Title: Invisible Man Author: Ralph Ellison Pub. Date: 1952 Genre: African American Literature

Historical Information about the Literary Era: This novel takes place in the 1920s to 1930s, around the time when Jim Crow still dominated southern culture. The novel, though, was written in the early 1950s, which is also the time period of the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement and the beginning of the formation of the Beat Generation in literature and arts. These factors, when the novel was written and when the novel took place, all contribute to the meaning and purpose of Invisible Man. Invisible Man shows both sides of the nation during the period of segregation, as white southerners in the Deep South showed little to no respect for the black community, and northerners, such as New Yorkers, had more benevolence towards blacks. The Beat Generation explored American culture following World War II, and this influence can be seen since Ellison himself served as a Merchant Marine cook during the war. The dynamic of America was changing during this time.

Biographical Information about the Author: Ralph Ellison was born on March 1, 1914, to a set of parents who loved to read (especially his father), thus explaining why he was named after poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where his father died in a work­related accident when Ellison was only three years old. After that, his mother raised him and his younger brother. Before moving to New York City to become a writer, Ellison studied music at the Tuskegee Institute, which is a prevalent motif in Invisible Man. Once Ellison moved to New York to pursue writing, he was mentored by the likes of Langston Hughes and Richard Wright. Ellison married Fanny McConnell in 1946, and the two stayed together for the rest of their lives. Ellison died of pancreatic cancer in 1994.

Characteristics of the Genre: The genre of Invisible Man is considered African American/Bildungsroman. African American literature focuses on the struggles and triumphs of blacks, whether it be fiction or nonfiction. Bildungsroman is a genre characterized by the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist, which is very important in IM as the point of view is IM’s stream of consciousness.

Plot Summary: Invisible Man is a novel that follows the trials and triumphs of a narrator with no name. The novel begins in the Deep South, most likely at the Tuskegee Institute, though the school is never named. Invisible Man, or IM, starts out as a hard­working student, eager to please the white folks in his town. He is a very intelligent student, and he aspires to one day be like Dr. Bledsoe, the president of the school. Because IM is such a successful student, he is invited to give a speech to several influential white men in his community. IM believes that he was really invited to showcase his talent, but he soon finds out that he was invited there as a joke, as he and several other African American men are forced to fight each other for the amusement of the white townsmen. After they have finished fighting, IM is allowed to give his speech, and the men even give him a scholarship to the school. IM’s successful nature follows him to the school, where he is entrusted to drive Mr. Norton around the campus. IM takes Mr. Norton to the likes of Trueblood’s cabin and the Golden Day, leaving Mr. Norton in a faint state. Following IM’s mistake, he gets expelled from the school unknowingly by Dr. Bledsoe, and he travels North to try and find a job until he can return to school. Once in New York, IM takes the letters of recommendation that Dr. Bledsoe wrote for him and looks around for jobs with some of the important people of New York. Every single person turns him down, and he cannot figure out why. Eventually, Mr. Emerson Jr. shows one of the letters to IM, and he sees that Dr. Bledsoe wrote him letters that included false information about him, leaving him unable to get a job except at places like a paint factory, which ends with IM in the hospital following an explosion. IM does not really find his calling until one day he stumbles upon an eviction, and he speaks to the crowd that has surrounded the event. One of the audience members, a man named Jack, tracks down IM and offers him a job as a public speaker for the Brotherhood, a group trying to encourage blacks and whites to live together in harmony. This leads to conflict with Ras the Exhorter (later becoming Ras the Destroyer), who opposes everything IM and the Brotherhood stand for. For the majority of the novel, IM is pulled in every direction but his own; he is sent North by Dr. Bledsoe and then once he makes it there, he is sent running around by the letters. The Brotherhood give him instructions and keep him running for their own purposes, and it takes a very long time for IM to realize that he is not living for himself; he is living for others. Once IM discovers his own identity, he begins to lash out against the Brotherhood, eventually leaving them like he left the school in Alabama (although this time his leaving was by choice). After IM finds his own identity and leaves the Brotherhood, he falls in a hole and chooses to stay there, filling it with thousands of lights so that he may always be surrounded by truth.

