Aspiration leads the narrator through Invisible Man. The narrator aspires to be like influential people in black society, such as Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass. Washington was a prominent African American speaker in the 19th century, while Douglass was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. Before participating in the Battle Royal the narrator prepares to deliver a speech to the white audience in which he expresses, “I visualized myself as a potential Booker T. Washington” (18). The narrator’s admiration towards these historical figures displays his goal to inspire and influence his audiences. Although, his speech does not drastically change the white men’s opinions, he is then awarded
