Setting in Invisible Man is generally used to highlight a social injustice or stereotype held by society at the time either in the form of the side characters or the physical area the narrator finds himself in. The physical situation the narrator finds himself in reflect the limitations and strife that his people face in the world. The underage boxing match in the beginning of the novel showcases how black people are very much considered inhuman performers for the more powerful white males in society. The “beautiful college” the narrator attends in the North and his shattered idol of Bledsoe, his principal, show the narrator that his sort of people are not meant to succeed and learn in such a prestigious place (34). The city of Harlem and
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Dr. Bledsoe’s “whiplike” authority and stern unforgiving attitude towards the narrator represent the elitist African Americans who would much rather have power over morality. On the flipside, Ras the Exhorter, the black power movement member, denounces calling any white man a “brother” because they are the astute enemy of the minority serves as a way to show the chaos going on in the minds of Harlem. Despite these two vastly different black characters in positions of power, many of other characters fall in categories in between them and impact just as heavily on the ideas of racial inequality in the novel, namely the conflicting idea of Brother Clifton, a black activist, selling black face paper dolls in the streets of Harlem. The “Samba” dolls he is selling are the amalgamation of both the ideals Bledsoe and Ras put forward on race; no matter how hard you “shake” the doll, here being a representation of black people being made a joke by the country, you can never “break him” because the black people are so resilient in their daily struggles in this country, the very same racially divided country both up and down Ralph Ellison sets the novel in to show just how cruel and inhumane people can be based on the melanin in one's
Dr. Bledsoe’s “whiplike” authority and stern unforgiving attitude towards the narrator represent the elitist African Americans who would much rather have power over morality. On the flipside, Ras the Exhorter, the black power movement member, denounces calling any white man a “brother” because they are the astute enemy of the minority serves as a way to show the chaos going on in the minds of Harlem. Despite these two vastly different black characters in positions of power, many of other characters fall in categories in between them and impact just as heavily on the ideas of racial inequality in the novel, namely the conflicting idea of Brother Clifton, a black activist, selling black face paper dolls in the streets of Harlem. The “Samba” dolls he is selling are the amalgamation of both the ideals Bledsoe and Ras put forward on race; no matter how hard you “shake” the doll, here being a representation of black people being made a joke by the country, you can never “break him” because the black people are so resilient in their daily struggles in this country, the very same racially divided country both up and down Ralph Ellison sets the novel in to show just how cruel and inhumane people can be based on the melanin in one's