Characters

Name Role in the Story Significance Adjectives

1. Narrator 2. Grandfather 3. Mr. Norton 4. Jim Trueblood 5. Dr. Bledsoe 6. Lucius

Brockway 7. Mary Rambo 8. Brother Tarp 9. Brother Jack 10. Tod Clifton 11. Ras the

Exhorter/Destroyer

1. The main protagonist of the story whose thoughts and actions shape the events of the story. The readers follow him throughout the entire novel.

2. The grandfather of the narrator. On his last days, he gave the narrator some advice to keep with him throughout the course of his life.

3. Mr. Norton is a wealthy beneficiary of the college that the narrator attends. The narrator’s job is to show Norton around the campus. Norton and the narrator make stops at Trueblood’s cabin and the Golden Day before departing. Norton and the narrator meet again at the end of the novel.

4. Trueblood is an outcast resident who had children out of wedlock with his own daughter.

5. Dr. Bledsoe is the president of the college that the narrator is attending.

6. Brockway is found in the basement area of the paint factory. He claims that his doings are the backbone to the company because he is in charge of creating the paints and fixing the pressure of the boilers

7. Mary is a woman that takes in the narrator after he leaves the Men’s House. She has a nurturing and caring character, which is different than what the narrator is used to.

8. Brother Tarp is a member of the brotherhood. He spent many years in a chain gang, and he does not wish to forget those experiences.

9. Brother Jack is the leader of the Brotherhood.

10. Tod Clifton is a member of the Brotherhood. He is known for his handsome and strong physique. He is a strong believer in helping the black community progress, which is what the Brotherhood claims to be about.

11. Ras the Exhorter is a black nationalist leader. He fights

1. The story of the invisible man is told through the eyes and events of the unnamed narrator. The readers experience the story based off of the narrator’s own thoughts and feelings.

2. The grandfather was never physically seen in the story. Before passing away, he gave a word of advice to his grandson (the narrator), to keep a smiling face towards the white society, but for him to also never let his guard down and conform. He wanted the narrator to put up an act to please. This advice stuck with the narrator throughout the events of the story.

3. Mr. Norton is driven around by the narrator, who was assigned to show Norton around the area. While driving around, Norton tells the narrator that he is Norton’s destiny. All of the narrator’s accomplishments, along with the other students’ accomplishments, make up the worth of Norton’s life. Norton is told later that he is blinded by this false prophecy, because it leads him to see the students as trophies rather than people. Norton has a short encounter with the narrator, but after all the time in between the meetings, Norton had forgotten the narrator and his proposed destiny. It shows that Norton’s blindness was never realized, and he would probably continue the rest of his life a racist man that cannot see through the thick veil of the white society.

4. Trueblood tells his story to Norton and the narrator, even though the narrator tried multiple times to drag Norton away from the situation. Trueblood commits incest with his daughter, making his family and himself an outcast to society. After hearing Trueblood’s story,

1. pensive, malleable, passionate, educated, intelligent

2. wise, prophetic, quiet

3. wealthy, philanthropic, in denial, shameful

4. outcast, uneducated, immoral, understanding

5. cunning, power hungry, prideful, cruel

6. deceitful, bitter, angry

7. motherly, kind, gentle, strong willed

8. wise, strong willed, intelligent

9. forceful, loud, passionate, influential

10. strong, attractive, confused, non­committal

11. passionate, angry, influential, powerful, opinionated

against the Brotherhood and what they stand for, as he does not believe that blacks and whites could ever live together in harmony.

Norton feels ill. This could be because Norton could relate to Trueblood, as Norton possibly had an illegal relationship with his daughter as well. Trueblood explained that many wealthy white men paid him in goods and money. This is because he is a reinforcement of the stereotype that all black men are poor, uneducated, and incestial. The white men want to reward those who follow in their stereotypes. Although Trueblood committed an immoral act and is quite uneducated, he is still able to feel shame and understand the repercussions of his actions, something that many characters fail to do.

