Before reading:
1. Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man won the 1953 National Book Award for fiction. Here's his acceptance speech.
If I were asked in all seriousness just what I considered to be the chief significance of Invisible Man as a fiction, I would reply: Its experimental attitude and its attempt to return to the mood of personal moral responsibility for democracy which typified the best of our nineteenth-century fiction.
When I examined the rather rigid concepts of reality which informed a number of the works which impressed me and to which I owed a great deal, I was forced to conclude that for me and for so many hundreds of thousands of Americans, reality was simply far more mysterious and uncertain, and at the same time more exciting, and still, despite its raw violence and capriciousness, more promising.
To see
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Invisible Man is at its heart an attempt to use imaginative language to grapple with some of the core questions about living in modern
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2. Context: References to culture and history permeate Invisible Man, so it’s useful to know some
things before reading. Look up the following and record notes in your journal:
· Louis Armstong's "Black and Blue" appears in the Prologue. (Jazz, improvisation, syncopation are important concepts in the Prologue too.)
· W.E.B. DuBois’s concept of “Double Consciousness” from Souls of Black Folk seems to inform a great deal of the novel and will inform our discussion of identity during the first term.
· Booker T. Washington seems to be the model for the Founder and the philosophy of the school that the narrator attends.
· Although Ellison denies using him as a model, Marcus Garvey is quite similar in some ways to Ras.
· A novel that seems to have influenced one of the motifs and some of the ideas in Invisible Man is Fyodor Dostoyevski’s Notes from Underground.
· Ellison uses a quotation from T. S. Eliot’s The Family Reunion and another from Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno as epigraphs.
· There are other historical and cultural references throughout the book. Some are direct. Most are indirect. Write down questions!
While reading
· In your journal make note of motifs (include page numbers and a brief note):
o Vision (invisibility, blindness, misunderstanding, sight, visibility,
understanding)
o Light and Dark
o Colors (white, black, red)
o Underground
o Other motifs that you discover (dreams, sex, violence, food, speech and speeches, music, family and blood)
· Also make note of passages (include page numbers and a brief note)
o that deal with the theme of the self, identity, and the self’s relationship with groups;
o that demonstrate Ellison’s particular use of language (imaginative, symbolic, experimental, musical, rhythmic, vernacular words choices and sentence structures);
o that show connections within Invisible Man, between Invisible Man and other things you’ve read (including the cultural and historical references you researched before starting to read), and between your own experiences, thoughts, and feelings and Invisible Man.
AFTER
· Post an open response (300+ words) in the comments below. Respond to a specific scene from the beginning (Prologue to New York City), middle (New York City to Brotherhood), and end of the novel (Brotherhood to end). (That means at least three scenes; a scene takes place in one location at one time) Show that you can link the novel’s particulars to the novel’s concepts. (That is the essence of AP writing.) Responses should be 300+ words each (about a page 12-point font, double-spaced). Your response should show an understanding of how Ellison develops one of the concepts listed below in each of three scenes you choose (one from the beginning, one from the middle, and one from the end of the novel):
o The theme of identity (individual identity, identity and groups, belonging and alienation);
o Motifs (invisibility and blindness, light and dark (white, black, red), speaking and speeches, music, family and blood, sexuality, violence)
o Ellison’s use of language (“the richness of our speech, the idiomatic expression, and the rhetorical flourishes from past periods which are still alive among us”)
o Ellison’s allegorical-tragic- comic-satiric-surreal-symbolic) style (He said, “leav[e] sociology and case histories to the scientists, [fiction should] arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic of the fairy tale.”
22 comments:
1. The theme of identity can be tracked throughout Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man. Several scenes can be linked together using this particular idea and pull the meaning of it all from behind the surface. Taking a scene from the beginning, middle, and end which all in someway help develop this theme can connect the pieces of the story to the concept behind it. The narrator of the story clearly struggles with finding his own identity and tries to accomplish this task by a few different means. Though it may not be extremely obvious to the reader, the question of “Who am I?” is a very important question to the invisible man.
In the beginning scenes the narrator is just a young college student, an ambitious boy yearning to become an educator much like the president of the school. By becoming this he hopes he will define himself as an educated, hardworking African-American. He tries his best to succeed in this goal by not only grading well, but showing his devotion to the trustees of the college, and doing what he can to make them happy. Unfortunately his plan backfires and his dreams of graduating from this college are destroyed, he now has to define himself in a new way.
In the middle of the book the narrator has moved to New York City, and is doing his best to find a job and a place to stay. Eventually his public speaking skills are exhibited, attracting someone from a group known as the Brotherhood. This is an organization that claims to fight for the rights of all American citizens, their goal to make equal rights for everyone. As a member of this group the narrator gains wealth, fame, and a new job. It also earns him a new name. By becoming part of the Brotherhood he practically becomes a new person.
Later in the novel the narrator puts on some dark glasses and becomes yet another person. By simply changing his appearance many people mistake him for a character named Rinehart. Rinehart has a reputation throughout Harlem, the strange thing is, this reputation varies from person to person. To one citizen he's a bookie, to another a pimp, to a third he's a preacher. This event adds to the complexity of the narrator's identity problem. Does everyone have just one identity or can there be many?
2. The historical context of the novel Invisible Man is crucial to understanding certain concepts presented throughout the work. Many historical figures, movements, and culture influenced Ralph Ellison when writing this piece. They are referenced both directly and indirectly in the writing of the novel. Someone with absolutely no knowledge of American history would probably not understand a great deal of Invisible Man. With knowledge, on the other hand, one can easily understand the novel as a whole.
One piece of history is Louis Armstrong's “Black and Blue.” The lyrics of this jazz song speak of racism in the United States. He speaks of how people judge him by the color of his skin, they create an identity for him before they even get to know him. Identity is a problem for the narrator of Invisible Man, he already can't figure out who he is and racism is just another obstacle in the way of solving this problem. After introducing himself in the prologue he asks the reader, “What did I do to be so black and blue?” As if saying, “What did I do to deserve this?”
Not only are the lyrics to this song key in the work, but the style of music is too. Jazz and improvisation are key in the novel. Throughout the novel the narrator quotes lines from songs. When he makes a few speeches he pulls them right from his thoughts, he improvises what he says, just as many Jazz musicians improvised their music. He manages to create a speech in front of a crowd of people during an eviction and again at a funeral, a reflection on how jazz musicians sometimes improvised when they preformed. The rhythm of the music is also reflected in the novel. Jazz music could range from blues to high-tempo music. The sudden changes are exhibited in the way the character develops, as he journeys through his life. Sometimes Ellison even gave a certain rhythm to his writing in many passages of the novel.
The most memorable and prominent parts of any work of literature are those that can paint a mental picture and therefore becomes self-recognizable. In the first chapter of Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison goes into great detail about a fight that the main character is forced into. After suffering defeat in the name of humiliation, the character is then allowed to make his speech. Though talented and intelligent for his age, the boy had to go through misery and pain just to be so blessed as to speak in front of those people who just put him through the pain. “ I coughed, wanting to stop and go to one of the tall brass, sand-filled spittoons to relieve myself, but a few of the men, especially the superintendent, were listening and I was afraid. So I gulped it down, blood, saliva and all, and continued…” (p 30) Though not in the same context, everyone has had that moment where they have to swallow their own blood and make that speech with confidence. The rich language used by Ellison makes the reader relate whether or not they are even interested in the story. Midway through the novel, the character is out of college and on his own working a real job. He is cautious not to make any mistakes, but in the end makes a relatively large mistake. This mistake however, goes unnoticed and he is sent on another task. Through this task he then discovers how people manipulate truth to make themselves look good, and it is here that the character again is on his own in a world filled with people just like him. “Men turned violently to look at me. I felt choked. I wanted to drop my heard but faced them as though facing them was itself a denial of his statements.” (p 222). Again, he is in a position where he just cannot work his way out in any shape or form of intelligence. The last and most meaningful quote in the whole novel is where the main character is very tired and has gone through wear and tear to no end and in order to survive he must burn all of his meaningful papers for light, “I started with my high school diploma, applying one precious match with a feeling of remote irony, even smiling as I saw the swift but feeble light push back the gloom.” Ellison’s language really highlights emotion and is extremely relatable, making the novel worth the while even when the story is bland.
It is the history of the world that makes the Invisible Man a read that is not just another story. Maybe it was because it was at the beginning of the novel when it was still a fresh start, but the most memorable historical part has to be in the prologue. “There is a certain acoustical deadness in my hole, and when I have music I want to feel its vibration, not only with my ear but with my whole body.” (p 8). The narrator goes on about his love for jazz music, especially a particular number called “Black and Blue” by Louis Armstrong. The lyrics moved him more than anything else, and it becomes more clear as the novel progresses. Most of the time the reader can relate to the main character, but the main character cannot relate to something in the book. That is where the compassion comes in. The fact that this down and out character had something that made him feel the way the reader did about him gave the book a necessary spunk. Historically and presently speaking, people have used music as a stress relief and that will never change. Music is something that can be listened too and can be related to for whatever reason you want, and no one is going to tell you that it’s wrong. Looking back, people sing and make music when they are pleased as well as in times of distress. Children today learn of old African songs that were sung by slaves while they were out in the fields so that they could get through the day. Music is universal, and that is something that is a relief even to the most lonely person in the world.
