorter. He was an impassioned and enraged man who had a flair for public agitation. He regularly opposes the Brotherhood and the narrator himself, generally violently, and provokes riots in the streets of Harlem. Ras is representative of the black nationalist movement and believes that blacks and whites never come together, as well as advocates for the violent overture of white supremacy.

Mr. Norton can be seen as a significant minor character because he is one of the wealthy white trustees at the narrator’s college. He tells the narrator that he is Mr. Norton’s destiny, which tricks the narrator into feeling important when in reality he’s just being used to make Mr. Norton feel good about himself. Mr. Norton doesn’t care what the students do as long as he feels he is helping them, and he relies on the future fortune for his agenda, which is making himself feel and look useful and important.

Rinehart is another significant minor character. He is a figure who never appears in the novel in person, but only in reputation. The narrator realizes that Rinehart’s possession of multiple identities represents a life of opportunity, intricacy, and possibility, which the narrator finds intriguing and thus follows suit to go unrecognized. Rinehart’s shape-shifting capacity represents the problem of identity and the projection of others.

Blindness represents the flawed perception people hold and how they deliberately evade noticing and confronting the truth. The narrator repeatedly notes that people’s failure to see what their bias doesn’t permit them to see has constrained him to an existence of effective invisibility. Unfortunately, prejudice of others isn’t the only form of blindness referenced in the novel. Many people also refuse to accept truths about themselves or their society, and this refusal rises consistently in the symbolism of visual deficiency. In this manner, the young boys who were a part of the “battle royal” wore blindfolds, representing their powerlessness to perceive their abuse, and were at the mercy of the white men. The Founder’s statue, which is void of eyes, at the college, implies his ideology’s obstinate disregard of racist realities. Reverend Homer A. Barbee, who romanticizes the Founder, and Brother Jack, who lacks an eye, but has replaced it with a glass one, are both afflicted with this blindness, as well as the narrator himself. When under enormous, blinding lights, addressing the black community, he is unable to see the faces of whom he is speaking. For each situation, the lack of sight compares to an absence of knowledge.

Throughout the novel, the paper isn’t a good sign for the narrator. His first encounter with paper as a bad omen came in the form of Dr. Bledsoe’s “recommendation” letters. The reality behind these letters was one of rejection, which left the narrator hurt, embarrassed, and confused. The second occurrence was when he agreed to join the Brotherhood. He received two pieces of paper that night: one contained his new identity and the other money. The Brotherhood robbed the narrator of his identity and replaced it with a version of someone they hoped would advance their standing in society. Normally, money could be seen as a good thing, but this money came from the Brotherhood and at the expense of losing himself, so others could prosper. Finally, the narrator receives a letter, in which he is told to slow down on his approach to the people and in his movements. After receiving this letter, he is accused of being an opportunist and is sent away, at which time the Brotherhood allows his movements to fall apart and starts to show their true intentions.

The Sambo doll represents degrading black stereotypes and illustrates the power one has to control a person’s movement. The Sambo doll is representative of the Sambo slave, who, in white stereotypes, was considered lazy, but obedient. The dancing doll also symbolizes the demeaning stereotype of the black entertainer for the white people. Tod Clifton and the narrator were the Sambo dolls of the Brotherhood. They were being yanked around by strings they couldn’t see and manipulated by forces stronger than themselves. The narrator’s name, appearance, oratory skills, and ideology were all changed by the Brotherhood in assistance to their organization’s advancements.

At Liberty Paints Plant, how the optic white paint is made is representative of how the American working society needs the assistance of the black working class. The white owners sell the paint and earn more money than the black workers do, even though the black workers carry out all of the essential labor. To make the “purest white that can be found” (Ellison 202), ten drops of black toner must be added and mixed into the white paint. This process demonstrates the idea of white dominance over black workers. In addition, Liberty Paints Plant insists that the optic white paint can cover any blemish or stain. This is similar to that of whites being willing to cover up the black culture and identity with their white standards and community.

Brother Tarp’s leg chain symbolizes the suffering and injustices of the treatment he had to endure for simply saying no to a man who wanted to take something from him. The chain link is somewhat related to his grandfather’s speech in the way that it highlights the injustices in the treatment of blacks. The link that Brother Tarp gave to the narrator becomes a symbol of his liberation from the oppression, constraints, and afflictions of the Brotherhood. 

