Invisible Man Attitudes

Throughout Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison describes characters using many different attitudes. He accomplishes this by utilizing various writing techniques such as excellent word choice. One specific example of this can be found in the prologue, where the narrator speaks about an encounter one night with “a tall, blonde man.”

At the beginning of the paragraph, the narrator is furious with the man he encounters; he is absolutely appalled that this tall stranger would insult him in the darkness. In fact, he is in such an outrage that he grabs the man, demands an apology, and proceeds to beat him. Ellison does a superb job of portraying how deeply disturbed the narrator is in this moment. He uses repetition to make the narrator’s blind rage stand out in the scene, restating phrases such as his demand for the man to apologize. In addition to this, the narrator also continues to say that he “kicked him,” creating the image of a thorough beating and therefore better depicting his rage. We see this …show more content…
Because he makes the connection that this was the reason he had insulted him, his rage withers away and is soon replaced with a hodgepodge of emotions. We see him sympathize with the man because he was attacked by what he perceived as a phantom. The shame that accompanies this is manifested in Ellison’s description of the narrator’s quivering form, stating he was “like a drunken man…wavering about on weakened legs.” However, these attitudes are quickly substituted with blatant amusement. Since we see him fleeing the scene in laughter, we can understand the extent of his mirth. This laughter is evidently very great, because Ellison describes the narrator “laughing so hard he feared he might rupture himself.” The paragraph comes to a close with the speaker questioning how ironic it must be to have been “mugged by an invisible