Ralph Ellison uses the motif of blindness throughout the novel Invisible Man. This idea reoccurs throughout the protagonist’s story. In the beginning of the novel, when the main character is still at college in the south, he attends church and hears a speech given by Reverend Barbee. His speech focuses on the founder, and he creates such an alive image for the main character that the main character is shocked to discover that the respected speaker is actually blind. This clear example of blindness in the story shows the novel’s concentration on the change in the main character in his search for an identity. Originally, the main character was inspired by the speaker and wanted to amount to as much as he could in respect to contributing to the school. He ends up abandoning this desire. His change in heart displays how he is unable to form an identity in the beginning of the novel. Once in New York City and a part of the Brotherhood, the main character and his fellow brother Clifton have an encounter with Ras. Although both groups in the story have the common goal of fighting for the justice of black people, the two groups don’t get along and to me, this demonstrates blindness once again. Ras is under the idea that some greater white force heads the Brotherhood, and this creates a barrier even between two groups of black people fighting for their rights. Their inability to connect exhibits the blindness of both groups in the novel. This is one of the many problems within the greater issue of a fight for equality that we see in the middle of the story. Towards the end of the novel, invisible man encounters Mr. Norton, a man who he once knew when he went to college. Originally when the two had met, Mr. Norton had told our main character that he was “his fate”. Mr. Norton was a donator to the school that the protagonist once attended. During their first conversation when they initially meet, invisible man confirms that he will let Mr. Norton know what his life ends up being like, because Mr. Norton believes that the students of the school are his destiny. Years later when the two meet again, Mr. Norton fails at recognizing invisible man. Even when invisible man explains that he had met Mr. Norton before, and that he is Mr. Norton’s destiny, the elder man fails to remember their previous encounter many years before. This scene at the end of the novel shows blindness on Mr. Norton’s part, not only because he fails to recognize invisible man, but also because he can’t understand what the protagonist means when he says that he is Mr. Norton’s destiny. When the two had initially met and talked about fate and destiny, the conversation seemed of great importance to Mr. Norton. Years later, however, he is unaware of what invisible man is trying to explain to him, and this shows blindness.
In understanding Invisible Man a particular scene stood out in my mind that paralleled symbolically with white capitalists always overpowering black workers. This being a main theme in the book, it made sense that Ellison linked it with a key scene in the invisible man’s journey. The particular scene is when we see invisible man working at the paint factory. Historically, in the 1930’s black union workers would take jobs such as the one the protagonist holds. In the scene, the main character is working at the paint factory, where he learns from one of the bosses that this company, Liberty Paints, produces the best white paint used for important things such as government monuments. The fact that the paint is white demonstrates not only the use of one of the novel’s popular motifs (that being colors), but also represents how white people historically have been the dominant power in our culture and similarly in this situation, it is white paint that is used for the most important of jobs, such as coloring government monuments. Interestingly enough, as our character learns, the white paint only gains such fine quality after a few drops of black dope have been added to each bucket of pure whiteness. This drew a connection for me. What seemed to be pure white paint when shipped off for usage, actually had some black drops inside it, making it what it was. Looking back, this relates to the time of slavery, where white plantation owners ruled over black slaves. Without black slaves doing work, the white plantation owners would not have been successful. Similarly, the white paint is not a success until the black is added to it. This connected with the theme of racial segregation, which is of clear importance when understanding Invisible Man as a whole. Just the existence of the white paint versus the black dope makes the reader consider blacks versus whites.
1. It is only natural and inevitable that any human being will continuously altar their character and behaviors as they go through life. This is especially true when certain situations, hardships, lessons, and different people influence them and their decisions. When reading through Invisible Man from beginning, middle, to end, there are several circumstances that support this statement and also that can help us, the readers, relate to the natural human emotions of uncertainty, insecurity, and reoccurring emptiness that all shape our choices of who we twist and turn and transform ourselves into. In the beginning of the novel invisible man is involved in a most disturbing and inhumane position where he and ten others “like him” are forced into boxing ring for a ‘Battle Royal’ to fight each other for money, and ignorant white folks entertainment. Here invisible man is faced with a first test. Because all of the others around him have given into fighting each other as the white men hope for, invisible man has no choice but to protect himself and fight back. In the end when him and Tatlock, ‘the biggest of the gang’, are left in the ring to fight he whispers to him “fake like I knocked you out, you can have the prize.” Here you understand that his pride is yet to be tamed, despite the beatings he’s encountered and the embarrassment they’ve all been exposed to. After all the fun and games the white folks had with them before leaving invisible man, known for being one of the smartest out of his gang, is asked to give his speech he gave on his day of graduation. There he went, humiliated, but with some dignity left, and gave his speech as the audience laughed and talked over him, barely listening. Because of this he was given a scholarship prize to the state college for Negroes from the superintendent. Honestly, this part of the book impacted me the most. It was just proof right there in my hands that anyone and everyone can beat you down, can force you to change, try and make you hate who you are, but you have to have enough pride to defend your identity. In the middle of the novel invisible man is out of college and whose talents have been noticed by someone involved in a group called the Brotherhood. Here you find he starts to altar his character and identity because of the manipulative people around him. Being involved in the Brotherhood turns him into a wealthier and newer person. As the novel progresses towards the end invisible man eventually altars his character yet again and becomes a different person. Because of his new appearance he is mistaken for another character that others know around Harlem. This other character has many different reputations and ironically, along with invisible man altering his perception of himself, is the many different perceptions others have of him too.
2. Without knowing any American history this novel would not be as respected and worth reading. Ralph Ellison introduces history sometimes openly and sometimes in a roundabout way. For example, the song “Black and Blue” by Louis Armstrong is about racism and judgment in the U.S. Invisible Man connects to this song and finds comfort in hearing his feelings in words. On and on throughout the book relation to past musicians and their tasks of creation often helped invisible man during his speeches and the music worked as a therapy, as it still does to this day for many people.
1. It is only natural and inevitable that any human being will continuously altar their character and behaviors as they go through life. This is especially true when certain situations, hardships, lessons, and different people influence them and their decisions. When reading through Invisible Man from beginning, middle, to end, there are several circumstances that support this statement and also that can help us, the readers, relate to the natural human emotions of uncertainty, insecurity, and reoccurring emptiness that all shape our choices of who we twist and turn and transform ourselves into. In the beginning of the novel invisible man is involved in a most disturbing and inhumane position where he and ten others “like him” are forced into boxing ring for a ‘Battle Royal’ to fight each other for money, and ignorant white folks entertainment. Here invisible man is faced with a first test. Because all of the others around him have given into fighting each other as the white men hope for, invisible man has no choice but to protect himself and fight back. In the end when him and Tatlock, ‘the biggest of the gang’, are left in the ring to fight he whispers to him “fake like I knocked you out, you can have the prize.” Here you understand that his pride is yet to be tamed, despite the beatings he’s encountered and the embarrassment they’ve all been exposed to. After all the fun and games the white folks had with them before leaving invisible man, known for being one of the smartest out of his gang, is asked to give his speech he gave on his day of graduation. There he went, humiliated, but with some dignity left, and gave his speech as the audience laughed and talked over him, barely listening. Because of this he was given a scholarship prize to the state college for Negroes from the superintendent. Honestly, this part of the book impacted me the most. It was just proof right there in my hands that anyone and everyone can beat you down, can force you to change, try and make you hate who you are, but you have to have enough pride to defend your identity. In the middle of the novel invisible man is out of college and whose talents have been noticed by someone involved in a group called the Brotherhood. Here you find he starts to altar his character and identity because of the manipulative people around him. Being involved in the Brotherhood turns him into a wealthier and newer person. As the novel progresses towards the end invisible man eventually altars his character yet again and becomes a different person. Because of his new appearance he is mistaken for another character that others know around Harlem. This other character has many different reputations and ironically, along with invisible man altering his perception of himself, is the many different perceptions others have of him too.
2. Without knowing any American history this novel would not be as respected and worth reading. Ralph Ellison introduces history sometimes openly and sometimes in a roundabout way. For example, the song “Black and Blue” by Louis Armstrong is about racism and judgment in the U.S. Invisible Man connects to this song and finds comfort in hearing his feelings in words. On and on throughout the book relation to past musicians and their tasks of creation often helped invisible man during his speeches and the music worked as a therapy, as it still does to this day for many people.
