The Struggle In Invisible Man, By Ralph Ellison

In a society where people are defined by others and not by themselves, questioning and conflict arises frequently and was most certainly prevalent in the life of an Invisible Man. In the book Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, an African American man struggles to find his identity and to understand the world around him due to its limiting and prejudicial values. A large part of this Invisible Man’s life was influenced by his grandfather, even though he only appeared for a short portion of the book. The invisible man spent his life fighting to improve his life and eventually for those around him as well, much like many African Americans, but was led astray by a society that was built upon limiting people of color in order to keep the whites on top of the social hierarchy. At a very early point in the book, The grandfather reveals a harsh truth to the narrator by revealing the only way to reach equality is by fighting against the corrupt system of society, which creates a conflict throughout the entirety of the invisible man’s life. The narrator’s life was initially affected by his grandfather’s wisdom by becoming “cursed” by this new knowledge. One example of this was when the narrator first heard these words and began to question his workings in society. Ellison writes, “And whenever things went well for me, I remembered my grandfather and felt guilty and uncomfortable. It was as though I was carrying out his advice in spite of myself. And to …show more content…
It was only when he received advice from his grandfather that he was eventually able to see the world in a different light and see the truth of things. Overall, the grandfather played a heavy role in what the narrator would become by “cursing” him with the cold truths of