Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Summary: The Invisible Man byRalph Ellison is about how the narrator, the protagonist, considers himself invisible, based on the notion that others refuse to see him. The character essentially vanishes off of the earth, as he is living underground secretively and using energy and light from the power plant that is located above him. The readers are further introduced to the character as a talented public speaker, thus challenging as his is a black man whose grandparents were freed from slavery after the Civil War. The man is humiliated in front of white town people and rewarded afterwards with a scholarship to a college. He is offered a job as the driver for a white man at the college, Mr. Norton. The two go to a local bar that serves black men. When a fight breaks out, Mr. Norton passes out and they are teased about their races. The narrator is expelled from the college and is sent to a white college to get a job. He experienced difficulty with trying to find a job, but he eventually finds a low-paying one where he and his boss do not get along. Upon witnessing an eviction of an elderly black couple, the narrator makes a speech to the public addressing the situation and speaking against the eviction. After this speech, he is offered a job as a spokesman for a political organization. He is reassigned to a women’s rights position after a false accusation. After hearing that his friend Clifton had died, the narrator holds a funeral for him and speaks of him in a positive way. People become angry at this. He tries to seduce a woman to find secret information about the political organization. The narrator becomes involved in a riot and is approached by police. He falls into a manhole and claims that he has remained there ever since.
Analysis of Major Characters:
One of the major characters in the book The Invisible Man is the invisible
man. He plays a big role in the book because he’s the one that narrates the
story. He also plays the role of the invisible man, as the whole book is
revolved around him and what he experiences throughout the plot, while being
figuratively invisible. He is not literally invisible, but rather views himself
this way because of the treatment that he receives from others. The narrator
writes the story in first person and responds to his experiences and the way he
feels about them.
The second major character in the book The Invisible Man is Brother Jack. He is the leader of the brotherhood
that offers the narrator a spokesman job at with the public organization. He
seems to be a character that is helpful in the narrator’s life, however, views
of him continue to down spiral as the novel progresses. Though his blindness
seems to illustrate him as a compassionate, sympathetic character, this is
disproven as the novel advances. He obtains his own forms of racism and only
uses people as equipment in accomplishing his own desires. His actions prove him
to be a selfish, indulgent, cold character and he causes turmoil in the
narrator’s life. He disregarded his own race for his own selfish wants.
Setting: The setting of The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, written in 1952, takes
place around the 1930s. Slavery had been abolished after the Civil War and the
narrator had said that his grandparents were freed following the war. Although
slavery was abolished, racism still existed quite heavily in the south. There
are several instances where acts of racism are seen and described and this
behavior leads to the narrator’s feeling of nonexistence. Some of the novel’s
plot occurs at an all black college. This symbol alone, serves to highlight the
segregation and racism during the time even two generations after slavery was
ended. The beginning and end of the novel takes place in current time when the
main character, the invisible man, reflects on his journey that led him to the
underground manhole, which is seen all throughout the middle section of the
novel. The hole that the narrator lives in allows him to be invisible, or
hidden from the rest of society. Some of the narrator’s experiences took place
in white parts of the community. The contrast of his living environment, the
hole, and the environment of the white areas demonstrates the continuation of
racism and discrimination. These interactions made his time harder within the
society and caused him to want to become invisible. Ralph Ellison started
writing The Invisible Man in Waitsfield, Vermont in the summer of 1945.
Ellison’s novel took about five years to complete. Having been African
American, and having lived during the time in which the novel took place,
Ellison’s expression of the issue of racism and discrimination was very much
accurate.
Types of Conflicts: In the book The Invisible Man, one of the main conflicts occurs between Man
vs. Man. This occurs between the narrator and Brother Jack. The two characters
clash within the Brotherhood political organization. They each embodied
different qualities within the novel, as Brother Jack appeared as a corrupt,
selfish character, while the narrator struggles to find himself.
In the novel, a man vs. self conflict is evident as well. The narrator struggles
within himself to find clarity and satisfaction. He based his outlooks of the
world on his treatment by the other characters of the novel. The narrator is
mistreated and taken advantage of many time, such as when the white men
humiliated him in front of the audience and him being accused of wrongdoing in
the organization.
Major Themes:
One theme that is present in the novel is racism. The narrator experiences
complications in finding satisfaction and moral ethic in his actions because he
is run down by the racism of society. It surrounds him and causes him to feel
more invisible. Even the characters that are a part of his race and a part of
his place in the world have some type of racism as well.
Identity is another theme that is apparent in the novel. There is a contrast between the
way that the narrator sees himself and the way society perceives him. These
opposite perceptions of identity cause the character to struggle within
himself.
The final theme is invisibility, as stated in the title of the novel.
The narrator feels as if he isn’t seen by others as an individual, but rather
another African American. He isn’t treated with respect or seriousness, which
causes him to feel invisible. Living underground, the narrator alienates himself
from the judgment and grouping that he had experienced while he had shown
himself to everyone.
Major Symbols:
One major symbol that we see in the book is the
Sambo and the coin bank. Both of these items represent the stereotypes of
African Americans. The coin bank can relate back to the humiliation of the
narrator when the white townsmen make him battle another African American for
coins. The doll demonstrates the ability of the whites to control the African
Americans with the racism.
The second major symbol is the optic white
paint. The paint can cover up stains and tints and it symbolically represents
the whites’ attempts to cover up the identities of African Americans with the
white culture. This is emphasized by the fact that black workers make the paint
that the white people sell.