Response #1
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man follows the story of a young African-American man on his quest to discover who he is. He migrates south to north, goes from student to leader, on his journey of developing his identity. However, it is not until the last portion of the novel that the Invisible Man stops basing his identity off of the identity of a group or surroundings. It is when he finally escapes this trouble of conforming and adopting the feelings of others that he can answer ‘Who am I?’. In chapter four, the Invisible Man returns from the eventful day trip with Mr. Norton and realizes his place at the school is at stake. Driving home, he gazes upon the surrounding area and realizes that if he leaves the school, he leaves his self. “Here within this quiet greenness I possessed the only identity I had ever known, and I was losing it. In this brief moment of passage I became aware of the connection between these lawns and buildings and my hopes and dreams.” He can not imagine separating himself from the people and the establishment he believes in. He has always wanted to be accepted by the director as the perfect student, to have his identity and future continue to belong with the school, and when he is thrust up north, he must start over.
Though even in Harlem, far from the college, he still believes that everything he is remains at the college. Once the Invisible Man is betrayed by Dr. Bledsoe (the letters episode) he can hardly imagine it. His identity is torn from him. He loved the college so much that he failed to see how it was keeping him from shaping into a person he could become. In the middle of the book, the Invisible Man stops at a yam vendor and realizes he can no longer hide his love of southern food, but more importantly, his likes and dislikes that make him who he is. “I yam what I am,” he jokes.
However, the Invisible Man makes the same mistake of identifying himself too greatly as a part of an organization when he speaks for the Brotherhood. He is swept up in the excitement of the Brotherhood movement and the joy of speaking, that again he fails to see how the Brotherhood tries to control him. As soon as the Invisible Man does something that surprises the structure of the Brotherhood (organizing Clifton’s funeral) they reject him and his thoughts. During an argument with members of the Brotherhood, Brother Jack tells him “…You must accept discipline. Either you accept decisions or you get out…” He realizes he has stood for an authoritarian organization that had never actually wanted him to form opinions or his own identity. It is after this event that the Invisible Man finally begins to realize just how much his attachment to an established place or group affects how he sees himself. “After tonight… I couldn’t go back to what I was—which wasn’t much—but I’d lost too much to be what I was.” And as the reader knows from the beginning of the novel, the Invisible Man travels—finds himself—underground. He hibernates. And by finally distancing himself from all the hustle and bustle of conformity a few feet above him, from the opinions he was always asked to have, he can finally discover his Self.
Response #2
When it comes to the many historical and cultural references layered within Ellison’s Invisible Man, the significance of jazz to the novel as a whole is one of the most important allusions the author makes. Ellison himself was educated in music, so it is not uncalled for that the appearance of jazz musicians and songs, the rhythmic and musical style of writing, and the parallel between the journey of jazz and the Invisible Man are found in the novel. The obvious connections first: the Invisible Man loves Louis Armstrong, one of the greatest jazz artists of the century. He loves how Armstrong “made poetry out of being invisible” the sense of being the Invisible Man grasps at the beginning and end of the story. Other jazz references are outright made, “Jack the Bear” appears thrice before chapter ten. Not only is “Jack the Bear” a trickster from African folklore (another attempt of Ellison’s to bring the importance of folk culture in identity development to light) but a jazz song by artist Duke Ellington. Scattered throughout the book are characters who break into song, the lyrics often instigating one of the Invisible Man’s long, pensive discoveries. The protagonist questions these songs, and the importance of them to his identity, as much as the reader questions their relevance to the book as a whole.
But there is relevance in it all. Besides the clear references to jazz and music, Ellison blended the history, sound, and rhythm of the art form deep within his very story, under the surface of what we first realize. Example one: the invisible man is a speaker, improvising his work much like a jazz musician. Example two: jazz took the same journey in its making that the Invisible Man did. Jazz emerged from blues and ragtime, migrated from south to north and became part of the Harlem Renaissance, before developing into different genres once again. The Invisible Man voyaged south to north as well, arrived in Harlem, and became swept up in the revolution the Brotherhood tried to begin, before eventually finding his true self. Ellison toyed with replicating the rhythm of jazz in his work as well. He uses rhymes (“speeds through space at too great a pace…” p. 434) and constant repetition of phrases (“What about those fellows waiting still and silent there on the platform, so still and silent that they clash with the crowd in their very immobility; standing noisy in their very silence; harsh as a cry of terror in their quietness?” p. 433) to create musicality in his work. The rhythm of the plot mimics that of jazz—syncopation. Like syncopation, where an abnormal rhythm falls between strong, constant beats, the sometimes random action of Invisible Man plays between the protagonist’s constant debates about who he is and how he is coming to be that person. To explain further—events like the visit with Trueblood, the paint factory, the eviction, which begin and end without warning, are the melody, and the lengthy paragraphs of existential thinking are the beats.
So then, how can the reader use his understanding of jazz to better grasp the concepts of the novel? Invisible Man is the story of one man’s battle to develop his identity. Embedding a musical genre synonymous with change, with diversity, with the negro, into the work reminds the reader of the significance of culture to an identity. One must know the history and style of jazz to catch the references. (And perhaps Ellison crammed so many layers of jazz within Invisible Man to allude to one of his own identities as a musician.) Thus without knowing jazz, the reader would be unable to identify rhythm in Ellison’s style of writing, but more importantly, the role that crucial genre of music had to play in the Invisible Man’s growth of self.
1.In the beginning of the book the narrator is unsure of his identity. An important beginning scene is the fight that he is forced into in order to deliver his speech. He doesn’t believe in his speech, but wrote it because he knows it’s what people want to hear. In that scene the narrator is forced to fight. Afterwards he is allowed to make a speech and continues although he is badly injured and the men are barely listening. He has blood in his mouth, but must swallow and go on. Ellison’s way of writing puts the reader in the narrator’s place. His use of descriptive language brings powerful emotions into the book. In the middle of the book the narrator has to transition from his life in the south to life in the north. In this part of the book he is beginning to become surer of himself, though he still tries hard to live up to other people's expectations. The scene when the narrator wakes up in the factory hospital reveals a lot about his own identity. When the narrator is asked his name he cannot remember, he is ashamed of this. The narrator does not remember his family either. He begins feeling sorrowful. The stranger's questioning prompts him to really ask himself who he is beyond his name. All he can think of is blackness and pain. Another aspect of the narrator's personality is that upon self discovery he finds pleasure in hiding it. As he lays in the box and is questioned he gets some joy out of not being able to answer the man's questions. After leaving the hospital the narrator receives a new sense of independence that continues when he joins the Brotherhood. A scene that displays the narrator’s development of his own identity is his speech. The speech revolves around the motif of blindness. When delivering the speech the narrator is blinded by the stage lights and cannot see the audience. Then, his speech is about how the men in control make the rest of the people blind. He tells the people that only together can they help each other along. Upon finishing his speech he stumbles out of the blinding light back into his chair. His speech shows a lot of personal growth. He later says that anyone that knew him from college would not be able to recognize his style of speaking. Although he made up the speech on the spot it was persuasive and got the crowd excited. The narrator makes tremendous personal growth throughout the entire book. Also, his view of different races is changed throughout the book. The Brotherhood gives him the belief that people can work together for the common good.
2.A general knowledge of the time period is necessary to fully understand Invisible Man. The book takes place in a time of segregation and prejudice. In the chapters of the book that take place in the South the reader gets a picture of the true prejudice. When the narrator moves North he is afraid to stand close to white people in fear of being disrespectful. The culture in the North versus the South is very different. Also, it is important to know some important leaders of the time. Some influential people in the narrator’s life include Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass. The narrator joins a group that is fighting for equal rights. Equal rights movements at the time were necessary and helped move Americans away from many prejudices.
1.In the Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, invisibility, vision and blindness are large themes throughout the novel. This motif can be seen on page 21, where there is a scene in which some black students including the Narrator are forced to participate in a blindfolded violent boxing match for the entertainment of their all-white school board. During the fight, the Narrator says, "The blind folds were put on.... Everyone fought hysterically. It was complete anarchy. Everybody fought everybody else" In the novel, the fight acts as an allegory in which the blacks are blindly destroying each other because they are blind or ignorant to the reality that the whites are manipulating them. In the second section of the novel, on page 205, there is a scene in which the Narrator is mixing white paint samples for his boss, Kimbro. The first time the Narrator shows Kimbro his paint samples, Kimbro rejects them and says that they are not white enough. Later, the Narrator shows Kimbro the exact same samples and Kimbro says that they are just right. This blindness on Kimbro’s part as to what is a “pure white” seems to expose the fallacy of defining what is a “pure white.” This can be furthered into an allegory for race. “Black” and “White” are not actually very accurate ways to describe a person’s race. The deeper meaning of this scene is hinted in the slogan of the company that the Narrator works for: “Keep America Pure with Liberty Paints” which might be interpreted as “keep America free of black ‘immigrants’” which was the view point of many whites at the time. In the last section of the novel, on page 343, the Narrator gives a speech on the whites’ manipulation of the blacks. In his speech, the Narrator says, “They [the whites] think we’re [the blacks] blind…they’ve dispossessed us each of one eye from the day we were born…Up to now we’ve been like a couple of one-eyed men walking down opposite sides of the street. Someone starts throwing bricks and we start blaming each other and fighting among ourselves. But we’re mistaken! Because there’s a third party present. There’s a smooth, oily scoundrel running down the middle of the wide gray street throwing stones…” This speech, like the boxing match, is an allegory for white exploitation of black ignorance and blindness.
