The epilogue is a continuation of the prologue, where the reader learned that the narrator has been living under ground in isolation. In the absence of outside influence, the protagonist never arrives at an individual identity. Nevertheless, he recognizes the importance of his individual contribution to society and decides it is time to come out. “Perhaps that’s my greatest social crime, I’ve overstayed my hibernation, since there’s a possibility that even an invisible man has a socially responsible role to play (Ellison 581).”
Multiculturalism has shifted the power to define from culture to the individual. In doing so there is no escaping the influence of others. Individuality has been transcended in the formation of a new culture that we cannot escape. Out of many, we are