Mary Rambo’s character functions similarly to Emma’s. She is introduced in chapter twelve as the Invisible Man arrives in Harlem. While in a confused and weak state, the Invisible Man encounters Mary. She says, “You take it easy, I’ll take care of you like I done a heap of others, my name’s Mary Rambo, everybody knows me round this part of Harlem, you heard of me, ain’t you?” (Ellison 252). The Invisible Man drifts into sleep and wakes up to find Mary sitting across the room. Mary works at the Men’s House in Harlem and helps the Invisible Man. However, while she helps the Invisible Man through a period when he is lost, she is not a part of the narrative for more than a chapter. The way the Invisible Man uses Mary is clear when he narrates, “I found her exceedingly irritating to listen to. Still, she never dunned me and was as generous with her servings of food during mealtime as ever. “It’s just hard times you going through,” she’d say. “Everybody worth his salt has his hard times, and when you get to be somebody you’ll see these here very same hard times helped you a heap” (Ellison 258). Mary’s character offers emotional support, housing, and comfort during the period in time when the Invisible Man seems to have lost his way. However, the Invisible Man doesn’t think of Mary as anything special and even describes her as a sense of stability in his life. He says, “Nor did I think of Mary as a “friend”; she was something more a force, a stable, familiar force…Mary reminded me constantly that something was expected of me, some act of leadership, some newsworthy achievement; and I was torn between resenting her for it and loving her for the nebulous hope she kept alive” (Ellison 258). The Invisible Man does not enjoy Mary’s company or think anything special of her. Rather, she provides him with things he needs at a moment in time during which, he is vulnerable. She does nothing more than stroke his ego by instilling confidence back into him and helping him to get back on his feet. However, as soon as he feels he is ready to take on whatever comes his way, he does not think of her again. She is merely a blip on his radar and a small section in a chapter of the book.

Mary’s involvement with the Invisible Man functions like the other female characters in the book. Their existence is only mentioned as they serve the men of the novel. While the racial division that exists in the novel is stark, the novel places a clear divide between men and women, as well. When added to the racial tension in the novel, the women do not have any purpose but to help the Invisible Man along his journey and to carry the plot forward. Other than the supporting role they play, they are not tied to racial tension and the rights of women are only mentioned once or twice. In looking more closely at the role that women play in the novel, their existence is only brought up by men. This is both white men and men of color. This blatant disregard is comical when juxtaposed with the title of the novel. While it is called, Invisible Man, in an attempt to portray the state of the man of color and the lack of rights he has, forcing him to live a life underground, the women of the novel are almost non-existent. It can be argued that they are forgotten, left behind, and are truly the “invisible” ones

In an interview Ellison had in Paris in 1954 he was asked whether identity is primarily an American theme, and he answer was: “it is the American theme. The nature of our society is such that we are prevented from knowing who we are. It is still a young society,, and this an integral part of its development.” And that what is his first and last novel “Invisible Man” is about. The novel is about the search one’s identity as an individual and as a part of collective group.

Ralph Ellison started his novel “Invisible Man” with a prologue where he introduced the concept of invisibility and its causes. The protagonist, as a Black man, describes himself as an invisible man; not because of some supernatural reasons or biochemical imbalance but because of society’s rejection to acknowledge his existence as an equal individual who holds the same rights and responsibilities because of his black skin, or more blatantly, his race. Therefore, he chose to stay invisible without revealing his name or identity. This description was a result of the effect of racism and segregation that happened in American back then. Throughout the novel, the protagonist suffered to understand and search for his place and his true identity and in finding a way to overcome the white people’s stereotypical ideas. The narrator confesses his identity on the very first page of the prologue

I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allen Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am invisible, understand simply because people refuse to see me. … When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination—indeed, everything and anything except me. (3)

In the quotation’s context, the protagonist’s invisibility is related to the white people’s stereotypical ideas towards Black people. Ralph Ellison defines invisibility as a separation from a society where people do not recognize black individuals. (Ellison, 2014: 3).

Ralph Ellison stated in an interview he had with Herbert Mitgang for the New York Time in 1982 that “Once the book was done, it was suggested that the title would be confused with H.G. Wells’s old novel, ‘The Invisible Man,’ but I fought to keep my title because that’s what the book was about.” One can assume that the absence of the article “The” in the title was done on purpose in order to represent Harlem’s ‘Everyman’, who might gone through similar situations as the narrator. The novel is the story of million others like him who, as the novel shows have suffered not only from the Whites stereotyping, but also from elite Blacks too.