2.Knowledge of D. E.B. Dubois’s theory of double consciousness is crucial to understanding the Invisible Man. Dubois described his theory of double consciousness as the struggle of African Americans to become American while retaining their African heritage. The theme of double consciousness is seen throughout the novel because the African American identity is one of the main themes of the book. Throughout the novel, the Narrator struggles to find his African American identity. In the beginning of the novel, the Narrator attempts to ignore his “African side” and become as much like the whites as possible. We later learn that he sacrifices many of the things he likes and the ways he behaves to become more “respectable” to the whites. This includes his love of yams and eating while walking. Also, in the beginning of the novel, the Narrator embraces the idea of black subservience and submission to the whites. The Narrator’s double consciousnesses come into conflict when his African American principal, Mr. Bledsoe, reveals that he lies to the whites to make them happy. On page 146, the Narrator says, “I looked…to see a whirling, double-imaged moon. My eyes were out of focus. I started toward my room, covering one eye with my hand to avoid crashing into trees and lampposts projected into my path.” This quote is a metaphor for the Narrator’s conflicting consciousnesses. He is used to seeing from only the white American point of view and is so overwhelmed by the two view points that he cannot “see” or think straight. The speech on 343 also includes double consciousness. In the Narrator’s speech, the blacks have lost one of their “eyes” and therefore part of their double consciousness. The part that they have lost is their African side and their “brotherhood” to all blacks. Because they have lost sight of the fact that they are brothers, they are fighting amongst themselves.
1.In the Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, invisibility, vision and blindness are large themes throughout the novel. This motif can be seen on page 21, where there is a scene in which some black students including the Narrator are forced to participate in a blindfolded violent boxing match for the entertainment of their all-white school board. During the fight, the Narrator says, "The blind folds were put on.... Everyone fought hysterically. It was complete anarchy. Everybody fought everybody else" In the novel, the fight acts as an allegory in which the blacks are blindly destroying each other because they are blind or ignorant to the reality that the whites are manipulating them. In the second section of the novel, on page 205, there is a scene in which the Narrator is mixing white paint samples for his boss, Kimbro. The first time the Narrator shows Kimbro his paint samples, Kimbro rejects them and says that they are not white enough. Later, the Narrator shows Kimbro the exact same samples and Kimbro says that they are just right. This blindness on Kimbro’s part as to what is a “pure white” seems to expose the fallacy of defining what is a “pure white.” This can be furthered into an allegory for race. “Black” and “White” are not actually very accurate ways to describe a person’s race. The deeper meaning of this scene is hinted in the slogan of the company that the Narrator works for: “Keep America Pure with Liberty Paints” which might be interpreted as “keep America free of black ‘immigrants’” which was the view point of many whites at the time. In the last section of the novel, on page 343, the Narrator gives a speech on the whites’ manipulation of the blacks. In his speech, the Narrator says, “They [the whites] think we’re [the blacks] blind…they’ve dispossessed us each of one eye from the day we were born…Up to now we’ve been like a couple of one-eyed men walking down opposite sides of the street. Someone starts throwing bricks and we start blaming each other and fighting among ourselves. But we’re mistaken! Because there’s a third party present. There’s a smooth, oily scoundrel running down the middle of the wide gray street throwing stones…” This speech, like the boxing match, is an allegory for white exploitation of black ignorance and blindness.
2.Knowledge of D. E.B. Dubois’s theory of double consciousness is crucial to understanding the Invisible Man. Dubois described his theory of double consciousness as the struggle of African Americans to become American while retaining their African heritage. The theme of double consciousness is seen throughout the novel because the African American identity is one of the main themes of the book. Throughout the novel, the Narrator struggles to find his African American identity. In the beginning of the novel, the Narrator attempts to ignore his “African side” and become as much like the whites as possible. We later learn that he sacrifices many of the things he likes and the ways he behaves to become more “respectable” to the whites. This includes his love of yams and eating while walking. Also, in the beginning of the novel, the Narrator embraces the idea of black subservience and submission to the whites. The Narrator’s double consciousnesses come into conflict when his African American principal, Mr. Bledsoe, reveals that he lies to the whites to make them happy. On page 146, the Narrator says, “I looked…to see a whirling, double-imaged moon. My eyes were out of focus. I started toward my room, covering one eye with my hand to avoid crashing into trees and lampposts projected into my path.” This quote is a metaphor for the Narrator’s conflicting consciousnesses. He is used to seeing from only the white American point of view and is so overwhelmed by the two view points that he cannot “see” or think straight. The speech on 343 also includes double consciousness. In the Narrator’s speech, the blacks have lost one of their “eyes” and therefore part of their double consciousness. The part that they have lost is their African side and their “brotherhood” to all blacks. Because they have lost sight of the fact that they are brothers, they are fighting amongst themselves.
Did this not work the first time I posted it?
1. Invisible Man’s eponymous main character struggles incessantly to find his place in society. Internally, he is torn throughout the novel by a conflict between a need to assert his character and to form some kind of meaningful relationship with the outside world. One of the ways in which this conflict is manifested is in his relationship with America: a symbol which acts as an important if underused motif.
At the beginning of Invisible Man, the main character is eager to assimilate into American society. Following in the tradition of figures like The Founder and Booker T. Washington he believes that it may be necessary to abandon culture and personality in order to assimilate. For him at this point, America symbolizes both his hopes for success and an almost unattainable solidarity with the outside world. In the “Battle Royal” scene the naked dancer who appears before the fight wears an American flag tattooed on her belly. This image scares him, presenting his nation as something larger than himself, something powerful and omnipotent. At the same time however, he finds it overwhelmingly enticing. Later in the scene, his attitudes are epitomized in his speech when he emphasizes the importance of making friends of all races in order to ascend in society.
After being expelled from college and realizing the sway held by his higher-ups over his future, the Invisible Man feels slighted and powerless. He has come to realize that individuals in America are not necessarily in control of their destiny; that the way to success may not be through sheer determination alone. The symbolism of America has turned to one of exploitation. At the Liberty Paints factory a sign urges: “KEEP AMERICA PURE WITH LIBERTY PAINTS.” America for the Invisible Man is a daunting obstacle.
The Invisible Man eventually finds his place in The Brotherhood. The Brotherhood offers him many things: economic success, companionship and a sense of worth. He has overcome the challenge of finding his place in America, but at the price of sacrificing his individuality and sequestering himself into a tight-knit group. In one important speech for the brotherhood he says, “I feel that here, after a long and desperate and uncommonly blind journey I have come home… I am a new citizen of the country of your vision, a native of your fraternal land.” He extols his listeners, “We are the true patriots! The citizen’s of tomorrow’s world!” He feels accepted and comfortable in his social set. He believes he has found his place, but can he really be true to his identity in such a tight-knit group?
By the end of the novel he comes to realize, too, that The Brotherhood is not his destiny. In the epilogue he states, “America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain. It’s ‘winner take nothing’ that is the great truth of our country or of any country.” He understands that true success cannot be found either by assimilating or becoming entrenched in a clique. Moreover, the substance of America is made by those who are willing to risk defeat in order to maintain their individuality.
2. Invisible Man owes much to Du Bois’s concept of “Double Consciousness”. W.E.B. Du Bois first articulated the term in his essay “Strivings of the Negro People.” It is his perception of the double standard for African-Americans to both surrender to the dominant white culture and retain their own black heritage in the proper social circles. Whether a reader is familiar with the origins of the concept it is essential that they understand the basic ideas behind it.
In his essay, W.E.B. Du Bois writes, “the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, -- a world which yields him no self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world.” This idea of a kind of social invisibility is crucial to Invisible Man. Invisibility, real and metaphorical, is one of the most important motifs in the novel. Du Bois seems to be of the opinion that an individual can have no real identity when they are forced to compromise their true personality in order to fit the ideals of their society. Furthermore, he seems to believe that blacks are socially invisible in America, being seen only in terms of their “blackness” or in terms of how well they have adjusted to white culture. White society might judge them positively if they have abandoned their heritage or negatively if they fit black stereotypes but ultimately never sees them as unique individuals. Both of these ideas are fundamental themes in Invisible Man.
Another important idea in “Strivings of the Negro People” is that of the ubiquitous internal conflict in African-American society. That is, whether an African-American is foremost a black person or an American. The Invisible Man struggles with this conflict throughout the novel. We see it in his development from the upright young student, the ideal of white society, to the yam-eating wanderer, a southern stereotype. Finally, the conflict is enough to drive him underground at the novel’s conclusion. It is this “Double Consciousness” that provides the primary conflict in Invisible Man. Although a reader does not necessarily need to have read Du Bois’s essay in order understand its themes in relation to Invisible Man an understanding of those themes is crucial.