5. Bledsoe is an African American male, but he acts like a stereotypical white male. This can be seen when he is in conversation with the narrator, explaining that he is the dominate power in the college and that the beneficiaries of the college answer to him. The stereotypes of being dominate and prideful are usually put upon those of the white society, but Bledsoe has assumed the role fully. Bledsoe is important, because his actions and words while talking to the narrator help bring the narrator to begin to find his identity. Bledsoe’s manipulative ways are not forgotten by the narrator, as the narrator always keeps in the back of his mind the thought of being able to take revenge on Bledsoe. Without Bledsoe and his tyrannical persona, the narrator would not be able to find true individuality, because he would not have been given the extra push right after being expelled from the college.

6. Lucius Brockway is a representation of satan or the devil. He is in the basement,

which is three levels, symbolizing the three levels of purgatory. Often, the narrator recalls Brockway’s red eyes, further exemplifying his symbolism. Lucius also holds a temper, which is due to the fact that he guards his job heavily to make sure no one will replace him. Brockway is similar to Bledsoe in the manner that both men have a strong sense of pride from their positions. Brockway believes that he is in charge of the white men of the company, because without him and his doings, the company would fail. This mindset is similar to Bledsoe’s.

7. Mary is the Christ figure of the novel. Not only does her name show resemblance to Mother Mary’s of the Bible, but her nurturing and caring personality is very similar, too. Mary takes the narrator in, even though she is struggling financially to keep herself safe and warm. She tells the narrator that it is up to him to keep fighting for theblack community's rights, thather time is up, so it is up to the him and the younger generation.

8. Brother Tarp is part of the Brotherhood. For many years, he was in a chain gang, so he keeps his shackle as a reminder to not forget his past. He has a similar idea as the narrator’s grandfather does, which is to act pleasant in the face and eyes of a white man’s, but in the background, he will not forget where he came from, because that is what fuels his fight. Tarp, though, gives the narrator his shackle, telling him to keep it out of sight. This represents that although he wishes to not forget his past, he would rather not stir up controversy among his colleagues, because their trust is more important. He is a

character that is a victim to conformity and the misguidance of the Brotherhood.

9. When the narrator first meets Brother Jack, it is seemed thathe is a friendly, good­hearted man. As the story progresses, it is revealed that Brother Jack holds the same racist ideas that the rest of the Brotherhood has, and his goal is to only further his own agenda rather than help those in need in Harlem. Jack is a perfect example of what the Brotherhood embodies. What they claim they do is the opposite of what they actuallydo. Jack has a glass eye, which is further explained under the symbols section, and that blindness inhibits him from being able to see the true issues of society. His blindness allows the narrator to see more clearly, although it takes some time, as to how the blindness has affected the rest of the Brotherhood in a negative way.

10. Tod Clifton was a member of the Brotherhood. He is one of the more powerful brothers because of his appearance and charisma. Clifton is one of the few characters that is not seeking to gain power politically, as he truly cares for the people of Harlem. Although he had a sense of blindness, like most of the other characters, he gained sight quickly, since he allowed Ras’s sermons (although Clifton disagreed), to help him see the dangers and manipulation of the Brotherhood. Clifton soon left the Brotherhood, choosing to sell dolls than to be part of an organization with a false motive. The dolls, although racist, symbolized the way Clifton felt about the Brotherhood. Those in the Brotherhood are just dolls, slaves to the racism and false hopes of what the

Brotherhood entails. On the streets, Clifton gathered a large audience, who in turn watched his death after he hit a white police officer. Clifton knew that his actions would be the last thing he did, but it was a way to publically, yet silently, let his audience know his message. His death was the turning point in the story, because it was the first major event that really spoke truth to the narrator. After watching the white police officer kill his friend, the narrator was able to develop an understanding of the real Brotherhood, and from there, he continued his journey to becoming the invisible man.