All the people who meet Invisible Man through his journey invoke a certain idea of selfhood in him. George Mayberry puts it very clearly:

On the road to invisibility, our pilgrim encounters the Southern small businessman, the Uncle Tom educator, the Northern do-gooder, the Negro military racist, the Harlem messiah with a sideline in numbers, the socio-scientific, highly organized Brothers whose Sisters most frequently discussed the dialectic in the boudoir, a journey that would have left Bunyan’s Christian without care or hope for redemption. Ellison’s solution, with a little aid from Dostoevsky and Kafka, is ingenious and original—perhaps a little too much so of both.

Invisibility, however, may also have positive possibilities, a certain power and a certain freedom in being invisible. In Ellison’s words “I am not complaining, nor am I protesting either. It is sometimes advantageous to be unseen, although it is most often rather wearing on the nerves….you often doubt if you really exist. You wonder whether you aren’t simply a phantom in other people’s minds”. (Prologue.2) Moreover, the narrator can be seen to be caught in a duality of existence between the role he is supposed to play for existence and his grasp of who he actually is; which was previously discussed by W.E.B. Du Bois’s in his concept of Double- consciousness.

Furthermore, Ellison tried to portray the theme of Invisibility multiple times in the novel. At first, the protagonist linked his invisibility to electrical power where he managed to steal from Monopolated Light and Power in order to lighten up his hole that he described as “warm and safe” using exactly 1,369 lights. The electric company is aware of its losses but cannot locate their source. In this respect, the narrator proclaims, “And full of light. Yes, full of light. I doubt if, there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of mine… Perhaps you’ll think it strange that an invisible man should need light, desire light, love light. But maybe it is exactly because I am invisible. Light confirms my reality, gives birth to my form”. (6) Light confirms the Invisible Man’s reality and gives him his form: “without light I am not only invisible, but formless as well” (5) living in his hole, the narrator fights the abyss of formlessness by embracing the light that renders him invisible.

Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon is an outstanding work about the aftermath of colonialism, but it is also concerned with how race and racism are constructed on the psychological level, both in the individual and the collective unconscious. Fanon argues that once the black man acts and thinks as a white man, he finds himself as a phobic object. Fanon illustrates: “A normal Negro child, having grown up within a normal family, will become abnormal on the slightest contact with the white world” (Fanon 463). He continues: “The Negro is unaware of it as long as his existence is limited to his own environment; but the first encounter with a white man oppresses him with the whole weight of his blackness” (1965:466). For Ellison’s nameless protagonist, these realities occurred to him both before and after moving from his home in the South to Harlem city.

Throughout the prologue, Ellison also links the central character’s invisibility to music. The narrator was passionate about Louis Armstrong’s music in which he declares, “Perhaps I like Louis Armstrong because he’s made poetry out of being invisible. I think it must be because he’s unaware that he is invisible. And my own grasp of invisibility aids me to understand his music.”Accordingly, the protagonist explains that Armstrong’s invisibility enabled him to produce his art in the same time the narrator’s invisibility allowed him to comprehend Armstrong’s music.

On the opening of the first chapter, the unnamed narrator came to realize, that he had been obedient to the way society thinks he should be because of his race, but here he discovers the existence of his invisible identity. “….That I am nobody but myself. But first I had to discover that I am an invisible man!” (page 15)

According to James B. Lane in his article entitled “Underground to Manhood” “the invisible man was emasculated and left rootless by people who either paid no attention to his inner existence or visualized him only as a symbol, as abstraction” (64) Maybe the most remarkable example is the scene of the Battle Royal. The Invisible Man has been invited to give his graduation speech to a group of prominent white men. At the event, however, the protagonist is shocked to know that he had to fight a group of other young black students while blindfolded for the amusement of those white. The protagonist realizes for the first time that he is viewed by white people only as a tool for shaping their own visions of the world (Ellison 17). After finishing the battle, the narrator tries to deliver his speech while bleeding, having difficulty to speak the narrator made an error in saying “social equality” instead of “social responsibility” to illustrate the limitations a White, wealthy power-structure place on the Black individual. The speech the Invisible Man delivered granted him a scholarship to a Negro college, “He makes a good speech and some day he’ll lead his people down the proper paths…This is a good, smart boy so to encourage him in the right direction.”7 In this case, the “proper path” and “right direction” for white people were a defection for finding identity. Here Ellison indicated the limitations imposed on Black identity as a result of racism, but he is also invoking important and varying traditions in Black political thought which also give shape to the narrator’s identity.