1. In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, there are many themes that are followed throughout the book. One such theme is visibility; literally and figuratively - physically being able to see, as well as one’s own self-image. Being one of the more major themes in the book, the motif of visibility is spread throughout the book, at both major and unimportant times, and partially has to do with the main plot of the story itself; the narrator’s view of himself; that he is “invisible.”
In the first part of the book, when the narrator is still at school, there are several examples of both figurative and literal visibility. The prologue opens up with the narrator introducing himself as an “invisible” man; someone who is unseen by the common man, someone who only truly sees himself. The narrator constantly comes back to this point, that he is unseen and uncared about by all. Another, more literal example is after Reverend Barbee’s speech about the Founder when his glasses fell, revealing to the audience he was in fact blind; incapable of sight.
The second part of the novel, from before he joins the brotherhood, also examples of visibility, and lack there of. When in the factory hospital, he is unable to remember his name or address, and thus cannot see only who he is, but he cannot see his identity at all. Also, just as he enters the Brotherhood, he makes a speech in which he declares that “…they’ve dispossessed us each of one eye from the day we we’re born…they’ll slip up on our blind sides and—plop!” saying that everyone starts out at a disadvantage; everyone starts out blind.
As in the first two sections of the book, the third and final section also deals largely with vision. When Jack goes to the narrator’s apartment, it becomes clear that he has one fake eye, being somewhat ironic due to the narrator’s first speech as a member of the Brotherhood. The story is also brought back full circle when the narrator finds himself in the abandoned basement, and once again refers to himself as “invisible.
There are several scenes in Invisible Man that demonstrate individual identity and how that affects a person’s demeanor as well as attitude. In the beginning of the novel while the narrator is at the University, he is fighting with what is around him to make an identity for himself and to be a positive attribute to the college. Mr. Norton also talks much with him about his fate and how the invisible man’s fate determines his own as a trustee and as a person. There are many scenes in which the narrator has to define himself as having a more aspiring identity that some of the people that surround him. Invisible man also attempts to explain the different roles of different people to Mr. Norton. As the Invisible Man is preparing to leave for New York City, he spends much of his time trying to figure out what role the powerful white men to whom he has letters addressed to, will play in his life and his fate. He also tries to figure out what he will be expected to do or how he will be expected to act in the city since it is a free north that he has never visited.
Once Invisible Man gets to New York City, he is in search of jobs and figuring out what the men that the letters are addresses to can do for him. He passes from the Liberty Paint plant to the Brotherhood, in each situation he passes through, he tries to follow the expectations that are imposed on him in order to fit into the values of each community. Brother Jack from the Brotherhood in the beginning says that he defends those who are socially oppressed, but in the end he shows racist viewpoints. As he is a white man defending the brotherhood community, when he then turns his back on what he says he is defending it strongly defends the ‘white’ stereotype. Throughout the narrators stay in New York City, and even beforehand at college, he is always putting on an act so that he easily fits into the community that he is surrounded by.
During part of the narrators’ time at the Brotherhood, and during his time following, he realizes that he is truly invisible. He sees for the first time that even when people seem completely sincere and equal in their judgment in terms of racism, they are in fact corrupt in thought. Throughout this time period, the narrator realizes that no matter how he acts or tries to act around different types of people, he is always going to be judged by others. The ‘Invisible Man’ becomes aware that he is truly invisible no matter what changes he as an individual makes.
1. Of the many motifs that run throughout Ellison’s Invisible Man, one of the most prominent and continuous of these is the theme of music, particularly jazz. The Invisible Man’s reaction to the music around him changes during the course of his journey and is directly linked to his developing identity and his comfort with himself and his past.
The first mention of music after the prologue is in the narrator’s description of Jim Trueblood. At this point the narrator is still bound the ideals of the school, and reveals that the “’primitive spirituals’” and “crude, high, plaintively animal sounds” made by Trueblood’s quartet embarrassed him and the other students at the school. The rawness and primitive nature of the music went against all that the school taught, which was to be more like the white man and rise above the uncivilized nature of the peasant black culture. This shows that the narrator is uncomfortable with southern black culture, which is still, in essence, a part of his identity.
As the narrator moves to New York, his view of black folk music begins to evolve, indicating a growing comfort in his past and his own skin. When he meets Peter Wheatsaw, the Devil’s only son-in-law, he marvels at his song and his singing style. As his view develops, he is conflicted as to whether the black culture and music instills pride or disgust. However, the glimmer of pride that the narrator admits to is an extremely significant leap from the pure embarrassment he felt when listening to Trueblood’s music.
After his experience with the Brotherhood, the narrator is again exposed to music from his past, and the nostalgia it invokes is telltale of his progress in terms of finding conviction and comfort in his identity. During Clifton’s funeral procession, a voice and a trumpet arise out of the crowd and create a song that the narrator recognizes from his past. Instead of embarrassment or disgust, this time the narrator is envious that he was not the one to begin the song, “out of a vague, nameless shame or fear.” Now the narrator is not only accepting of his past, but embraces it with pride and wishes, if not with confidence, to express it as part of himself for everyone to see. He identifies with the music and the feelings that it invokes. This journey from embarrassment to pride to identity through music reveals the growing connection the narrator feels with his heritage and history, an intrinsic step in his quest for identity.
2. The historical context of Invisible Man increases the significance of the novel as a whole and reveals another level of Ellison’s complex writing. On the web page “Jazz Music,” I learned about the history of jazz and found more connections between the novel and the music genre. Jazz began in the South and traveled north across America to Harlem, just as the narrator did. Jazz developed from the growing northern black community’s search for a place in society; in essence, their identity. I’m not sure if the connection could be more obvious. Louis Armstrong was an extremely influential musician of the jazz era, and the narrator speaks of him with reverence. Other jazz references appear in the novel, many of which cause only confusion without contextual knowledge.
Other jazz history tidbits were helpful to me as well, including Jack the Bear, which is a song by the jazz musician Duke Ellington, as well as the name of a 1920’s blues pianist in Harlem and a character of black folk tradition, a culture from which jazz drew much of its inspiration. The website where I found this information (“Invisible Man CD Companion”) also has the lyrics to a version of the folk song involving Jack the bear and lyrics that seem to refer in many ways to other themes and events in the book
Jack the rabbit! Jack the bear!
Can’t you line him just a hair,
Just a hair, just a hair?
Annie Weaver and her daughter
Ran a boarding house on the water.
She’s got chicken, she’s got ham,
She’s got everything, I’ll be damned.
Old Joe Logan he’s gone north
To get the money for to pay us off.
While reading these lyrics, it appeared to me that this song mentions several events that loosely occur in the novel, including the trip north to make money, staying in a boarding house (of sorts) with Mary and the vague motif of chickens that I noticed in the novel.
My research into jazz and jazz history helped demystify several of the references within Invisible Man and allowed me to catch a significant part of Ellison’s novel that would have otherwise been lost in the confusion of off-beat songs, unfamiliar characters and a seemingly random chain of events.
2. Invisible Man, by Ralph Emerson, not only has cultural context, but historical context as well that adds to the overall understanding of the book. Many of the large-scale events that Ellison explains (such as the Harlem riots) actually happened around that time, giving readers who were from that generation a way to connect to the nameless protagonist. Not only are the riots included, but the Brotherhood in which the narrator becomes a member of not soon after he moves to New York, is somewhat of a parallel to the Communist Party of the U.S.A., which was prominent in black communities in the 1950’s, due to their “equality for all” beliefs, of which most members of black communities found appealing, without truly knowing where the true power lied within the organization. As the narrator found after joining the Brotherhood, the true power didn’t lie in the common man, but in an elite group of leaders, such as Brother Jack, who outright told the narrator that he was telling him what to think, and what to tell others to think. This is something that would often happen in situations like this, and being a student who has studied communism in recent years, further increased my understanding of the story, and the underlying themes and motifs that were spread throughout it. Many cultural references are spread throughout the context as well, like popular jazz songs (much like “What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue?” by Louis Armstrong), and other pop culture references from the 1950’s. Not only were modern references used, but also references to older texts are found throughout the novel, such as in the beginning during the Battle Royal, when the dancer is being described, it is almost as if she were a siren from the Greek tale of Odysseus.
Brian Hand
it looked shorter in Word
Ralph Ellison skillfully presents recurring motifs throughout the novel Invisible Man to emphasize the dominant themes of invisibility and identity. The ubiquitous motifs of blindness, puppets, and fighting can be used to identify and link important events and realizations of the narrator in his search for understanding of himself and of the world. The battle royal scene, the factory hospital, and the Brotherhood speech all foster important motifs.