11. Ras the Exhorter, later changing his name from Ras the Destroyer, is first seen as the enemy of the Brotherhood. He serves a purpose of challenging the narrator’s views and ways of thinking, bringing the narrator further from his old conformist self. He can be seen as a representation of real life black nationalist Marcus Garvey. He closely resembles Garvey in order to signify that the social rift in society was not only limited to blacks versus whites, but there were many in the black community trying to further their own agenda. It shows the difficulty, since there were many different ideologies for the narrator to believe, that the narrator had to face while on the path to individuality. Ras’s name change also helps symbolize the movement of the black community. He goes from a speaker urging for change to a nationalist using force and destruction to make a point. This polarization was also seen between real life movements. At the end of the novel, Ras is punctured by a spear, rendering him inaudible. This irony is

important, because he is now no longer able to give his sermons, ultimately losing his power.

Setting: The narrator’s story begins in a basement room in New York city. This hiding hole is the narrator’s place of stay while he is in hibernation. He begins to tell his story, the story of the invisible man. The narrator’s story first began in Alabama, as this is where he was born, raised, and attended college. After finding himself in trouble for showing a white beneficiary restricted areas around the school, the narrator is expelled and exiled to New York, where he is supposed to find work. Little does he know, New York is his final home, as he later realizes that he will not be allowed back at his school. The narrator begins to find temporary places to call his home, including a Men’s House, Mary Rambo’s home, and he is even given a place when he stumbles upon the Brotherhood organization. Throughout his journey, most of which occurs in New York, the narrator begins to figure out who he truly is. After cutting off all ties with his former self, the narrator finds his hole, which no one knows he has taken residency in. The hole is the last place the readers see the narrator, but as the book ends, the narrator is preparing to leave and return to the real world.

Significance of the Opening Scene: The beginning scene opens to the narrator in his hole where we find him questioning his invisibility and the nature of his existence. Invisibility defines IM’s internal struggles and works as a theme throughout the novel. The hole in which he secretly resides is the basement of an all­white living complex. He explains how he has been stealing thousands of dollars in power by setting up thousands of light bulbs. Light is shown in this novel to be symbolic of the truth. Invisible Man does not reside in the darkness, he resides in an abundance of light because his self acceptance of the fact that he is invisible is the closest to truth that he has reached. While residing in his hole, IM reflects upon the incident that he had with the blonde man. IM physically beat the man after he insulted IM. In the moment, he found satisfaction in being able to control the pain of another. The significance in this lies in IM finding the reality that even in a situation where he was beating the white man, the white man was still in control. The song “Black and Blue” by Louis Armstrong resonates with IM while on marijuana. He stops smoking and recognizes that the music is empowering and the drug slows him down from taking action. Significance of the Closing Scene: “I’m an invisible man and it placed me in a hole—or showed me the hole I was in, if you will—and I reluctantly accepted the fact.” (Ellison 432) The last scene closes with IM reflecting on his life and the reality that the challenges of Harlem have forced him to accept. One thing that Invisible Man is reflecting on is his personal experiences throughout his quest to find himself: hardships that contributed to him rising to find his truth. He finds that reality exists in his own mind and through his own imagination. His world that he faces daily has not changed, the hardships that he has faced have not gone away, but what has changed is his outlook towards life because he has conquered his struggles and come out on the other side. “The end was in the beginning” (Ellison 571). The novel begins and ends in the same place, the hole that Invisible Man secretly resides, but the significance of this quote surpasses that. IM new the truth the whole time, even before he went to college and the Battle Royal, but would not let himself indulge in an idea that didn’t contribute to the outside world’s

view of who he was. The result of how he dealt with his hardships led to his personal enlightenment.

