Identity In Invisible Man

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison focuses on the theme of black consciousness which can be described as the awareness of black identity in oneself. In the novel, the narrator who remains unnamed has a high difficulty trying to relinquish the segregation of the 1920s and rid the invisibility of his race. During this time period of the 1920s-1930s laws such as the Jim Crow Laws came out advocating immense discrimination to the black race, these laws were especially prominent in the southern states. Due to this, migration to the northern states allowing the blacks to find their true identity and purpose in a different area. Many settled in Harlem, New York, where they felt free to express themselves through literature, poetry, music and art. Hence …show more content…
He is presented to be the “Invisible man” since he remains unnamed. The narrator often speaks of how he is viewed as invisible; he is buried by all the stereotypes of a Negro in the 1930s. The narrator, states that being black is equal to being invisible and “It 's enough to make you doubt if you really exist” (Ellison, 13). Like any black man, the narrator was very timid towards the whites, “Anything might happen if I had said too much. With these people I’ll have to be careful. Always careful. With all people I’ll have to be careful…” (Ellison, 303) this clearly shows the fear that is displayed upon the inferior whites. The racial prejudice that took place because of laws that were enforced such as the Jim Crow Laws, causing blacks to be segregated even when doing day to day activities and the narrator clearly took notice on the racial inequality and therefore exhibited fear on the whites. If a black man ever did a white man wrong, even if it was for something minor or insignificant the white man had the ability to put the black man in jail for his crime. The narrator also stresses the importance of the town leaders; teachers etc and believe that if he disobeys them he is lost within society. “I’m told that he is the smartest boy we’ve got out there in Greenwood. I’m told that he knows more big words than a pocket sized dictionary” (Ellison, 29) this quote exemplifies just how naturally intelligent the narrator is and how he is willing to use his skills at any of the townspeople disposition. The narrator believed that constantly assisting them would help him find that self identity, he longed to seek, but it does quite the contrary, it leaves him even more lost than