Blindness in Invisible Man represents a character’s inability or unwillingness to see the truth. Often times Ellison illustrates metaphorical blindness using literal blindness such as Barbee’s or Brother Jack’s glass eye. In the battle royal scene, Ellison represents the narrator’s metaphorical blindness with a blindfold. This mirrors his blindness regarding society. In an overlap of motifs, the blindfold is white; symbolizing that subjection to the white exploitation and racism has begun to eclipse the narrator’s vision of truth. The blindfold also represents the narrator’s subjective beliefs that education and conformity will bring about true freedom. When the narrator attempts to remove the blindfold, he is stopped by a man who says “Oh no you don’t, black bastard.” (22) This represents that anyone who tries to seek enlightenment and undermine the white power structure is demoralized by racism and power. The blindness that occurs in the factory hospital scene differs in that it is the narrator being perceived blindly rather than being blinded. The doctors are unable to speak to the narrator and after he wakes up even he knows little about who he is. This causes the doctors to blindly perceive the narrator based on ignorance and racial stereotypes. They comment, “They really do have rhythm don’t they?” The narrator responds that he wanted to be “murderously angry.” (237) This highlights the narrator’s ongoing struggle for identity and his conflict to free himself from this type of ignorance. The narrator encounters blindness in the form of a picture of an old prizefighter that had “lost his sight in the ring.” (334) He has no name or face, and the narrator notes that “he could have been of any nationality” (334) If again literal blindness equates metaphorical blindness, then the prizefighter’s inability to see the truth has landed him with out an identity; he is a faceless tattered picture with no identity, like the founder of the college. This is mirrored in the narrator’s blind allegiance to the college and to the Brotherhood, which also acts to eclipse his identity. It is also fitting that the narrator about to be metaphorically blinded in the same arena that the boxer was physically blinded. When he delivers his speech he notes that he “could no longer see the audience.” (341) Therefore, he is blindly delivering a speech to an audience. Ellison has up to this point demonstrated that blind allegiance can hinder individual identity.
The motif of puppets can take on a number of different disguises and pretenses. It represents helplessness to a greater power. In the battle royal scene he notes that feels “like a jack-in-the-box” (25) when he is hit. In this scene he is powerless to the white men and he is being played with like a doll. He also describes the dancing blonde as “kewpie doll” representing the foolishness of the American value system and the manipulation of things that satisfy it. When a black man falls on the electric floor, he sees him “dance upon his back” (27) This connects to the factory hospital scene when he is covered in wires like a puppet, and the doctors say “Look, he’s dancing.” (237) He is powerless to these white doctors and this amuses them. He also notes that he feels “like an accordion between a player’s hands.” (232) Again, he is being played by the white doctors who hold all the power in society. In the Brotherhood speech scene, he is being played by the Brotherhood, who scolds him for delivering a speech that stresses freedom and emotion, as they wish to create a “bowl of human faces,” or an army of puppets. (341)
Fighting is a motif that represents the narrator’s struggles for self-realization and true freedom. In some cases, it can stand for manipulation of blacks at the hands of more powerful white men. In the battle royal scene, the narrator believes he is to deliver an esteemed speech to a group of white men, but he first has to battle other black men for the amusement of white aristocrats. This fight denotes the desire of whites to construct a society that keeps blacks in a state of confusion and fear. It also represents the black struggle for a prize (true freedom) that seems elusive. A similar scene takes place in the factory hospital when the narrator notes that he feels like a “man who knows that he must fight.” (237) This is in response to a racist comment he hears from one of the doctors. This fighting represents the initial instinct of blacks to seek physical revenge against racism, as this is taught to them by manipulation such as the battle royal. Fighting is prevalent in the time he spends before giving the speech to the Brotherhood. The picture of the prizefighter lacks individual characteristics or even a name, and it mirrors the narrator’s fight for an individual identity, as he struggles to not end up like the blind fighter.
The historical context of the novel makes it more valuable to society and makes it a culturally significant work. Ellison creates a historical context for the novel by stashing frequent references to well known people such as Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Ralph Waldo Emerson ect, In some cases, these figures are blinding to the narrator, such as the philosophy of Booker T Washington. When he encounters a photo of Marcus Garvey during the eviction scene he says it “all throbbed within me with more meaning than there should have been.” (273) It also foreshadows the character’s experiences with Ras, who bears resemblance to Garvey. The frequent references to such people serve not only to create an environment for the novel to take place, but also to blind or clarify certain truths from the narrator as he tries to model his identity after them. The novel also provides a context for W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk, specifically the concept of Double Consciousness. The narrator’s struggle of how he perceives himself versus how he sees himself being perceived by others is a main struggle in the novel, such as his “invisibility”. He determines that because he will never be perceived for who he truly is, he is an invisible man. Finally, according to Ellison’s acceptance speech, most of the book is historical context. Although not a direct reference, the book is “unburdened by the narrow naturalism” that was ever-present in Ellison’s “current fiction.” The novel, according to Ellison, is just like America in that it makes use of “the richness of our speech…as swift as American change.” He jokingly claims he has failed, because he was unable to create fiction that delivers truth about the human condition “with all the bright magic of a fairy tale.” This, of course, is the fault of our culture, not of Ellison.
1. Many motifs surrounding the theme of identity connect these scenes to Ellison’s main purpose. The scene in which Mr. Emerson’s son reveals the truths about invisible mans future is swarmed with themes of identity and understanding/misunderstanding. “Identity! My God! Who has any identity anymore anyway?” Mr. Emerson exclaims partway through their conversation affirming Ellison’s theme of lost identity and invisibility. The scene in the beginning of chapter thirteen is a crucial part of IM finding his identity. In spotting the yams on the bitter cold NY city street, IM remembers a time when he was young in the south sneaking yams from his elders. Upon recievnig the yam in NY he feels a sense of profound freedom simply from walking and eating the yam at the same time. IM continues to reflect on his past by having a fantasy about humiliating Dr. Bledsoe with yams. IM promptly runs back to the stand and buys two more yams stating “I yam what I am.” Showing the end of IM’s reflection is an abrupt realization that part of this life is over, in the form of a frostbitten yam.
2. The struggle with finding one’s identity is an issue that every person faces. Who am I, where do I fit in the world? These questions are particularly hard to answer for the African American race in the 1930’s. their struggle with being treated less than human, by bigoted whites and their urge to be treated equally while working just as hard if not harder than the white man. Working in racist and harsh situations while still obeying the de jure laws of the white man creates a sort of double continuousness which in turn strains the search for identity and place in the world. With strong communism influences as well as capitalistic ideals, black people at the time were torn between their patriotism and their acceptance as an equal human being. Constantly paradox’s are placed before them, examples in the book; nude Nubian statue and an ointment “guaranteed to whiten skin.” The overall struggle to find one’s place in the world in the cultural and contextual situation emulates the invisible man’s struggle with his identity and place.
1. The motif of Communism is a common aspect of the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison that is often hidden between the lines of the thick novel. However, although hidden, the novel’s hidden demeanor scream loud once discovered.
In the beginning, There is the principal of living by the law of the school. What gets the Narrator in his New York-bound bind is a misinterpretation of rules and commands. Told he should continually follow the word of the white man, he does just as he is told. However when Norton experiences what is ‘real’ of the southern black world, he is criminalized for the cause. Bledsoe poses the position of dictator on a whole operation of what could be considered the foundation of a perfect communist establishment. This can be supported as a metaphorical communist scenario, where the masses of students are a metaphorical proletariat, under the manipulation of a harsh dictator.
One scene in particular, would be the use of Barbee as a token of propaganda, supporting the fate of the college, and the leadership of Bledsoe.
Before joining with the brotherhood, the narrator has a bit of a trip on his own in new york, without anyone to help him through, provide a home, he is on his own entirely. This is like the exile that Leon Trotsky underwent at the direction of Stalin after the revolution. What is more staggering is actually the scene where the letters are revealed, in Mr. Emerson’s office. The letter is comparable to the literal backstabbing done in Mexico to the once revolutionary, meant to cripple and stunt his growth.
Finally , the actual communist party of the novel would be the brotherhood. An actual communist cell that is based off of the author’s own experience with the communist party, the brotherhood is the incantation of a similar cell that he’s used to. A stark reference would be when the brotherhood told the narrator, after a speech, that he was, in essence, speaking for the cell, to think the way the cell could think, do as the cell would do. And that is the root of the communist party itself, the cell controls everything,: thoughts, and people.
2. The knowledge and history of the time in which the story Invisible Man is placed and written in is a very critical part of knowing the ins and outs of the novel; for without knowing the mood and flow which the author, Ralph Ellison was trying to portray, the full of the story of the ambiguous narrator cannot be understood. As mentioned above, Communism is a motif in the story that can be traced from cover to cover, dyed in the black ink of the five hundred some odd pages.
The biggest key in this novel and the theme of communism is that the book, published in the 1950’s would relate to what was happening in the real world at that time. The second world war had nearly a decade before ended and the USSR had defined itself as not only a world power, but as a communist force that intimidated all.