Symbols/Archetypes and their Explanations: Yams­ The yams symbolize freedom for the narrator. As soon as he takes a bite back into his childhood, a realization hits him. The narrator feels a sense of freedom, thinking it doesn’t matter what others think of him as he walks down the streets eating the yams. He envisions seeing Bledsoe once more, this time having the courage to laugh at Bledsoe’s shame of eating hog bowels in private. He laughs to himself at the thought of ruining Bledsoe’s reputation with his accusations, showing that for a time he was unafraid of the authority that he once was. The narrator goes back to the vendor to get more yams, but his second round is frostbitten, ending his temporary freedom. This scene aligns with the rest of the events of the novel, because whenever the narrator gains a sense of identity or individuality, it is usually backtracked with conformity. Blindfold­ The blindfold during the Battle Royal were put over the fighter's eyes to make the event more entertaining. The fighters were young and black and the spectators were rich, white males, showing the social dynamic of the time period. The blindfolds were white, so them being placed over the young boys’ eyes symbolized their blindness to society. It shows this because the boys are willing to go through embarrassment in order to try and gain the riches of the white men. They are blind to the way they are being treated, because the only thing on their minds is to please the white society and gain their reward from them. Paint­ The paint at Liberty Paint factory is claimed to be the whitest of white. The catch is that the paint is mixed with a few drops of a black substance. This symbol is another representation of society, as it shows that the black substance (i.e. the black people) is the backbone to the white society. Again, this is a representation of blindness as the black liquid makes the paint whiter, showing that the blindness of the black community only makes the white overcast on society even more powerful. Sambo Bank­ The sambo bank was in the narrator’s room while he was staying at Mary’s. The narrator broke the bankout of anger and confusion. Fearing Mary, the narrator took the pieces and fled the house. The narrator had multiple attempts at getting rid of the bank, including throwing it in a garbage can and leaving it in the snow by pretending it isn’t his, but the package always found itself back in the narrator’s possession. Facing defeat, the narrator drops the bank into his briefcase, which holds significance in itself and is explained further in the next symbol explanation. The fact that the narrator was not able to rid of the bank no matter how hard he tried symbolized the narrator’s journey to identity. He was not able to fully find his individuality because there was always something pulling him back to conformity. It also symbolizes that the racism of society was not able to be easily forgotten, as it always made its way back into society no matter how hard people tried to fight it. Briefcase and its contents­ The briefcase first falls into the narrator’s hands when he was given a scholarship to his college after his speech during the Battle Royal. Throughout the novel, the narrator collects a multitude of things and stores them in the case. These things include his letters of recommendation from Dr. Bledsoe, and the broken Sambo bank. The briefcase itself is a symbol of everything bad in IM’s life. It is filled with his failures and his conformity, andit always brings bad luck. Shackles­ Shackles appear twice in the novel. The first time the shackles are seen is in Bledsoe’s office. They are used as a symbol of the progress that the African American society has made since the end of slavery. The second time that the shackles are seen is in Brother Tarp’s office. Tarp’s shackles are used as a reminder to not get too caught up in future progress that they overshadow his past of being in a chain gang. The major difference between the two chains were that Bledsoe’s chains were clean and new, while Tarp’s were worn and old. This shows the difference between the two messages. Although Bledsoe’s message was a positive one, it was laced with pride and manipulation. His clean shackles were viewed as a trophy, showing that he does not have a true personal connection to the meaning of the shackles. Tarp’s message is more serious, as it is very similar to the the message that the narrator’s grandfather left the narrator before his death. Tarp’s shackle is given to the narrator, but he is told to keep it out of sight to avoid controversy. This shows that even though Tarp kept the shackles in order to remember his past, he is more willing to forget it in order to not stir a mess with the white dominance of the Brotherhood.