Ellison attempted to depict the characteristics of the American racism during the twentieth century under the concept of invisibility. In chapter six Dr. Bledsoe the head of university addressed the protagonist by saying “you’re nobody, son. You don’t exist – Can’t you see that?” (120). Hence revealing the social invisibility the Black people were suffering from in American society.

Furthermore, the protagonist struggled to identify himself in the American society. Once again he came to realize his invisibility when he was asked by the lawyer in the Liberty Paints’ hospital: “What is your name… who are you?” (240) the invisible man was unable to answer, he kept asking himself the same question and the thought: “Maybe I was just this blackness and bewilderment and pain”(241). He eventually realizes that blackness unveil his invisibility.

In the chapter twenty three the theme of invisibility appears again when the protagonist was wondering in the streets of Harlem, he was seen as another character called Rinhart when he wore a hat and sunglasses. The invisible man went to the church; he came across a pamphlet written by Rinehart which was about invisibility. After reading it the unnamed narrator concludes that having multiple identities reveals someone’s invisibility and despite the fact that invisibility may provide safety, decisions made in secrecy cannot have any significant impact. In the epilogue the invisible man realizes that his journey was defined by his skin color, meaning that he was seen only as black man. Eventually, he decides to wake up from his hibernation and accept his reality as an invisible man “…. I finally rebelled. I am an invisible man” (573) and to face the society who stood in his face during his journey of self-recognition.

In the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the amount of symbolism is abundant as the narrator goes through a journey of hardships and self-discovery. One key symbol in the novel is a briefcase which becomes arguably his most valuable possession throughout the novel. Without his briefcase, he would not have experienced the realization of his purpose in society or his lack of substance to those around him. The motif of the briefcase in Invisible Man symbolizes the prejudices forced upon the narrator as well as people everywhere in today’s society, that they are forced to unknowingly carry.

The narrator comes to be in possession of his briefcase after he is compelled by white men to fight other men of his race. After he had been beaten so badly that he could hardly stand, he gave a speech that had earned him the briefcase. ‘“Keep developing as you are and someday it will be filled with important papers that will help shape the destiny of your people.”’ (Ellison 32). Through the acquirement of this briefcase, he is also given a false sense of hope for his future. It is believed by him that with such a dignified and professional possession he may soon become a person of importance in his community. As the story goes on, this possession goes on to not only carries an abundance of other symbols that shape him as a character but also gives insight into the narrator’s emotions and hopes. “…my prize briefcase, still as shiny as the night of the battle royal…” (Ellison 157). In this quote, the narrator had just arrived in Harlem where he was sent for a new beginning which is why he has such a positive outlook on his future that is reflected in the description of the briefcase.

Not only does the briefcase provide a bright outlook on the narrator for his future, but it also gives insight into the way his peers perceive him. The narrator is unaware of the ongoing prejudices that the world has cast upon him but the briefcase serves as a constant reminder of his skin color and what that means in his society. “It was still as new as the night of the battle royal, and sagged now as I placed the smashed bank and coins inside and locked the flap.” (Ellison 327). The narrator is still hopeful for his life in Harlem despite his rough start in the city but he also is dragged down without his knowledge by the racial bank as well as the nonvisible assumptions put upon him. During the riot, he is assumed to be a thief aiding in the cause against white people because he is black. Without doing anything he was not supposed to, he still was judged unfairly by the color of his skin as well as his possession of the briefcase. “The dizziness left and I managed to stand, holding onto my briefcase, pressing a handkerchief to my head.” (Ellison 537). The participating rioters assumed that the briefcase was loot because they would not expect the narrator to have obtained it in the way he did or even for him to be a college-educated individual.