Another symbol in the novel is the briefcase awarded to the narrator
after the battle. The case represents the narrators yearning to make something
of himself beyond what is typically expected of an African American. He wants to
break the stereotype that is placed on him due to his race. He fights for the
case, which contains a scholarship, so that he can carry out his desires to
become a speaker.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_nZnPor4dg
Analysis of Major Characters:
One of the major characters in the book The Invisible Man is the invisible
man. He plays a big role in the book because he’s the one that narrates the
story. He also plays the role of the invisible man, as the whole book is
revolved around him and what he experiences throughout the plot, while being
figuratively invisible. He is not literally invisible, but rather views himself
this way because of the treatment that he receives from others. The narrator
writes the story in first person and responds to his experiences and the way he
feels about them.
The second major character in the book The Invisible Man is Brother Jack. He is the leader of the brotherhood
that offers the narrator a spokesman job at with the public organization. He
seems to be a character that is helpful in the narrator’s life, however, views
of him continue to down spiral as the novel progresses. Though his blindness
seems to illustrate him as a compassionate, sympathetic character, this is
disproven as the novel advances. He obtains his own forms of racism and only
uses people as equipment in accomplishing his own desires. His actions prove him
to be a selfish, indulgent, cold character and he causes turmoil in the
narrator’s life. He disregarded his own race for his own selfish wants.
Setting: The setting of The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, written in 1952, takes
place around the 1930s. Slavery had been abolished after the Civil War and the
narrator had said that his grandparents were freed following the war. Although
slavery was abolished, racism still existed quite heavily in the south. There
are several instances where acts of racism are seen and described and this
behavior leads to the narrator’s feeling of nonexistence. Some of the novel’s
plot occurs at an all black college. This symbol alone, serves to highlight the
segregation and racism during the time even two generations after slavery was
ended. The beginning and end of the novel takes place in current time when the
main character, the invisible man, reflects on his journey that led him to the
underground manhole, which is seen all throughout the middle section of the
novel. The hole that the narrator lives in allows him to be invisible, or
hidden from the rest of society. Some of the narrator’s experiences took place
in white parts of the community. The contrast of his living environment, the
hole, and the environment of the white areas demonstrates the continuation of
racism and discrimination. These interactions made his time harder within the
society and caused him to want to become invisible. Ralph Ellison started
writing The Invisible Man in Waitsfield, Vermont in the summer of 1945.
Ellison’s novel took about five years to complete. Having been African
American, and having lived during the time in which the novel took place,
Ellison’s expression of the issue of racism and discrimination was very much
accurate.
Types of Conflicts: In the book The Invisible Man, one of the main conflicts occurs between Man
vs. Man. This occurs between the narrator and Brother Jack. The two characters
clash within the Brotherhood political organization. They each embodied
different qualities within the novel, as Brother Jack appeared as a corrupt,
selfish character, while the narrator struggles to find himself.
In the novel, a man vs. self conflict is evident as well. The narrator struggles
within himself to find clarity and satisfaction. He based his outlooks of the
world on his treatment by the other characters of the novel. The narrator is
mistreated and taken advantage of many time, such as when the white men
humiliated him in front of the audience and him being accused of wrongdoing in
the organization.
Major Themes:
One theme that is present in the novel is racism. The narrator experiences
complications in finding satisfaction and moral ethic in his actions because he
is run down by the racism of society. It surrounds him and causes him to feel
more invisible. Even the characters that are a part of his race and a part of
his place in the world have some type of racism as well.
Identity is another theme that is apparent in the novel. There is a contrast between the
way that the narrator sees himself and the way society perceives him. These
opposite perceptions of identity cause the character to struggle within
himself.
The final theme is invisibility, as stated in the title of the novel.
The narrator feels as if he isn’t seen by others as an individual, but rather
another African American. He isn’t treated with respect or seriousness, which
causes him to feel invisible. Living underground, the narrator alienates himself
from the judgment and grouping that he had experienced while he had shown
himself to everyone.
Major Symbols:
One major symbol that we see in the book is the
Sambo and the coin bank. Both of these items represent the stereotypes of
African Americans. The coin bank can relate back to the humiliation of the
narrator when the white townsmen make him battle another African American for
coins. The doll demonstrates the ability of the whites to control the African
Americans with the racism.
The second major symbol is the optic white
paint. The paint can cover up stains and tints and it symbolically represents
the whites’ attempts to cover up the identities of African Americans with the
white culture. This is emphasized by the fact that black workers make the paint
that the white people sell.
Another symbol in the novel is the briefcase awarded to the narrator
after the battle. The case represents the narrators yearning to make something
of himself beyond what is typically expected of an African American. He wants to
break the stereotype that is placed on him due to his race. He fights for the
case, which contains a scholarship, so that he can carry out his desires to
become a speaker.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_nZnPor4dg
Citations:
"Invisible Man." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Mar. 2013.
Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Man>.
"The Invisible Man and Its Impact on the American Lexicon."
YouTube. YouTube, 27 Feb. 2009. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_nZnPor4dg>.
"Invisible Man." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/invisibleman/>.
"Invisible Man." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Mar. 2013.
Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Man>.
"The Invisible Man and Its Impact on the American Lexicon."
YouTube. YouTube, 27 Feb. 2009. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_nZnPor4dg>.
"Invisible Man." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
<http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/invisibleman/>.