Jack’s Glass Eye­ After Clifton’s death, Brother Jack and Brother Tobitt interrogate the narrator for organizing Clifton’s funeral. During the heated argument, Brother Jack’s eye popped out of his eye socket. Jack’s physical blindness represents his blindness to society. The Brotherhood has a manipulative outlook on society. They advertise being the organization for the oppressed, but in reality, they are only looking to gain national attraction. This blindness is shared with almost every member of the Brotherhood, as represented by Jack’s glass eye. When the eye falls out, it isa representation of the narrator gaining sight of reality and truth because he is the only one shocked at Jack’s eye, which could be interpreted as the narrator being able to see things that the blindness is hindering the Brotherhood from seeing. Rinehart­ Rinehart is a very significant character, but his face is never truly seen by anyone in the novel. As IM puts on his disguise to hide from Ras, multiple people mistake him for Rinehart. Each different person thinks Rinehart as another person, such as a pimp or a businessman, so the only similarity is the name Rinehart. Rinehart is given multipleoccupations and lifestyles based off of the person the narrator encountered, and this is the same for IM. It shows that the narrator’s true identity has been hidden by the false identities given by other people. Nobody could recognize the narrator while in his disguise, because the narrator himself was not recognizable as a person based off of one true identity. He was what others painted him out to be. The narrator saw the advantage of Rinehart’s ability to be seen as multiple people. He takes this opportunity of being “invisible” to the public’s eye, thus creating the invisible man. Major Motifs: Blindness vs. Sight­ Throughout the whole novel, the narrator, along with many other characters, has an inner conflict of what he can and cannot see figuratively. What the characters need to see is the truth, and as shown in the narrator’s light­filled hole, light guides the truth. Living without truth (without light) is what causes the characters to go blind and not be able to see. The novel takes the readers on a journey of the narrator’s transition from being a blind (figuratively) man with multiple identities, depending on how others saw and thought of him to be, to a man who understands himself. In order for the narrator to find an identity, he had to distinguish between what is real and what is not. Each event that the narrator experienced, from the Battle Royal to the Brotherhood, there was always a sense of conformity from the narrator, but as the novel progressed, the conformity became less and less. The narrator, though, did not just conform and then one day magically have an identity. With each event, there was always a trigger that had the narrator start to question, but the he snapped back to being submissive and blind. When he was in Bledsoe’s office, Bledsoe called the narrator a racial slur, and for a little while, the narrator stopped listening to Bledsoe so he could take in his shock. Later, the narrator hailed Bledsoe for giving him letters of recommendations so he can return back to the college. His lack of sight enabled him to be so easily fooled by Bledsoe. When the narrator was walking down the streets of New York, he found a yam vendor. For a time, the narrator felt a sense of freedom, but that quickly ended when he bit into a frostbitten yam. While part of the Brotherhood, the narrator failed to see how the organization was trying to shape him into their racist point of view, and that their end goal was not they claimed it to be. When the Brothers sent him to take lessons from Brother Hambro, he failed to see that they were trying to brainwash him into believing their ideologies. He failed to see that every time he gave an uplifting speech to the people of Harlem, the Brothers shot him down saying he did bad. He was not on the same agenda as they were, and he was not able to see that because he was blinded by their false trust. It wasn’t until he was able to put all his thoughts together and draw out all the instances he had of conformity that he was able to find who he truly was. Most of the characters that the narrator encountered also had a sense of blindness too. They refused to see the narrator for his true self, instead labeling him as what they wanted him to be. These characters reinforced the idea of blindness. Black vs. White­ The entire social hierarchy of the novel showed a large rift between the blacks and whites of the society. For the most part, the whites were the dominating force, although there were occasions where an African American male assumed the position of a stereotypical prideful and powerful white male. The majority of how society was displayed was based off of stereotypes of each race. The whites were power hungry and prideful, while the blacks were submissive, uneducated, or poor. These stereotypes play a role in the blindness motif, because everyone in societysaw their racial counterpart as what the stereotype said, not how they actually were. The race issue was prominent from the beginning of the narrator’s story from when he entered the ring during the Battle Royal. Even still, at the college,

the narrator was taught to be submissive to Mr. Norton, not just because Norton was an important powerful man, but because he was white, and that is why the narrator saw him to be so powerful. The students and faculty of the college looked to the founder as a Godly figure who helped save the African American community from being uneducated. The Brotherhood, which is an organization claiming to be for the poor, had its own social hierarchy, as the white Brothers were seen as more dominant and more important. The black brothers such as the narrator and Clifton were chastised for trying to further the help given to the people of Harlem, because helping those people was not the actual goal of the racial Brotherhood. The dynamic between the blacks and whites of society helped in part to let the narrator see the truth more clearly.