The briefcase served as a tie for the narrator between the life he had always dreamed of and the life he was now a part of. Inside of it were symbols of the life he had been leading that had led him up to where he was, he could never go back to the life he had before Harlem. Without cutting the symbolic tie between the two worlds, the narrator could never be free. “I stumbled in circles, blindly swinging the briefcase….turning and swinging blindly with briefcase and leg chain and hearing the gallop begin as I floundered helplessly…” The narrator is lost with the briefcase because it serves no purpose other than to remind him of what he does not wish to obtain, he no longer refers to it as his but instead, as its own being, showing that the life before is no longer really who he is. In order for the narrator to move on with his existence, he has to let go of what he had before which at the moment he does without realizing it by burning the contents of his briefcase. “Well, there was only one thing to do if I was to make a torch. I’d have to open my briefcase.” (Ellison 567). The action of setting ablaze his documentation of his journey he is cutting ties and becoming free. He is metaphorically and truly lighting a new path for his life.

In this novel, the motif of the briefcase is the physical embodiment of baggage. The narrator is weighed down by the constant prejudices put upon him by his peers and those who don’t even know him. Assumptions are made about him based on what he carries and what he does which is very similar to how people in today’s world are treated. Unknowingly the narrator is carrying the weight of opinions from others with him and by burning the symbols of his life, he is able to let go of those assumptions are starting over with a better understanding of the world he lives in. In conclusion, the briefcase in Invisible Man is a symbol of the narrator’s life as well as people in this modern era.

Ralph Ellison was a great inspirational author during his times during the 50’s. He was born on March 1, 1914, till April 16, 1994, and he was an American novelist who was a very inspirational person who accomplished many feats. He won a National Book Award in 1953 and he wrote many books and essays that breached the topics and discussions regarding social, political, and racial issues during his era. Due to this, his messages were able to impact and reach out to even greater degrees during the 50s all the way up until today thanks to the books he wrote such as ‘Invisible Man’.

‘Invisible Man’ is a stand-alone novel with a genre pointed towards the direction of fiction. His book was originally published on April 14, 1952, and it has a 581-word page count. Inside those pages, there are many characters, and a couple of them are: The Invisible Man, Rinehart, Brother Jack, Tod Clifton, and Rax the Exhorter. The point of view comes from the narrator, which means it is a first-person point of view.

Even though the book is fiction, the point of view, themes, and motifs mentioned throughout the story are very real and do give this a mirror-like effect into the real world because it reflects the issues the author first hand had to face and struggle through due to him being a black American living in the United States. This is reflected in his character in “Invisible Man” because he is also a person of color living in the South.

This book serves as an allegory and along the way teaches and enlightens us about how history has cruelly made any person of color feel misplaced and invisible in a country that has only catered to the rich and white Caucasians. Due to the neglect and mistreatment, his people were exposed to in the South, he ends up thinking that he is invisible due to the blatant racism and discrimination he has been subjugated to and witnessed since an early age. The narrator ultimately ends up losing his identity because he believes others think of him as Invisible or ‘worthless’. Throughout the book, he goes on a journey in which he struggles with his inner turmoil and conflict with his blindness and tries to find his identity through his own self-perception and the projection of others. The central focus of the narrator and the struggles he goes through is: that in a society and environment dominated by white culture, a man of color must go through challenges and obstacles to overcome the feeling of being invisible to find his unique identity.

There were many characters in the book of Invisible Man and each one served an important role in helping the main character develop his sense of self. Some characters helped the main character grow as a person by helping him emotionally and serving as philosophical guides while others served as a direct opposition to him as racists who wanted him to remain submissive and without identity. For example, Dr. Bledsoe was a college dean who believed black men should behave submissively, and Mr. Norton who served as a narcissistic philanthropist character believed that black men were charity cases to be civilized. Brother Jack was the leader of the brotherhood and believed that black men were tools for his success on the other hand, we have another male figure named Ras the Exhorter. He was a separatist and believed that black men should fight against the whites. We also have Mary who was a mother figure and believed in the dignity of black men and women. Lastly, we have Tod Clifton who was an idealistic orator and believed in a hopeful future for black youth. What we need to understand is that in times like these many people were very accustomed to the roles that were given to them and very seldom a few dared to go out of their comfort zone to think outside of society’s bonds. The character Mr. Norton would be a good example of this. At first, he may have seemed to have good intentions, but behind closed doors, it was all a bluff to do what he saw many rich white men around him do all of the time. Mr. Norton is a character made from his surroundings, not a character that evolves from his surroundings. Even though Mr. Norton did seek to help out the main character, he only did so as a way to gain fame, popularity, and recognition for himself, not because he felt truly empathetic and wanted to help but because he believed it was the right thing to do. Not only that but he was also a white man who was drastically rich in a college. For him, it was important to come off as a philanthropist and very liberal because it benefited him.