What intimidated the USA the most at the time (during the Cold War period, from the end of World War II and the 1980’s, right through the period in which the story of the Narrator drops anchor) was a communist revolution, much like what happened in Russia, (the impenetrable super country that had survived through Napoleon and Hitler). This fear brought up McCarthyism, and the Red scare, which yielded the prosecution of communist offenders. Yet this illicit attitude spurred interest, and thus the development of proletariat cells that worked under the radar of the authorities…as a ‘brotherhood’. And this, is the historical, key link of behavior, and mystere that hides the brotherhood.
ONE
In his novel, Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison continually explores the concept of identity. From beginning to end, the narrator is looking to find out who he is on the inside. In the prologue, he defines himself as more than a fake idealist. The struggle for identity haunts the narrator throughout the novel. At the beginning of chapter four, both the narrator and Mr. Norton are still both distraught from the scene at the Golden Day. As the narrator drives the car back to the college, he thinks, “I possessed the only identity I had ever known, and I was losing it (99.)” Going to school and living out his hopes and dreams was all he knew; but the fear of losing that, also brought upon the fear of losing his identity. After this point in the novel, the narrator hops on a rollercoaster of identity crisis and extreme madness.
By the middle of the novel, the narrator is in New York and has become apart of “The Brotherhood.” They stripped him of his identity and he was reborn as a new man. He was asked if he wanted to be the next Booker T. Washington, but in his head the narrator only thought, “I would do the work, but I would be no one except myself (311.)” His journey with the Brotherhood started out naturally, but he later found himself, “becoming someone else (335.)” This constant battle leads the narrator to a new revelation; it didn’t matter who you were, for the judgment placed upon you is dependent on looks. Towards the end of the novel, the narrator is mistaken as a character named Rinehart. He decides to keep up this act and he then ventures across the city dressed in his disguise. However, this game only strengthens his doubts of society. “If dark glasses and a white hat could blot out my identity so quickly, who actually was who? (493)” At this point, the narrator has given up and decided he is invisible. If he can’t be who he wants, then he has no need to try.
TWO
Ellison uses many historical and cultural references in his novel Invisible Man. One of the most important is hidden outside of the text. The “Brotherhood,” which the narrator joins, is reference to Ellison’s experience with the Communist Party of the U.S.A. (CPUSA.) They were a group who wanted equality of all races, but did not completely follow through with that idea. The Brotherhood is similar because the views of their leaders were also hinted with fakeness.
This historical reference also intertwines with Ellison’s theme of identity seen throughout the novel. Within a group, no matter the cause, one will lose their own identity. In the Brotherhood, the loss of identity was literal, but in other groups creating a strong unity and searching for solidarity will destroy identity. The members became the voice of the group, while their own voices faded away. “Individuals don’t count for much; it’s what the group wants, what the group does (397.)” Personal feelings did not count for much because it’s supposed to be, “what’s best for everyone.” This also relates to DuBois’s “Double Consciousness.” When apart of a company, group, or team one must play two fronts. One needs to show their face for the public world to see and hide their face of personal means and opinions. The narrator gave up his identity to become the voice of the Brotherhood. When he gave speeches, he was just another puppet performing in a show.
For someone without a great understanding of American history, he or she would not understand what truly ties this novel together. By using references to the CPUSA, DuBois’s “Double Consciousness,” Booker T. Washington, Louis Armstrong, etc., Ellison creates a masterpiece of a simple person experiencing the world to the best of his ability. A reader with understanding will catch the connections and fall deep into the story.
Sarah Johnson
….I’m back from the wilderness
1) Invisible Man is an intricate literary work concentrated around several central themes involving identity which are accentuated by continuously present literary techniques and motifs. In particular, by following the mention of the narrator’s (Invisible Man’s - IM’s) grandfather throughout the novel, one may trace the progress of IM as he discovers himself in relation to the world. On his deathbed, the grandfather presents a riddle to IM’s family in the form of an apparently maniac rant; essentially trying to express the never-ending frustration of the complex W.E.B. Du Bois called “Double Consciousness”. The black man never feels at ease, for he is at the same time struggling to nurture his heritage, but stifling it also in order to appease the white oppressor. In the beginning of the book, IM is naïve and foolish. He believes in higher powers which work in his favor, and in the inherent goodness of all people. This view is quickly shattered with his episode with Mr. Norton, followed by Dr. Bledsoe’s decision to remove IM from the college. IM reveals he had simply “tried to be exactly what I was expected to be, had done exactly what I was expected to do—“and continues to cry “injustice”(146), until suddenly he has a moment of maddening revelation. He feels the presence of his grandfather, laughing at him for his foolish attempt to play the white man’s toy, similar to his original assessment that he was “carrying out [my grandfather’s] advice in spite of myself”(16). His grandfather had defined such submissive behavior as treacherous, and this constantly confused IM. So in this loss of innocence at the college, IM’s grandfather hovers over him in the form of an ever-screeching harpy. Later, at his initial visit with the Brotherhood in Caper 14, a time at which IM is exploring new possibilities, taking on white men as equals, he references his grandfather in thought for comfort. Perhaps his bold action (versus his usual , submissive in-action) makes him less of a traitor in light of his grandfather’s advice. He is beginning to understand the manipulation of interracial society – appearing outwardly comfortable and approachable, but inwardly prepared for anything: “as my grandfather had been when it was demanded that he quote the entire United States Constitution as a test of his fitness to vote,” (315). IM is beginning to understand what it takes to please everyone but still maintain a personal agenda. He was however, once again, not completely in understanding of his grandfather’s assertions. Finally, following the Tod Clifton incident, IM attempts to take action, but is reprimanded for it by the Brotherhood which follows a new agenda. As the Brotherhood calls Clifton a “traitor”, IM comes to realizes the absurdity of his participation in the Brotherhood, he remembers again the way he “[encounters] my grandfather looking at me from across the dimensionless space of a dream-room,” (462). Later on he makes the active decision to “yes them to death”, to make the Brotherhood think all was going according to plan, while truly nothing was further from the truth. This, we can guess, is the treachery his grandfather described, treachery to the white man with lies, but also treachery to self for not simply acting in one’s true interests.
2) After doing all of the pre-reading for Invisible Man, I found numerous references to all of them which greatly assisted my understanding of the book. Greatest by far however, for me, were the references (some direct, but mostly indirect) to W.E.B. Du Bois’ writing on “Double Consciousness”. Identity is an extremely essential theme in the book, and Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk deals directly with the struggle of black Americans to find and understand identity. Du Bois describes this complex as “the sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.” This seemed particularly evident in the narrator’s musings in the introduction, culminating in his statement that the purpose of his recordings was “one of revealing the human universals hidden within the plight of one who was both black and American, and not only as a means of conveying my personal vision of possibility, but as a way of dealing with the sheer rhetorical challenge involved in communicating across our barriers-“ (xxii). This statement can be seen as a foundation for the book throughout all of IM’s episodes. Besides the double-consciousness riddle provoked and explored by the grandfather, Ras the Exhorter is also a key antagonist in the questioning of one’s identity as a black American. According to Ras, racial barriers should exist and are beneficial because it helps one to embrace an identity as a black American, instead of molding one’s heritage to fit the part of an “Uncle Tom” character. Du Bois also addresses these harsh internal battles, saying “One ever feels his two-ness—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body.” This effectively describes IM’s struggle throughout the book, as he bounces between stifling his black identity, compromising it, and embracing it.
Sarah Johnson
….I’m back from the wilderness
1) Invisible Man is an intricate literary work concentrated around several central themes involving identity which are accentuated by continuously present literary techniques and motifs. In particular, by following the mention of the narrator’s (Invisible Man’s - IM’s) grandfather throughout the novel, one may trace the progress of IM as he discovers himself in relation to the world. On his deathbed, the grandfather presents a riddle to IM’s family in the form of an apparently maniac rant; essentially trying to express the never-ending frustration of the complex W.E.B. Du Bois called “Double Consciousness”. The black man never feels at ease, for he is at the same time struggling to nurture his heritage, but stifling it also in order to appease the white oppressor. In the beginning of the book, IM is naïve and foolish. He believes in higher powers which work in his favor, and in the inherent goodness of all people. This view is quickly shattered with his episode with Mr. Norton, followed by Dr. Bledsoe’s decision to remove IM from the college. IM reveals he had simply “tried to be exactly what I was expected to be, had done exactly what I was expected to do—“and continues to cry “injustice”(146), until suddenly he has a moment of maddening revelation. He feels the presence of his grandfather, laughing at him for his foolish attempt to play the white man’s toy, similar to his original assessment that he was “carrying out [my grandfather’s] advice in spite of myself”(16). His grandfather had defined such submissive behavior as treacherous, and this constantly confused IM. So in this loss of innocence at the college, IM’s grandfather hovers over him in the form of an ever-screeching harpy. Later, at his initial visit with the Brotherhood in Caper 14, a time at which IM is exploring new possibilities, taking on white men as equals, he references his grandfather in thought for comfort. Perhaps his bold action (versus his usual , submissive in-action) makes him less of a traitor in light of his grandfather’s advice. He is beginning to understand the manipulation of interracial society – appearing outwardly comfortable and approachable, but inwardly prepared for anything: “as my grandfather had been when it was demanded that he quote the entire United States Constitution as a test of his fitness to vote,” (315). IM is beginning to understand what it takes to please everyone but still maintain a personal agenda. He was however, once again, not completely in understanding of his grandfather’s assertions. Finally, following the Tod Clifton incident, IM attempts to take action, but is reprimanded for it by the Brotherhood which follows a new agenda. As the Brotherhood calls Clifton a “traitor”, IM comes to realizes the absurdity of his participation in the Brotherhood, he remembers again the way he “[encounters] my grandfather looking at me from across the dimensionless space of a dream-room,” (462). Later on he makes the active decision to “yes them to death”, to make the Brotherhood think all was going according to plan, while truly nothing was further from the truth. This, we can guess, is the treachery his grandfather described, treachery to the white man with lies, but also treachery to self for not simply acting in one’s true interests.