Possible Themes and Topics for Discussion

Identity­ The narrator struggles throughout the majority of the novel to try and find his true identity, while taking on many different identities along the way. his fake identity with the Brotherhood his college identity and wishes to be the next Bledsoe his final identity that becomes his true identity and leaves him in a hole

An example of identity would be when IM finally realizes his own identity, following his talk with Hambro. He leaves the Brotherhood and eventually falls in a hole, content to be alone with his new identity.

Alienation­ Throughout the novel, the narrator experiences both low and high points of his life, the latter usually closely following the former. It is when he is at his low points that the narrator expresses feelings of alienation from the crowd. Although the narrator spends the majority of his time conformity to the ideals of others, the narrator is truly alone in his situation, as no one really understand him. the times that the narrator gains a sense that he is alienated are usually

accompanied with the times that he gains slight insight to the truth even when IM is surrounded by people, he is alone in his thoughts his alienation ultimately leads to his discovery of identity Some instances of alienation occur when the narrator stops to think about the racial slur that Bledsoe threw at him, when the narrator is eating his yams, and when the narrator is watching the policeman shoot and kill his friend Clifton. During each of these events, the narrator was alone in the fact that he could see the truth. Knowledge­ IM is constantly waging a battle between being knowledgeable and being ignorant. Following with the light vs. dark motif, the closer IM gets to the light, the closer he gets to the truth. In the end of the novel, IM fills his hole with light, embracing the truth he denied for so long: he was never his own person. knowledge vs ignorance compared to light vs dark the knowledge IM gains when he discovers his identity (follows with theme of

identity as well) the ignorance that IM embodies for the majority of the novel before finding his

identity An example of a scene where IM shows knowledge would be when Jack’s eye falls out. IM can finally see through the lies and false front of the Brotherhood, and begins to drop his ignorance towards their corrupt ways.

Author’s Style: Ellison’s writing consists of a shifting and somewhat musical style that employs tones of realism.

Example: “Let me be honest with you—a feat which…I find of the utmost difficulty. When one is invisible he finds such problems as good and evil, honesty and dishonesty, of such shifting shapes that he confuses one with the other…I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest. Or when, even as just now I’ve tried to articulate exactly what I felt to be the truth. No one was satisfied—not even I.”(Ellison 573)

Memorable Quotes Quote:

“‘He registers with his senses but short­circuits his brain. Nothing has meaning. He takes it in but he doesn’t digest it. Already he is­ well, bless my soul! Behold! A walking zombie! Already he’s learned to repress not only his emotions but his humanity. He’s invisible, a walking personification of the Negative, the most perfect achievement of your dreams, sir! The mechanical man!’” (94)

“Call me Jack­the­Bear, for I am in a state of hibernation” (6). “That I am nobody but myself. But first I had to discover that I am an invisible man!” (15) “I myself, after existing some twenty years, did not become alive until I discovered my invisibility” (7).

Significance in Demonstrating Theme: While at the Golden Day, Mr. Norton had a brief discussion about the narrator with the veteran. The vet, although perceived to be somewhat crazy by others, is the only one who is able to seeclearly the blindness of Norton and the narrator. He is the one to see the effects of conformity on the narrator, as he calls him a machine of the dominant white society. According to the vet, the narrator’s lack of identity, which is the central theme of the novel, has led him to conform so easily and willingly. As the conversation progresses, the vet turns on Norton, giving insight on Norton’s own failure to see. He unveils the relationship dynamic between the duo­ Norton fails to see the narrator for a person, only as a trophy of success, while the narrator sees Norton, as well as other white males, as his authority and God. The accusations leave Norton angry, possibly because he began to realize the truth. The entire novel of The Invisible Man is being recalled by the narrator, whom in the present day, is waiting for his “hibernation” to be over. His hibernation is not indeed the true state of dormancy that nature usually sees, but it is a time for the narrator to think over his life of being alienated, one of themes of the novel, and how it has helped him form the person he is. The narrator referring to his waiting period as hibernation symbolizes his hopefulness of a new and fresh life, as the end of hibernation usually occurs at the beginning of the spring season. The trio of quotes all support the idea of the narrator’s invisibility and individuality. The theme of identity and individuality is clearly shown in these quotes, as they are about the narrator being able to find himself. The last quote is spoken right after the basement explosion in the paint factory and the narrator’s memories and thoughts are temporarily forgotten. As he has forgotten who he was, he decides that as soon as he is able to find himself, he will be free. That central idea of freedom from individuality and identity is vital to the novel.

