Emile Durin Invisible Man

The narrator introduces himself as an “invisible man.” He explains that his invisibility owes not to some biochemical accident or supernatural cause but rather to the unwillingness of other people to notice him, as he is black. It is as though other people are sleepwalkers moving through a dream in which he doesn’t appear. The narrator says that his invisibility can serve both as an advantage and as a constant aggravation. Being invisible sometimes makes him doubt whether he really exists. He describes his anguished, aching need to make others recognize him, and says he has found that such attempts rarely succeed. At this point, he resides in the basement of a New York City apartment building rented only to whites where he utilizes power from the Monopolated Light and Power Company without paying for it. He enjoys this free power in excess by lighting 1,369 bulbs in his room. This really shows the idea reflected throughout the book, the idea of needing to be seen. The protagonist also gives another example of his invisibility by describing an encounter on the street with a white man who calls him a "n*****." He feels the white man doesn't truly see him and that as a black man he remains invisible to the world. …show more content…
When he returns to consciousness, the protagonist continues his narrative and explains that he intends to come out of his hibernation in the basement. He also reflects on the nature of his conflict with the white man on the street. The chapter ends with the words of Louis Armstrong: "What did I do to be so black and blue?" This serves as a rhetorical passage into the narrative. To be invisible is to be unable to be seen by anyone. The invisible man seems to be harder to locate than a needle in a