‘You are my fate, young man. (Ellison, Chapter 2)’

In reality, he was a selfish narcissist who sought to get ahead in life by using people as his stepping stones and puppets. It is very expected of men like him, to do something like that. He is rich, white, and had everything handed to him his entire life so naturally as he got older he developed narcissistic traits and saw people as numbers, much like many politicians or government officials do. Unlike Mr. Norton though, the main character was born into certain surroundings, such as racism. He grew up experiencing that all of the time and many of the people he knew may have of just conformed to what they were used to and he did, at first. He was the stereotype white people thought of rather than being a unique person.

‘I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me. (Ellison, Prologue)’

The way he lived his life was the way others viewed him. That was until he decided to change despite his surroundings. He was done being a sheep and wanted to pursue who he was rather than who others thought he was. He was on a journey to evolve, unlike Mr.Norton who was stuck in the past and failed to see to change who he was. The main character was going to gain his freedom by seeking true knowledge and a sense of self.

‘I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. (Ellison, Chapter 1)’

All throughout the book there are also many themes that tie into the Invisible Man and his journey. Some of the themes are ambition, racial expectations, the effects of slavery, colors, invisibility, and individuality. The use of colors represents many things such as expressing the emotions of a person throughout the book or the use of music or money. Another example of color being used for a theme is the optic white paint. It serves as a way that society has tried to paint black people with a white facade to make them act more white and to hide or erase their entire identity or blackness in order to become white and achieve ‘success’.

‘White! It’s the purest white that can be found. Nobody makes a paint any whiter. This batch right here is heading for a national monument! (Ellison, Chapter 10)’

Colors used as a theme are really important because they tap into the bigger theme which is racial expectations. It’s almost the same as the quote ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’. White people want to force black people to be like them and to be civilized, which is what Mr. Norton wanted. They want to groom black people to strip them of their identity and their culture and blind them of their true selves. They don’t want them to be involved in any black communities because it’ll give rise to revolution and opposition so they try to rule them by an iron fist to scare them into submission.

On the other hand, white folks will never think of them as their equals and don’t want them to become educated or ‘civilized’ as they view it. They put expectations on them and want them to remain below them because they are afraid. The white people don’t want black people to partake in their own culture such as folktales, music like jazz, and soul food. That is why many black people were stuck. It’s not that they didn’t want equality, it’s just that injustice was everywhere that it was suffocating. It’s like being stuck between a wall and a hard place. It’s just like I said: ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’.

‘When one is invisible he finds such problems as good and evil, honesty and dishonesty, of such shifting shapes that he confuses one with the other, depending upon who happens to be looking through him at the time. Well, now I’ve been trying to look through myself, and there’s a risk in it. I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest. (Ellison chapter 24).’

The themes of racial expectations are also tied to the theme of the effects of slavery in the United States. Slavery was a horrible thing that happened and many white people think that it is okay to sweep it under the rug and pretend as if history will just forget itself. The thing is, if history isn’t listened to and truly acknowledged then it will just repeat itself. Just as in the main characters’ time segregation and racism were still very prevalent due to the fact that many white people did not want to unify with people of color. In return that causes anger and hatred towards the white people due to the injustice of unfair treatment that they have experienced such as shootings and longer imprisonment directed towards black people and people of different races compared to the rate of white incarceration even if the crime is the same. There is also the fact that many places such as schools, public bathrooms, restaurants, and stores segregated black people from white people due to the lingering racism of slavery.

By heavily examining this book due to the Post-Harlem Renaissance and the history of slavery in America, breaching the topic of slavery and inequality between the races and favoritism towards white people may be very hard in modern times, especially with black people and white people. There is still that lingering hurt that resides in all of us because what was done was the worst thing that could have come from history. That’s why it is important to remember and instead of shifting blame from one race to another, we should just try to befriend each other because when a person can connect to another despite cultural, color, or language differences then that would show our ancestors that it is always possible to accept our past but at the same time move forward together.