“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free” (243). “‘I yam what I am!” (266).

“That, I thought, noticing the throbbing of a vein that rose between his eyes, thinking, He called me that” (139). “I looked at the paint slab. It appeared the same: a gray tinge glowed through the whiteness, and Kimbro had failed to detect it. I stared for about a minute, wondering if I were seeing things, inspected another and another. All were the same, a brilliant white diffused with gray. I closed my eyes for a moment and looked again and still no change. Well, I thought, as long as he’s satisfied…” (205).

“Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?” (581).

This simple and silly quote is exclaimed right after the narrator meets the yam vendor. The significance of the yams is explained in the symbols section. After biting into the yam, the narrator has a sense of nostalgia from his childhood delight. He dreams of facing Bledsoe again one day, and the conversation that plays through the narrator’s mind is not one of conformity, but one of strength and breaking away from his conformity, at least for a little while. The quote ties to the theme of identity, because the yams allow him to feel a sense of himself. At that moment, he believes that what others think doesn’t matter as long as he is doing what he wants; hence the reference to the famous quote, “I am what I am.” The duo of quotes all connect, because they are times that the narrator has a sense of identity. Even though his realization and sight do not come all at once, there are moments every so often that the narrator has a break from his blindness. The first quote happens when the narrator is in Bledsoe’s office. He thinks to himself while Bledsoe is talking, showing the narrator's first realization of the corrupt system of the college. He quickly shakes off the feelings of doubt, as he eagerly follows Bledsoe’s advice up to New York with his fake recommendations in hand. The second quote comes while the narrator is at his first job in New York, which is to mix paints. The narrator had some issues finding the right mixture to create the paints, as he first creates a batch that is tinted gray. His boss Kimbro comes in, fixes the narrator a new batch, and has the narrator paint a new swatch. Again, the paint, which is the whitest white, is stained with a graytint. Kimbro doesn’t take notice, but the narrator does. The paint is symbolized in the symbols section, and it is supposed to show the white dominance of society. For the narrator to see some gray in the white, it shows that he is able to begin to see though the white society, beginning to find his new self. Again, the narrator snaps back to his usual self, as he doesn’t question the paint further because it makes his boss happy. This quote is probably the most memorable in the novel, especially since it is the last line spoken from the narrator. This quote speaks to the readers on a personal level, since many of them have been in the narrator’s shoes of struggling to find self identification, as it enables the audience to understand the narrator’s story as their own. This specifically connects to the theme of identification and identity as it can relate to the lives of the readers, thus incorporating them into the story. Throughout the narrator’s journey, he has been collecting various items and keeping them in his briefcase. The briefcase and items are described more in the symbols section. The narrator burning

“...and I realized that to light my way out I would have to burn every paper in the briefcase” (568). “‘His name was Clifton and they shot him down’” (455).

all the items in order for him to have light symbolizes the burning of his conformity in order for him to see and have his own individual identity. This quote was repeated numerous times throughout the eulogy that the narrator gave during Clifton’s funeral. The repetition of Clifton’s name and death style is an emphasis on the tensions growing between the society of Harlem. During the speech, the narrator described Clifton in a personal manner as if the same fate could happen to one of the listeners or one of their family members. The narrator uses the pronoun “they” in order to separate himself and Clifton from the white society that has taken over. The eulogy is one of the final pushes in the removal of the narrator’s cloak of conformity before fully realizing his individuality.