2) After doing all of the pre-reading for Invisible Man, I found numerous references to all of them which greatly assisted my understanding of the book. Greatest by far however, for me, were the references (some direct, but mostly indirect) to W.E.B. Du Bois’ writing on “Double Consciousness”. Identity is an extremely essential theme in the book, and Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk deals directly with the struggle of black Americans to find and understand identity. Du Bois describes this complex as “the sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.” This seemed particularly evident in the narrator’s musings in the introduction, culminating in his statement that the purpose of his recordings was “one of revealing the human universals hidden within the plight of one who was both black and American, and not only as a means of conveying my personal vision of possibility, but as a way of dealing with the sheer rhetorical challenge involved in communicating across our barriers-“ (xxii). This statement can be seen as a foundation for the book throughout all of IM’s episodes. Besides the double-consciousness riddle provoked and explored by the grandfather, Ras the Exhorter is also a key antagonist in the questioning of one’s identity as a black American. According to Ras, racial barriers should exist and are beneficial because it helps one to embrace an identity as a black American, instead of molding one’s heritage to fit the part of an “Uncle Tom” character. Du Bois also addresses these harsh internal battles, saying “One ever feels his two-ness—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body.” This effectively describes IM’s struggle throughout the book, as he bounces between stifling his black identity, compromising it, and embracing it.
Emily Castro
1. Self Identification is undoubtedly the most prominent theme throughout Ellison's novel Invisible Man. Within the prologue it is evident that Invisible man has accepted himself for what he believes himself to be; invisible. However, the particulars of how and why he came to this conclusion are disclosed within the rest of the novel. In the beginning of the novel the Invisible Man is asked by Dr. Bledsoe to kindly show the esteemed Mr. Norton around the area. However, what is intended to be a pleasant, relaxing afternoon for Mr. Norton turns into a disasterous, detrimental journey for IM. On his journey back to the school, with Mr. Norton in the passengers seat, IM thinks to himself "Here within this quiet greenness I possessed the only identity I had ever know, and I was losing it". This illustrates that as a child IM had no sense of self identification, and that from the very beginning of his adult life the only identity that he possessed was one that had been pre-established. IM sees himself as a part of a society with ideals, aspirations, and principles, as opposed to seeing himself as an individual with independently formed tenets and ambition. To his dismay, but not his surprise, Im was expelled from college. Rather than returning home to the South he decides to head up North to Harlem to find work. Im was relatively unsuccessful until a man by the name of Brother jack recognized a certain talent within IM that he wanted to harness and use as a tool for an organization called the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood is a society of men and women working in the pursuit of abolishing the differences and animosity between races and establishing a peaceful relationship between whites and blacks alike. Brother Jack takes IM under his wing and brings him into the Brotherhood, Im is given a name, and is told that is it his new identity. IM thinks to himself "I would do the work but I would be no one except myself-whoever I was. I would pattern my life on that of the Founder. They might think I was acting like Booker T. Washington: Let them". It obvious here that IM is still very confused as to his self identification, and that he is still basing his identity upon the ways of another organized society and certain individuals. For some time IM feels as if he has finally found himself and found his calling, but this sense of security is only temporary. Toward the end of the book, IM makes a move that the rest of the Brotherhood finds threatening. Without consent from the rest of the Brotherhood, IM organizes a funeral for Brother Clifton. When Brother jack confronts IM about this he says "...You must accept discipline. Either you accept it or you get out...". This statement helps IM to realize that the Brotherhood never wanted him for his own opinions and ideas, they simply wanted to use his talent as a way to recruit others into the brainwashed society. Just as Bledsoe and Emerson and Norton, Brother Jack didn't want IM to form his own opinions, they wanted him to adopt theirs. With this realization fresh in his mind IM decides that the only way to form an identity is to escape immersion in every one else's identity; so he does just that. IM hibernates underground, and while he is all alone, away from every belief and every opinion and every individual he ever encountered, he is able to discover his identity, his person, his self.
2. A general understanding of the time in which Invisible Man is set is essential in fully comprehending the novel, however, I feel that recognizing the parallels between the Jazz references Ellison makes and IM's struggles to find his self is most beneficial in grasping a historically cultural understanding of the story. Just as Jazz was, IM was first rooted in the deep south. As IM grew older and graduated High School, he moved up North a bit to attend college and educate himself, and with this education came ideals and ambition and hope. As Jazz became more popular in the South, it gave blacks a sense of unity and hope, and jazz began to move North as well. Eventually, Jazz moved as far North as New York and became an important part of the Harlem Renaissance, just as IM did. After he was expelled from college, IM moved to Harlem, and while he was there he became actively opposed to oppression, and decided to use his voice as a call for justice. Jazz was a form of expression for blacks, and as Im did, it called for justice through words. IM used his voice to makes speeches, and Jazz artists used their voices to sing, and both IM and Jazz musicians used their voices to denounce oppression of the black race, not only in Harlem, but in the rest of country. Just as jazz did, IM's speeches inspired people, and instilled a sense of hope and unity into the black community. Understanding the migration of Jazz music from the South to t he North, and the significance that it had is very helpful in understanding IM's struggle to find his identity. There are also specific references in the book to jazz musicians. The most prominent and relevant being a reference made at the beginning of the book to jazz artist Louis Armstrong. IM is listening to Louis Armstrong's song "Black and Blue" ...'What did I do to be so black and blue?' the song says. In response this, IM thinks to himself "Perhaps I like I like Louis Armstrong because he as made poetry out if 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." This scene gives insight into the time in which IM is living, and also it allows the reader to know that IM is aware that he is not alone in being invisible, but he is alone in being aware of his invisibility.
Kyle Smith
Invisible Man #1
The novel Invisible Man spans the Jim Crow South and the willful oblivion of the North, specifically New York City. Throughout the book, the central character morphes through many different identities; each change brought on by a traumatic event that forced such change. In the beginning of the novel, in what is referred to as the “battle royal” scene, the protagonist is coerced into fighting his fellow blacks in order to win a “prize” from the overlooking whites. After being belittled, he is presented with a scholarship to a black college, thus he must thank the whites who have treated him in such a degrading way. This paints the picture of a black race, which is considered inferior to the whites and is “lucky” to receive and sort of attention or handouts from the white overlords. The characters sense of identity soon shifts again, after being betrayed by his hero, the well respected black head of the college, the main character is forced to reevaluate his beliefs that the black society is working together for a better future. Through his contact with the brotherhood, he accepts that like any group of people, blacks have their good and their bad, their self interested, and their goal oriented. By working for the brotherhood he establishes his identity as the man looking out for the underdog whilst bettering his own life as well. When he discovers the true intentions of the Brotherhood, his identity shifts once more into that of the Invisible Man, one who is free to remain inconspicuous and unexploited through a life of hibernation from the world. During the course of the novel, the main character’s identity is redefined multiple times in order for him to cope with a further realization of the true nature of the world.
Invisible Man #2
An understanding of history is an essential component of appreciating the many subtexts present within Invisible Man. Ellison specifically mentions political and social leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey and Fredrick Douglass. It is also clear that the college that IM attends is modeled after the Tuskegee Institute. The historical references contained with in the novel allowed me to place myself with in the time frame, and for that matter, the shoes of IM. My knowledge of the Jim Crow South served as a jumping point for me to delve into the novel. I was able to comprehend the unjust system that the IM was brought up in and how fortunate he was to receive an opportunity to escape such a system. Unfortunately, he never really escaped the oppression of the South. Instead, he traded the Jim Crow South for the race riots of Harlem. The IM fully embraces the philosophy of the previously mentioned men and uses it to reinforce his beliefs, however tainted or incorrect they may be. He is particularly influenced by the beliefs of Garvey, and Ras’ resemblance to him further serves to muddle IM’s beliefs and views. Overall, the author relies heavily on the reader’s knowledge of historical figures to characterize the IM as a black man trying to follow in the footsteps of other revolutionary blacks.
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